Introduction to the enhancing our heritage toolkit 2.0

The idea of identifying and protecting the world’s most important natural and cultural heritage has captured the imagination and commitment of people and governments around the world. This was enshrined in the World Heritage Convention in 1972, and its subsequent ratification by 195 countries so far, all of which have committed themselves to ensuring the protection of their cultural and natural heritage considered to be of Outstanding Universal Value to humankind. As a result, over 1,100 properties have now been inscribed on the World Heritage List.

Strong political ambition to listing these properties is not always matched by the financial commitment needed to ensure their long-term protection. Therefore, improving management effectiveness and making the best use of available resources and opportunities has become a priority for the heritage community.

Interest in assessing the management quality of protected areas can be traced back to the 1980s, and numerous management effectiveness methodologies have been developed over the years. One of the most internationally used methods is the IUCN Framework for Assessing the Management Effectiveness of Protected Areas (PAME). This framework formed the basis for the development of the first Enhancing Our Heritage Toolkit in 2008, and continues to structure this new version. While the first Toolkit was developed primarily for natural World Heritage properties, its potential use for cultural properties was always acknowledged.

The Enhancing our Heritage Toolkit 2.0 (hereafter referred to as ‘EoH 2.0’ or ‘the Toolkit’) is the result of efforts to design an assessment system for management effectiveness that could be broadly applied to all World Heritage properties, as well as other heritage places. Although structured in the same way as the original toolkit, EoH 2.0 offers a flexible framework that can be applied to the specific needs of each heritage place, regardless of its category and designation. EoH 2.0 also draws elements from and establishes links with, other existing methodologies to facilitate their integration. The Toolkit has been revised and improved to reflect developments in the World Heritage system, as well as in the conservation field, over the past decade.

The following elements have informed the work to revise and strengthen the Toolkit:

• Applicability to all World Heritage properties, as well as other heritage places, while retaining as much of the original methodology and approach as possible;

• A focus on critical elements of the management system, rather than a detailed assessment of all its aspects;

• Ability to engage a wide range of actors, without the need for additional tools;

• A standardized set of worksheets, which can be adapted to specific needs and situations;

• Information gathering and analysis based on low-technology and low-cost processes;

• Self-assessment and an action-oriented methodology.

EoH 2.0 is a product of testing efforts at 26 World Heritage properties, representing a range of cultural, natural and mixed properties from across the world, and has been refined based on the lessons learned from these test cases.