About the blog
“Sites of transformations? Glocal perspectives on UNESCO’s mixed World Heritage Sites” is a PhD project currently undertaken at the University of Oslo . The PhD project is part of a research project entitled “Cultural Transformations in the Age of Globalization (KULTRANS). In short KULTRANS is to conduct research that is transdisciplinary, transnational and transhistorical.
The World Heritage List is among the products the of transnational concerns for the future of the world’s natural and cultural heritage. In short one can say that World Heritage Sites (WHS) are bureaucratic constructions, but they are also sites where past and present meet as well as social, cultural and political discourses take place. As such the status has the opportunity to transform both the local context in which the given site is situated and alter the global community of tourists’ notions of cultural and natural diversity. This project aims to shed new light on the socio-historical development of UNESCO’s mixed cultural and natural sites, and look at the extent to which processes of transformation follow inscription onto the WHList.
During the next three years this blog will function as a means to disseminate and, hopefully, discuss the on-going research and as well as be an online field diary. Furthermore, it discuss heritage tourism and World Heritage more generally.
About the blogger
My name is Herdis Hølleland. Previously I have studied at University College London, Cardiff University and University of Oslo. During and after my years at university I have worked with various project on public and digital dissemination of archaeology and history (Digitale forstyrrelser i Dølabyen, Åpen arkeologi, Digitalt fortalt), edited journals (Nicolay arkeologisk tidsskrift, argument, Primitive tider), undertaken traditional archaeological fieldwork in Iceland, Norway and the UK, worked on Indigenous tourism in Australia and taught cello and chamber music.
Nice blog!
By: Tine on February 28, 2010
at 5:05 pm
Do you know if the Roerich Pact was a source for the UNESCO Heritage Conventions?
http://www.roerich.org/nr_pact_banner.html
Do you know about the UNESCO’s Friends Group on Linked In, and specifically the subgroup on World Heritage Cities and Sustainability.
Ben White, in that group, mentioned he is writing a doctoral dissertation at the University of Maryland on a topic related to that which you have chosen.
By: John Daly on March 29, 2010
at 2:01 pm
Hi John!
In the literature I have read the Roerich Pact has not been mentioned in relation to the World Heritage Convention. What is usually stated as the inspiration for the convention is rescue campaigns for Abu Simbel and the Venice floods on the one hand and on the other hand the idea of combing natural and cultural conservation put forward in the US in the 1960s – in particular through the 1965 White House conference which called for a World Heritage Trust to simulate international cooperation. Similar ideas were then put forward by IUCN and UNESCO during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The idea of international protection of heritage is of course older, escalating in the first half on the 20th century so I would imagine that pacts such as the one you mentioned must have been of inspiration even if it is not directly related to the establishment of this convention. The Roerich Pact seems even more relevant for older Hague Convention from 1954: http://www.icomos.org/hague/
Thanks ever so much for drawing my attention to the Linkedin group – I did not know so that was great news! Also – nice blog you have! I added it as one of my links.
By: sitesoftransformations on March 30, 2010
at 7:20 am
As I suggested in my earlier comment, there are probably intellectual antecedents to the World Heritage Convention beside those which you mention. Russell Train was I am told a key actor in the creation of the World Heritage Convention, and I see him as the inheritor of a century long social movement for the preservation of natural heritage which started in the United States.
As UNESCO was the obvious home for the World Heritage Center, it was created in the aftermath of World War II to prevent some of the atrocities of that war from occurring again. Culture was specifically included, in part because there had been such looting of museums and movable cultural items. On the other hand, there had been efforts to protect immovable cultural items such as “open cities” which were protected from fighting. Monte Casino comes to mind as an example of an effort that failed.
The Roerich Pact, signed by the nations of the Americas, sought to protect cultural heritage in the region from the perils of war. It was clearly known by members of the Roosevelt administration who were behind both the Roerich Pact and the creation of UNESCO. Perhaps your thesis could open new dimensions in the history of the idea of preservation of world heritage for the benefit of mankind.
By: John Daly on November 21, 2010
at 1:27 pm
Hi Herdis,
My name is Nicholas Merkelson and I am the founder of Culture in Peril (www.cultureinperil.com). I stumbled upon your blog recently and I must say, very impressive! Your PhD project sounds great and I’m so glad to see a fellow UCL Institute of Archaeology grad (I also completed the MACHS course!) is doing such wonderful research.
I was wondering if you would be interested in listing Culture in Peril on your blog roll. I think your audience would appreciate having Culture in Peril as a recommended resource, and I know mine would like to know more about your project. As you’ll see, the topics and issues we both discuss are definitely interrelated and complementary.
Please let me know if you would like to discuss this further. I’d be happy to provide additional information. Perhaps in the future we could collaborate on a piece or write guest blog entries.
Let me know!
All the best in the new year,
Nicholas Merkelson
Culture in Peril
http://www.cultureinperil.blogspot.com
Twitter: @cultureinperil
By: Nicholas Merkelson on December 22, 2010
at 7:36 pm
Thanks Nicholas! Of course I’ll list it on my blogrole, and doing something for each other/about each other would be great!
By: sitesoftransformations on December 22, 2010
at 8:45 pm
Your blog looks intersting. Can I copy some of your messages on my website?
Rene
By: rene teijgeler on July 7, 2011
at 1:59 pm
Thanks, Rene! As long as my blog is referenced, feel free to copy and share!
By: sitesoftransformations on July 7, 2011
at 5:53 pm
Hi, Great topic, really interesting! Thanks for liking my post too!
By: janerobb on April 23, 2012
at 3:21 pm
Thanks, Jane!
By: sitesoftransformations on April 24, 2012
at 9:02 pm
Hi there, thanks for stopping by my site http://reflectionsofchina.wordpress.com/ and for the like, it is appreciated. I just set up another blog which will have pictures taken in other countries http://moreimagesfromme.wordpress.com, if you have time please take a look and let me know what you think. Your blog is so cool and has such interesting information so I will follow. I have many images of Ping Yao a Unesco site in China on my blog if you are interested. Thanks and Regards Mark
By: throughenglisheyesmark on April 29, 2012
at 3:30 pm
Thanks
Your photos from China are wonderful! Really enjoyed looking!
By: sitesoftransformations on April 29, 2012
at 3:45 pm
Thanks so much
By: throughenglisheyesmark on April 29, 2012
at 3:58 pm
Pleased that you stopped by and had a look at my blog. Under severe threat of climate change in Australia is The Great Barrier Reef which is one of the world’s foremost natural wonders.
The dumping of soft drink and alcohol containers has been an area of discontent. They often get washed into the sea to do damage to the ecology. I wonder how Norway deals with the problem of plastic rubbish, especially plastic containers?
By: gerard oosterman on April 29, 2012
at 8:37 pm
Plastic and Norway – well, we have a well-established system for returning plastic bottles (the same system is also used for cans and glass bottles). When you buy them you pay 1 or 2,5NOK extra depending on the size of the bottle and then you get it back if you return the bottles a shop that sells bottles – usually you tend to do it at the supermarket when you go shopping anyway. Some of the bottles are recycled and refilled whilst others are returned as crap plastic to be reused for other things. The increasingly we recycle other types of plastic – bags, food containers etc from home/offices etc. So we are getting a lot of different colored bins for food, paper, plastic… But well, still no guarantee for a plastic free beach.
By: sitesoftransformations on May 5, 2012
at 7:51 am
Thanks for the like! What a cool site you have here.
By: standingoutinmyfield on May 26, 2012
at 1:03 am
I appreciate your visit to The Baby And The Bathwater. Thank you.
You have quite a list of accomplishments and are certainly involved in some very interesting activities. I’ve always had a keen interest in archaeological field work but have left it too late to seriously consider trying it now. Nor do I have any “credentials”.
You seem to be a very gifted individual who is attempting to put their talent to good use. Admirable.
Thanks once again for the visit. Feel free to comment should you ever stop by again.
Anon
Richard
By: Richard William Posner on December 25, 2012
at 6:14 am