The World Heritage Committee, which convened its 41st Session in Cracow, passed a Decision on the state of conservation of the “Venice and its Lagoon” Site.
The Decision expresses appreciation for the work done by the Government in close synergy with the Municipality of Venice and local authorities, which gave their full cooperation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism (MIBACT) and to the Italian National Commission for UNESCO.
Thus, UNESCO recognises the progress made and, acknowledging the complexity of the issues related to the state of conservation of the Site, confirms the need to dispose of an adequate timeframe in which to technically verify the solutions already found and currently being developed and submitted to the attention of UNESCO (the tourism governance project, finding alternative routes to the passing of large ships in St. Mark’s Basin, protecting the local identity and traditions).
UNESCO’s Decision also points to the opportunity to reach a broad consensus between the institutions and the many stakeholders involved.
The recommendations made in the Decision include the request to have an updated report on the state of conservation of the Site, illustrating all the progress made, by 1 December 2018, so that it might be evaluated in the 43rd Session of the World Heritage Committee meeting in 2019.
This is an important result that reinforces the efforts made by the Government and by local authorities to push forward along the road to protect “Venice and its Lagoon”, 30 years after it was included in the World Heritage List.
