HIA & EIA Discussion held at World Heritage General Assembly Side Event

The World Heritage Centre, with the participation of ICOMOS, IUCN and ICCROM, organized a side event on Heritage Impact Assessments (HIAs) and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) on the occasion of the 20th session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention (UNESCO Headquarters, 18-20 November 2015).

More than 80 representatives of States Parties to the Convention gathered to learn, discuss, and share experiences concerning these key tools in achieving a balance between conservation of heritage and development activities.

Following the decision 39 COM 7.11 on HIA and EIAs adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 39th session (Bonn, 2015), the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies endeavour to further develop the existing ICOMOS and IUCN guidance notes, and complement them with a tool focused on good practices for implementing impact assessments for development projects within the boundaries or in the vicinity of World Heritage properties. Feedback from the event will be used to inform this globally useful tool, which will provide supplementary guidance on HIAs and EIAs to property managers, national and local decision-makers and all concerned stakeholders.