Focus group for the Management Plan
UNESCO Site Office
Permanent committees and working group
Panoramic view
UNESCO Site Office
The shared management and governance structure of the property and its buffer zone (BB1) is further reflected in the sub-division of roles and responsibilities as well as in the constitution of dedicated decision-making, technical and advisory bodies. Besides the UNESCO Site Office and the Technical Secretary (BB3), other key governance players are:
- The Coordination Committee is the governing and supervisory body aimed at ensuring the site’s effective management and compliance with the commitments undertaken with the Agreement, directing the activities aimed at management and those of the working group.
- The Community of Buffer Zone Municipalities has the task of coordinating objectives, problems, and activities relating to the Buffer Zone, which performs the function of additional and indirect protection of the Site’s values.
- The Technical-administrative work group has the task of implementing the Management Plan and joint activities with proposals requiring approval by the Coordination Committee.
- The Consulting Committee works alongside the Coordination Committee with advisory functions regarding the awareness programmes, general plan guidelines, specific projects, monitoring the Agreement implementation, and the periodic report.
The site’s governance structure is defined in the joint programme agreement signed on 1 August 2016 and the implementation protocol signed on 3 August 2018. The Agreement establishes the site management structure, divided into the above-mentioned bodies, variously composed of the signatories of the Act.
Involving both political and technical level of the municipalities included in the property and the buffer zone has an added value in increasing the awareness of all the actors about being inscribed in the WH List. The process of becoming more and more familiar with global strategies undertaken by UNESCO and advisory bodies is developing little by little. This is something that cannot be taken for granted, especially in such a complex case referring to governance.