The Heart of Neolithic Orkney plays an important role in local identity and it plays a key role in the sustainability of local tourism economy and business.

As part of the process of developing  a new management plan, local communities, residents and businesses were asked to express their views about the future management of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney. In early 2020, a consultation campaign was carried out through quantitate and qualitative methods that included an survey (both online and in hard copies) and a series of three consultation sessions that took place at the St Magnus Centre, Kirkwall; the Maeshowe Visitor Centre, Stenness and the Milestone Community Centre, Dounby. Additional consultations and meeting took place with local community organisations.

The consultation focused on understanding the value of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney as well as the role played by the World Heritage designation have for local communities and businesses. The consultation also explored how to improve communication with local stakeholders and addressed the issue of their key priorities for the future of the site.

The Heart of Neolithic Orkney is of high importance for the local identity of Orcadians and local stewardship and engagement is vital to ensure the adequate and effective management of the site and its wider landscape setting. Since 2005 a Ranger Service has been in place, to serve both visitors to the sites and the local community members and residents. Seasonal ranger posts have been added with volunteer ranger posts filled by local residents who work alongside the World Heritage Site Rangers employed by Historic Environment Scotland.

The volunteer rangers have an important role in the protection the natural and cultural heritage of Orkney as they assist with foot patrols, supervision of third party events, guided walks, and support for school and community groups. They are frontlines in the engagement with the public and they are actively engaged in ensuring safe and responsible access to the site and its enjoyment.

Ranger Services has been set up at a number of properties managed by Historic Environment Scotland as a measure to foster the goodwill, feeling of responsibility and stewardship of local communities and stakeholders.

Tourism is a key industry for the economy and source of employment for local communities and businesses in Orkney and therefore contributes to the long-term sustainability of its communities and businesses. As the World Heritage Site and Orkney more widely faces key challenges, such as climate change and impacts of volume tourism during peak times, a formal partnership between key national and local agencies has been set up to address these the challenges and opportunities posed by tourism. This partnership brings together HES, OIC and HIE, with a focus on, but not restricted to, the Heart of Neolithic Orkney site, seeking to ensure a sustainable and enhanced visitor experience for tourists and optimising  the benefits to local people.

The partnership foresees a development of different and more inclusive and sustainable tourism opportunities for Orkney in hand with the management plan for the site. An initial investment of over £300,000 at the Stones of Stenness will upgrade car parking facilities and improve the pathways network to encourage greater connection between monuments and surrounding natural and cultural areas.

The World Heritage property of Heart of Neolithic Orkney is managed through an integrated and joint Steering Group composed of representatives of Historic Environment Scotland (HES), Orkney Islands Council (OIC ), Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), Orkney College University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) Archaeology Institute, NatureScot (former Scottish Natural Heritage - SNH), and input from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). HES manages the individual monuments that make up the WHS, while the other partners are involved in the wider management of the WHS and buffer zone in various ways. A WHS coordinator ensures effective liaison between the partners and drives forward the implementation, monitoring and revision of the Management Plan and associated action plan, promotes the OUV and public benefit of the WHS, increases awareness and understanding among partners, stakeholders and the public, and serves as a central point for advice.

Additionally, the Steering Group is also responsible for ensuring the protection of the relationships and linkages between the monuments and the wider landscape. The areas between monuments that comprise the World Heritage property and those in the area outside it that support the OUV are potentially at risk from change and development in the countryside.

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 implementation protocol of the Programme Agreement stipulates that the annual financial costs of the UNESCO Site Office and the Technical Secretary is to be supported by all institutional stakeholders signatory of the Agreement in measures that are proportionate to their financial capacities. This allows for a sustainable financial strategy based on shared contributions for the running and upkeep of two key elements of the governance and management structure of the site: the UNESCO Site Office and the Technical Secretary. The annual budget – foreseen to be around € 66.000,00/year – is covered via the contribution of eleven institutions (Liguria Region, Cinque Terre National Park, Regional Natural Park of Porto Venere, Municipalities of Porto Venere, Levanto (voluntarily withdrawn in 2019), Monterosso al Mare, Pignone, Riomaggiore, La Spezia, Vernazza, Beverino, Riccò del Golfo). The Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism does not directly contribute to the annual budget but it offers further technical support via its technical and scientific experts.

The Programme Agreement defines and outlines the roles and responsibilities of the institutional stakeholders involved in the management of the site. This agreement is completed by an implementation protocol, signed on 3 August 2018, that outlines the key elements of the Programme Agreement for the establishment of a UNESCO Site Office supported by a Technical Secretary (led Liguria Region for 2 years) composed of technical and administrative staff. The implementation plan identifies the UNESCO Site Office as the technical and administrative responsible for the World Heritage property of Porto Venere, Cinque Terre and the Islands. The Office has the central role to provides support and operational coordination of the permanent technical-administrative work group, support the implementation of territorial actions and the monitoring of the Management Plan, and acts as the focal point with the World Heritage Centre, the Italian Ministry with the national UNESCO Office. The Secretary coordinates all activities of the existing governing committees and working groups (BB4).

The UNESCO Site Office is also dedicated to improving services provided to users within the site, according to UNESCO guidelines, in order to increase an effective response to the emerging needs of the territory.

The governance structure has been officially established through the signature of a Programme Agreement by all the institutional stakeholders that operate in various capacities for the management and conservation of the site and its buffer zone: the Liguria Region, the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, the Cinque Terre National Park, the Municipality of Porto Venere - Regional Natural Park of Porto Venere, and the Municipalities of Levanto (withdrawn in 2019 from the UNESCO office), Monterosso al Mare, Pignone, Riomaggiore, La Spezia, Vernazza, Beverino, Riccò del Golfo.

The Agreement defines the role of stakeholders and establishes the following structure (BB4):

• Coordination Committee ensuring that effective management is in place
• Community of buffer zone Municipalities coordinating objectives, problems, and activities relating to the buffer zone
• Technical-administrative work group responsible for implementing the Management Plan
• Technical Secretary supporting committees and working groups
• Consulting Committee (advisory role)
• UNESCO site office, which acts as site manager for the site and carries out joint site promotion activities and ensures the smooth running of the technical-administrative board.

Safeguarding the values of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape – especially as climate changes - is based on Gunditjmara traditional knowledge and an adaptive management framework focused on enabling ongoing learning and adaptation by continually assessing the success of actions in meeting management objectives; and allowing for adjustment of management actions in the future to best achieve the management goals. Adaptive management aims to integrate specific components of management to provide a framework that systematically tests assumptions, promotes learning and continuous improvement, as well as providing timely information to support management decisions. It includes the use of monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement to enhance Gunditjmara learnings, implement a risk assessment approach, store and manage information, and use technology to assist in land management activities.

Lastly, this framework seeks to reinforce and encourage the connections between a healthy environment and a healthy society which are highlighted in the Gunditjmara principle of Ngootyoong Gunditj, Ngootyoong Mara (Healthy Country, Healthy People) which is closely aligned with that of Parks Victoria (Healthy Parks, Healthy People).

The customary and legislative protection of Budj Bim Cultural Landscape is enabled and implemented through an established system of governance. At the local level, the governance, decision-making and administrative bodies that oversee and cooperate in the protection and management of the place are the Budj Bim Council, the Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (GMTOAC) and the Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation.

• The Budj Bim Council comprises representatives of Gunditjmara Traditional Owners (the majority of Council members) and the Victorian Government. Its role is to oversee the cooperative management of the ecocultural landscape of the Budj Bim National Park to achieve both cultural and ecological objectives through joint decision-making. It demonstrates the ‘two-way’ sharing of expertise between Gunditjmara Traditional Owners and Victorian Government agencies.
• The GMTOAC manages the native title rights of the Gunditjmara and promotes continuing connection to Gundijmara Country through its Caring for Country programmes and projects. The GMTOAC owns and manages the Budj Bim Indigenous Protected Area and Lake Condah Mission.
• The Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation is the owner and manager of the Tyrendarra Indigenous Protected Area.