Study on the structure, management and regulation of  a World Heritage Site

The study was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic under the programme “World Heritage Site Support” and it was financed from funds allocated for the LVCL Site Manager activities and for Management Plant implementation in 2009. The study provides a brief analysis of the present situation in terms of protection, regulation and coordination of the management of a cultural landscape inscribed on the World Heritage List. It also outlines possibilities for implementing the site’s strategic plan while enabling the conservation of its values.

The Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a conservation area in 1996. One of the requirements of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention is the provision of LVCL Management Plan, its implementation and regular update. A prerequisite for implementing the LVCL Management Plan is the establishment of a management system coordinating individual stakeholder interests within the LVCL conservation area which encompasses several municipalities. Designing an optimal management system of a UNESCO-protected site of similar size is complicated, as only a few similar examples focusing on much smaller sites with a simpler system of public administration are even available in the Czech Republic. Based on an analysis of the existing situation, a proposal for dealing with the issue was designed for LVCL which could also be implemented in other landscape units in the Czech Republic.

The study drew on consultations with World Heritage Site managers (Sarah Simmonds/ Avebury WHS UNESCO/United Kingdom, Isabelle Bedu/Stonehenge WHS UNESCO/ United Kingdom a Richard Giefing Fertö-Neusiedlersee WHS UNESCO/Austria), on recommendations and examples of World Heritage Site management (Hadrian´s Wall WHS, Heart of Neolithic Orkney WHS, Dorset and East Devon Coast WHS) as well as expert papers on Heritage Studies published by Brandenburg Technology University in Cottbus. The study also drew on the existing experience derived from implementing the post of LVCL Site Manager and on knowledge of the present LVCL management system.

The study should become a basis for further discussions aiming to find an optimal solution for the LVCL management system whose primary objective would be the conservation of the unique and outstanding landscape monument.

The project was co-funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.