Publicomos

Notice (permalien)

Réf.

42852

Type

conference item

Titre

The blue helmets of culture: making heritage a tool for peace, starting from its management structures

Langues

English

Auteurs

D’Amico, Gabriele

Lieu de publication

Charenton-le-Pont

Pays de publication

France

Maison d'édition

ICOMOS

Date

2018

Titre de conférence

ICOMOS 19th General Assembly and Scientific Symposium "Heritage and Democracy"

Lieu de conférence

New Delhi, India

Date de conférence

13-14th December 2017

Mots-clés

conflicts / international organizations / human rights / management of cultural heritage / community participation / rights-based approaches / heritage at risk / legal protection / prevention of deterioration / World Heritage / management plans / agreements / UNESCO

Monuments et sites

Italian National Task Force
Global Coalition Unite4Heritage
UNESCO
Blue Helmets of Culture

Résumé en anglais

From official political speeches to widespread references in the international press, the “Blue Helmets of Culture” are presented as an on-going initiative. What the Blue Helmets of Culture actually refer to is an ongoing negotiation on the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding signedon the 16th of February 2016 between the Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, and the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Paolo Gentiloni. The Blue Helmets of Culture, or more precisely the Italian National Task Force, are expected to work within the framework of UNESCO’s Global Coalition Unite4Heritage. While the actual content of the activities of the Task Force (and its functioning) are to be agreed on, the literature on the topic is scarce, sources are fragmented and most often prove contradictory.Having spent the last 9 months conducting direct interviews with the main actors involved in this ongoing negotiation, in this paper I will present the first overall analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of this initiative. While taking into consideration the various fields in which the Task Force could be askedto intervene, the paper will underline how this initiative could indeed develop into a unique asset to transform heritage into a tool of cultural negotiation and socio-economic conflict management; to beused not only in armed conflict or in the aftermath of natural disasters, but also when heritage is jeopardised by the conflicts emerging among different stakeholders. The paper will conclude that theoutstanding potential of the Blue Helmets resides in the role that the category 2 UNESCO Centre on the Economics of Culture and World Heritage Studies (which is part of the overall initiative, with a special agreement involving the City of Torino) will play in embedding participatory human rights-based mechanisms within the management structures of heritage sites.

Document joint

19._ICOA_1900_Gabriele_SM.pdf

Licence

Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike (BY-NC-SA)