Management Plans for UK World Heritage Sites: Evolution, lessons and good practice

Abstract

Since the mid 1990s Management Plans have been prepared for most UK World Heritage Sites. Such Plans are distinctive in the fully integrated approach they take to ensuring conservation for a variety of differing World Heritage Sites. Some Plans were prepared ‘late’ for World Heritage Sites already inscribed on the World Heritage List in the mid 1980s and others formed part of the nomination documents required by UNESCO. Many candidate or recently nominated sites include complex cultural landscapes and townscapes. The essential principle that underlies a good World Heritage Management Plan is that its policies and objectives for the future must be drawn from a proper understanding of the ‘Outstanding Universal Value’ of the site and the potential changes that might occur there. Based on the experience of preparing Management Plans for six UK World Heritage Sites over the last five years, this paper sets out the lessons learned and highlights the emergence of good practice in this field.