World Heritage Periodic Report

In Israel, nine World Heritage sites are designated, and eighteen sites are on the tentative list of UNESCO. As part of the protection and preservation efforts for World Heritage sites, and as required by the UNESCO 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and its operational guidelines, member states of UNESCO are required to submit periodic reports.

Periodic reporting is one of the central conservation monitoring mechanisms of the World Heritage Convention, based on self-assessment by member countries. Approximately every eight years, signatory countries to the convention are requested to submit to the World Heritage Committee a periodic report on the implementation of the convention and the status of the designated sites within their territories. Israel, which has been a signatory to the convention since 2000, is included in the group of countries from Europe and North America required to submit the report by July 2023.

Bezalel Academy of Arts and design, where the UNESCO Chair in Urban Design and Conservation operates, has participated in two previous monitoring reports (Periodic Reporting 1st and 2nd Cycles), which were coordinated by Mike Turner and Guy Kaback, respectively. The collaboration between the Israeli National Committee for UNESCO and the UNESCO Chair continues in the third report, coordinated by Adi Sela-Winer (National Focal Point). Alongside, students in the Conservation and Heritage program in the second-degree program in Urban Design and a fifth-year student at the School of Architecture, received an annual scholarship from the Israeli Committee for UNESCO.

Work on the third report began with an introductory meeting held at the Tower of David in January 2023 and concluded with a summary day held at Bezalel School of Architecture in July 2023. A working meeting of representatives from 51 countries in Europe and North America took place at UNESCO headquarters in Paris in December 2023, focusing on the transition from periodic reporting to a regional action plan.

Consultation workshop with States Parties in Europe and North America for the development of the Regional Action Plan – Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting (2022-2024).