Monitoring Group: Preventive Monitoring as Major Task of ICOMOS
According to the World Heritage Convention of 1972 one of the most important tasks of ICOMOS is its work as advisory body of the World Heritage Committee and of UNESCO. This concerns mostly the evaluation of monuments and historic sites already on the World Heritage List or considered to be eligible for that list.
Beyond that, each national committee of ICOMOS in cooperation with all institutions dealing with the protection and conservation of monuments has a particular responsibility for the monuments and historic sites in its country. Given this responsibility, some national committees have developed special initiatives for the monitoring of the state of conservation of World Heritage sites in their countries. The monitoring group for the German World Heritage sites is made up of more than 70 experts, among them also ICOMOS colleagues from Austria, Switzerland, Luxemburg and the Czech Republic. The members of this monitoring group, who are in charge of individual World Heritage sites, are admitted by the board of the national committee of ICOMOS Germany upon recommendation by the group. The monitoring group also has a steering committee elected every three years; it consists of the speaker, three representatives and the president of the national committee.
A more comprehensive description of the work of the monitoring group can be found in the essay "ICOMOS and the World Heritage Convention" by Michael Petzet, originally published in German in UNESCO-Welterbe in Deutschland und Mitteleuropa (ICOMOS – Journals of the German National Committee, vol. LVII; see also under Publications).
- Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brandt
- Dr. Dörthe Jakobs
- Prof. Dr. Andreas Putz
- Dipl.-Ing. Christoph Schwarzkopf (representing President Dr. Tino Mager)
The monitoring group drew up Principles for its Work, the latest version of which was approved by the annual meeting of the monitoring group on 17 May 2025 (see English translation).
Beyond that, each national committee of ICOMOS in cooperation with all institutions dealing with the protection and conservation of monuments has a particular responsibility for the monuments and historic sites in its country. Given this responsibility, some national committees have developed special initiatives for the monitoring of the state of conservation of World Heritage sites in their countries. The monitoring group for the German World Heritage sites is made up of more than 70 experts, among them also ICOMOS colleagues from Austria, Switzerland, Luxemburg and the Czech Republic. The members of this monitoring group, who are in charge of individual World Heritage sites, are admitted by the board of the national committee of ICOMOS Germany upon recommendation by the group. The monitoring group also has a steering committee elected every three years; it consists of the speaker, three representatives and the president of the national committee.
A more comprehensive description of the work of the monitoring group can be found in the essay "ICOMOS and the World Heritage Convention" by Michael Petzet, originally published in German in UNESCO-Welterbe in Deutschland und Mitteleuropa (ICOMOS – Journals of the German National Committee, vol. LVII; see also under Publications).
The members of the steering committee are at present:
- Claus Giersch and Dr. Gabriele Horn (speakers of the monitoring group)- Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brandt
- Dr. Dörthe Jakobs
- Prof. Dr. Andreas Putz
- Dipl.-Ing. Christoph Schwarzkopf (representing President Dr. Tino Mager)
The monitoring group drew up Principles for its Work, the latest version of which was approved by the annual meeting of the monitoring group on 17 May 2025 (see English translation).
Short video on the tasks of the Monitoring Group
ICOMOS.DE has produced a short animated film on the tasks and activities of the monitoring group (German with English subtitles):You can also find this video clip in our YouTube channel.
Agreements with other associations
For the World Heritage monitoring ICOMOS Germany entered into agreements with the Vereinigung der Landesdenkmalpfleger in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Association of Federal Conservationists) and the German UNESCO Commission. The agreements can be found below as attachments (in German only):- Vereinbarung von ICOMOS Deutschland mit der Vereinigung der Landesdenkmalpfleger (VdL) vom Mai 2021
- Vereinbarung von ICOMOS Deutschland mit der Deutschen UNESCO-Kommission e.V. vom 3.3.2022
If you have any questions or comments regarding Monitoring, please write to monitoring@icomos.de.
