The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) 15th General Assembly and International Scientific Symposium will take place from October 17 to 21 in Xi'an, Shannxi Province, announced a senior Chinese official in Beijing on Tuesday.
According to Zhang Bai, vice director general of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and president of ICOMOS China, four topics top this year's assembly agenda.
First, the ICOMOS will hold their executive committee (EXCO) elections. The assembly meets every three years to elect the EXCO and renew the strategic plan and program for the triennium.
Second, the assembly will pass the Xi'an Declaration, which is currently being drafted by experts from China, Australia, Japan and the ICOMOS Bureau.
Third, a celebration will be organized for the ICOMOS 40th Anniversary.
Fourth, the assembly will open an International Scientific Symposium themed "monuments and sites in their setting -- conserving cultural heritage in changing townscapes and landscapes."
The symposium will include four sub-themes:
Section I: Defining the setting of monuments and sites -- the significance of tangible and intangible cultural and natural settings;
Section II: Vulnerabilities within the settings of monuments and sites -- understanding the threats and defining appropriate responses;
Section III: Evolving townscapes and landscapes within their settings -- managing dynamic change; and
Section IV: Cultural routes -- the challenges of linear settings for monuments and sites.
ICOMOS is the only international non-governmental organization working for the conservation and protection of monuments and sites, and is officially recognized as an advisory body to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), actively contributing to the evaluation of nominations submitted by member states for inclusion on the World Heritage List.
China joined the ICOMOS in 1993 and established the Chinese National Committee for ICOMOS (ICOMOS China).
(China.org.cn by Unisumoon July 6, 2005)
