ABSTRACT
The World Heritage Convention was on several counts a progressive opening at the time of its creation. In contrast, the early implementation of the Convention in the 1980s may be seen as a period when many of the good intentions outlined in the Convention were set aside in favor of an exercise in listing new sites under the World Heritage heading. Even though not as black and white as this, against the background of the 1980s the early 1990s presents itself as a period of significant reorientation and self-reflection in the history of the implementation of the Convention. Since the 1970s, the perception of the concept of cultural heritage had undergone significant widening in professional conservationist and academic circles (see Chapter 1). By the end of the 1980s many of the adherents of the World Heritage idea felt that the implementation of the Convention should catch up with “the spirit of the moment” to be found elsewhere in the professional heritage field, especially with regard to “the relationships of man to his environment,” and emerging themes such as anthropized landscapes or vernacular architecture, as summed up by the representative of ICOMOS at the 1989 World Heritage Committee meeting.1
