Supporting the Work and Mission of ICOMOS-USA, the U.S. Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites
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Federal Government

Regarding the incoming administration:

  • Promote the inclusion of an ambitious international heritage agenda
  • Develop international heritage briefings for all presidential candidates, and/or for the new incoming administration

Regarding Federal agencies in general:

  • Raise cultural heritage programs and issues to policy level within all US Government agencies
  • Develop similar international heritage awareness training, foster their mandatory adoption, and urge the inclusion of international heritage programs in all Federal Department, especially US AID, the Federal
  • Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Defense, the Peace Corps, and encourage these agencies to participate in and support the World Heritage USA International Exchanges and other volunteer missions
  • Maintain the discussion of international cultural issues and the role of agencies within the Federal
  • Preservation Institute
  • Expand the FPO network currently coordinated by the Federal Preservation Institute to include the participation of the State Department’s Education and Cultural Affairs Section, the Foreign Operations Office, and the various units inside US AID
  • Study and analyze the application of Section 402 of the National Historic Preservation Act, which reads:

Prior to the approval of any Federal undertaking outside the United States which may directly and adversely affect a property which is on the World Heritage List or on the applicable country’s equivalent of the National Register, the head of a Federal agency having direct or indirect jurisdiction over such undertaking shall take into account the effect of the undertaking on such property for purposes of avoiding or mitigating any adverse effects

  • Integrate the application of the National Environmental Protection Act and relevant Executive Orders into an international context, including the requirements for Environmental Impact Assessments for oversight of cultural heritage protection

Regarding the US Congress:

  • Keep the Congressional Preservation Caucus informed and up to date about needs and issues of international heritage conservation, and foster funding for such activities
  • Explore and foster the establishment of a sub-committee on international preservation issues within the Historic Preservation Caucus
  • Improve communications between World Heritage USA and Preservation Action with Congressional members on legislative and policy issues affecting the participation of the US in international heritage conservation issues
  • Foster budgetary appropriations to support international heritage activities by all pertinent Federal Departments and agencies

Regarding the US Department of State:

  • Develop heritage components of State Department diplomatic activities and foster their mandatory inclusion in the training and briefing of new ambassadors and Foreign Service personnel, in the National Defense University, and the Foreign Service Institute, among others
  • Set aside a portion of the International Visitor Program to focus specifically on cultural heritage, in particular exchanges that will build durable inter-institutional ties through bilateral directional exchanges; engage US heritage institutions in managing, structuring and guiding the heritage portions of the international visitor program, and develop a sub-program to provide bilateral exchanges of academicians
  • Develop heritage conservation series and/or workshops for regular use in all US Embassies throughout the world, using American speakers and experts
  • Develop a partnership with World Heritage USA for the promotion of the Ambassadors’ Fund and to evaluate proposals and monitor the effectiveness of the grants
  • Actively support efforts to promote and support US candidates to key positions in international heritage organizations, including ICOMOS, ICOM, UNESCO, ICCROM, etc., join the UNESCO Associate Experts Program, and fund US Internships focusing on heritage and other issues in the UNESCO Secretariat and its field offices
  • Advise the US National Commission for UNESCO as a whole, as well as its individual members, on international heritage issues and opportunities for US participation, and promote the designation of World Heritage USA as a permanent institutional member of the Commission
  • Identify all international, intergovernmental heritage structures and organizations to ensure that the United States is an active participant in them, including ICCROM, NATO, AECD, Council of Europe, among others

Regarding the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation:

  • Expand the Preserve America Program to include planning grants for international outreach and bilateral/ multilateral programs, especially those focused on community building
  • Work to develop the appropriate operational guidelines for NHPA Section 402, identifying which Federal agencies are susceptible to the implementation of this Section, and work with them on their recognition of cultural heritage as an integral part of their work
  • Develop a draft framework for the Section 402 Review Process

Regarding the Department of Commerce:

  • Working with the Department, and involving the tourism industry, state and local tourism programs and heritage site authorities, develop an effective national program that will promote foreign cultural tourism in the US and enhance the economic development of associated communities
  • Prioritize the international marketing of US World Heritage Sites to drive the program
  • World Heritage USA to develop its role as the portal for overseas visitors to American heritage sites

Regarding the Department of Defense:

  • Work with staff to integrate cultural heritage considerations into planning and S.O.P.s, including training for military personnel
  • Strengthen the global network of Blue Shield Committees, increase the exchanges of information in it, and expand the work agenda

Regarding the National Park Service:

  • Expand international cooperation and exchanges through its own direct programs, the programs of World Heritage USA and other organizations
  • Explore new bilateral and multilateral activities

Preservation Education and Training

  • Ensure that American academic preservation programs are providing the necessary education and training for their graduates to be effective practitioners in both the United States and in all countries overseas.
  • Design, foster and facilitate bilateral faculty exchanges
  • Foster the use by preservation programs of the overseas campuses of US universities
  • Identify the minimum international components that all preservation curricula in the US should include
  • Develop mechanisms for and foster university research on international heritage topics and issues
  • Study and implement the commonalities of the cultural and natural heritage fields in order to develop common approaches and build integrated capacity into both fields
  • Include training in the traditional trades and the communities of craftspeople in all international exchanges of people and information

Private Sector

  • Develop a code of ethics towards cultural heritage for the adoption and use of American private sector companies operating overseas
  • Promote heritage as an integral part of social corporate responsibility
  • Develop training, education and outreach for private sector corporations, including publicizing a list of available expert speakers

Non-Governmental Organizations & Strategic Partnerships

  • By enlisting the help of past interns and other means, ensure that the necessary financial support is given by government and others to World Heritage USA, ICOMOS (and other international NGOs) in order to expand the programmatic funding and fulfill their mission as the main link in the US to international heritage cooperation
  • Create public awareness and understanding of the UNESCO international conventions in order that serious consideration will be given to their ratification by the State Department and the United States Senate:
    • The Hague Convention and its Two Protocols
    • The Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage
    • The Convention on the Protection of Underwater Heritage
  • Study the international heritage policies, programs and activities of international development agencies of other countries for models that could be replicated or adapted to those of the United States, for example:

    SIDA (Sweden); AECIC (Spain); AFD (France); AusAID (Australia); JICA (Japan); ACDI-CIDA (Canada); NORAD (Norway); DFID (UK); GTZ and BMZ (Germany); BTC and DGDC (Belgium); DGIS (Netherlands); DANIDA (Denmark); SDC (Switzerland); ADA (Austria); NZAID (New Zealand); Irish Aid; IDA (World Bank); All agencies listed in DCD-DAC.

  • Using successful existing models, work with FEMA, universities, national heritage organizations, and others to build the capacity and fund the organizational structure and infrastructure to build a global disaster and conflict preparedness planning network
  • Allow for the rapid deployment of US heritage response and recovery teams and individual experts in post-conflict zones and/or in the case of major natural or manmade disasters abroad

Strategic Plan for World Heritage USA

  • Use and prioritize these recommendations to develop a World Heritage USA Strategic Action Plan
  • World Heritage USA to present itself to the public as:
    • A helpful resource and reliable partner for all Government agencies with permanent or temporary international undertakings / activities
    • Watchdog of heritage
    • An authority on international cultural tourism
  • Improve communications with the full World Heritage USA membership to keep them informed of international heritage issues and opportunities
  • Propagate ICOMOS doctrinal documents broadly in the United States, and foster the adoption of the principles contained in them at the Federal, state and local levels
  • Maximize the networking and lobbying capacity of World Heritage USA by investing in information technology
  • Expand the World Heritage USA International Exchange Program to include marketing and information management opportunities, and market the program to potential funders as a diplomatic tool
  • Engage other ICOMOS National Committees and heritage organizations abroad to identify their assets and needs as a first step in developing partnerships for international initiatives in cooperation and assistance, such as, for instance, in drafting heritage legislation, developing national heritage inventories, site management, etc.
  • Focus on particular strengths of the United States to engage US communities with others overseas:
    • Interpretation of Heritage Sites
    • Native American (traditional cultures) heritage
    • Technology
    • Planning and management systems
  • Work with state and local partners to engage ethnic and immigrant communities in the United States and link them to the heritage of their countries of origin, including the ICOMOS National Committees of those countries, and recruit SHPO office as World Heritage USA host organizations in order to begin to link them to the international heritage arena
  • Work with Federal agencies to publicize all existing preservation programs, and build international components into them as appropriate
  • Enhance and enlarge the World Heritage USA website, use Wiki models, create online database of best cases and best practices from overseas; create and maintain an Internet-based forum for discussions on pertinent or urgent international heritage issues
  • Develop international heritage initiatives, exchanges and programs by building on existing networks, such as the Sister Cities Program, Partners for the Americas, and others
  • More effectively engage our affinity organizations—especially the Ex-Officio representatives to the Board—in international heritage issues, and identify an individual Board liaison to each Ex-Officio organization
  • Identify the basic components of what sustainable community development encompasses to ensure that cultural heritage concerns are embedded in them
  • Develop good economic impact data deriving directly or indirectly from heritage activities
  • Identify all government programs that relate to or somehow impact heritage conservation, and embed conservation in their agenda and their budget