Intro
It was on the 12th of December, 1982, that the Executive Committee of ICOMOS decided on the foundation of an international scientific committee for the protection of historic towns, and also, that the headquarters of this committee should be in Hungary, in the historic town of Eger. The committee was given as its first task to compile the charter on the protection of historic towns as soon as possible.
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CIVVIH and Urban Heritage
By CLAUS-PETER ECHTER (21 st February 2023)
The ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Historic Cities, Towns and Villages (CIVVIH)
researches and promotes the understanding, protection, conservation, urban planning and
management of historic cities, towns, villages, and urban areas.
The conservation of heritage in cities is a commitment to the historical layers of the city. The aim is to
preserve the historical fabric and basic structure of the city and to illustrate the local historical
dimensions in future urban development. The main task of urban heritage conservation is to
research, protect, and maintain the architectural documents of the past that give a city its
unmistakable identity.
There is a lot to be done in our field:
- in the study and research on issues pertaining to the protection of heritage (abandonment,
large works, tourism, sustainable development, climate change) in historic modern cities,
villages, urban areas, and historical landscapes, - in the development of the work of ICOMOS for the contribution of culture and heritage in
the sustainable development of cities, villages, and urban areas, - in the study of the repercussions of climate change on urban heritage.
The vision of CIVVIH is to contribute to developing solutions and acting in cities and communities in
implementing the New Urban Agenda to accelerate the achievement of the UN Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 with a particular emphasis on urban regeneration especially in
the context of climate change. We all must promote cities to be socially inclusive and participative;
affordable, accessible, and equitable; economically vibrant and inclusive; collectively managed and
democratically governed, cities that are regenerative and resilient, have shared identities and sense
of place.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been urging all cities to urgently respond to a global crisis that threatens
not only the health of the population, but the economy, infrastructure, and social cohesion of the
human settlements. In some areas, the health crisis has increased the pressure on local authorities to
act. This is particularly true for the inner cities, whose functional change will be massively accelerated
by the expected business closures. The pandemic also showed us, how important green and other
open spaces are. Urban green and a newly conceived distribution of public space based on new
concepts of mobility are indispensable.
The pandemic could be seen as an opportunity for cooperation, solidarity, and new impulse for
sustainable development. Resilience in historic cities is an integrative process with the social,
environmental and economic components meeting the challenges of social inclusion, the digital
revolution and sustainable development. Social interaction, proximity, and solidarity can increase
awareness of the devastating effects that climate change and other disasters have on both human-
made and natural environments and can stimulate action that contributes to social adaptation,
disaster risk management, and resilience.
The CIVVIH Webinar “Resilience of Historic Cities in times of COVID-19“of 2020 was a successful
exchange on practices and examples that went beyond theory to integrate or develop solutions to
local economy issues with social and human dimensions in their heritage and cultural context.
The approach of the UNESCO 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape helps to
better integrate urban heritage conservation into strategies for resilient neighbourhoods, liveable
cities, socio-economic development, and planning tools. There is a worldwide interest in this
approach, which is endorsed by UNESCO. It is a helpful and appropriate tool for resilient historic
cities.
Leadership: 2021-2024
Bureau
President
Paula Cordeiro, Belgium
Vice Presidents
Antoine Bruguerolle, France
Elena Dimitrova, Bulgaria
Torsten Haak, UK
Siame-Hanna Ishac, Lebanon
Awon Rii, Korea
Secretary General
Kathleen Crowther, USA
Executive
Eman Assi, U.A.E.
Robyn Christie, Australia
Hamza Yuksel Dincer, Turkey
Said Ennahid, Morocco
Juan A. Garcia Esparza, Spain
Ofelia Sanou, Costa Rica
Pål Anders Stensson, Sweden