Australia ICOMOS
Founded1976 (1976)
TypeProfessional Body
Location
ServicesConservation and protection of cultural heritage places in Australia
Websiteaustralia.icomos.org

Australia ICOMOS is a peak cultural heritage conservation body in Australia. It is a branch of the United Nations-sponsored International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), a non-government professional organisation promoting expertise in the conservation of place-based cultural heritage.[1] Its secretariat is based at the Cultural Heritage Centre for Asia and the Pacific at Deakin University.

Formation and role

Australia ICOMOS was formed in 1976 and is one of over 100 current ICOMOS national committees. ICOMOS was formed in Paris in 1965, following acceptance of Venice Charter 1964, which itself grew out of Athens Charter 1933, led by modernist architect Le Corbusier in regard to urban planning. ICOMOS soon became one of three UNESCO advisors on the assessment of sites proposed for the World Heritage List, along with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) (1948- ) in Switzerland, and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Material (ICCROM) (1956- ) in Rome, Italy.[2][3]

Membership of Australia ICOMOS comprises over 650 members, managed by an executive committee of 15 people who are elected from the membership. Several Australia ICOMOS members are also represented on various ICOMOS International Scientific Committees, and expert committees and boards in Australia.[4] It plays an important role in coordinating advocacy activities to raise the profile of Australia's cultural heritage.[5]

The first meeting which led to the formation of Australia ICOMOS was in Melbourne on 20 October 1976, and the first ICOMOS conference was held in Beechworth, Victoria, in 1978, where they devised a committee to work up a local version of the Venice Charter. The actual ICOMOS meeting where the committee's draft was provisionally endorsed was in the town of Burra in 1979.[1][6][4] Australia ICOMOS played the pivotal role in developing the Burra Charter: Australia ICOMOS Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Significance (1979) regarded as the best-practice standard for place-based cultural heritage management in Australia, which has influenced subsequent heritage legislation and conservation guidelines and practices in Australia.[1][7]

Australia ICOMOS has also been responsible for producing the 'Heritage' chapter in national State of the Environment Reports (SoE), to advise the Minister for Environment on ...the current condition of the Australian environment, the pressures on it and the drivers of those pressures.[8]

Australia ICOMOS organises an annual national conference on themes relevant to conservation and heritage in Australia and South East Asia, often on a specific heritage and conservation theme for example on the Australian Capital City, Canberra's, 100th anniversary in 2012.[9]

A collaboration between the Chinese government, the Getty Conservation Institute, and Australia ICOMOS has seen the export of Australian conservation expertise in developing China Principles, ...the Middle Kingdom's statement of conservation philosophy and method that is based on Australia's highly regarded Burra Charter.[10] Australia ICOMOS and the Burra Charter have also been held up as a world standard in Malta.[11]

Historic Environment
DisciplineHistory
LanguageEnglish
Edited byTim Winter
Publication details
History1980–present
Publisher
Australia ICOMOS (Australia)
FrequencyTriannually
Standard abbreviations
ISO 4Hist. Environ.
Indexing
ISSN0726-6715
Links

Historic Environment

Australia ICOMOS publishes Historic Environment (ISSN 0726-6715), a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering cultural heritage and heritage conservation,[12][13] first published by the Council for the Historic Environment, from 1980 to 1991, then by Australia ICOMOS and the Council for the Historic Environment in 1992 and by Australia ICOMOS alone from 1993.[14] Editions are often on a specific heritage and conservation theme, for example 'Canberra's 100th anniversary' in 2012,[9] and 'Extreme Heritage' which deals with ... managing heritage in the face of climatic extremes, natural disasters and military conflicts in tropical, desert, polar and off-world landscapes.[15]

The journal is the pre-eminent publication on place-based heritage conservation in Australia, is allied to the international organisation ICOMOS, it is cited extensively in conservation literature, records the major heritage conferences in Australia, and has been in publication for over 30 years.[12][13] The journal aims to bring together ... dynamic, critical interdisciplinary research in the field of cultural heritage and heritage conservation. The journal has an editorial committee of five with lead editor Dr. Tim Winter in 2013.

The journal is accessed online via State Library of New South Wales,[16] and indexed through various index services including RMIT's Australian Heritage Bibliography[13] and the Australian Public Affairs Information Service (APAIS).[17] It is held in over 80 libraries worldwide including all of the Australian State Libraries and major Australian and New Zealand university libraries,[18] and was ranked 'A' by the Australian Research Council Excellence in Research for Australia classification scheme.[12][19] Australia ICOMOS also publishes the Australia ICOMOS Newsletter (ISSN 0155-3534) on a regular basis.

Mentoring

Australia ICOMOS provides a mentoring program for cultural heritage students as well as architectural students who have completed subjects in architectural conservation[20] and the Australia ICOMOS Victorian Scholarships.[21] Australia ICOMOS projects extend to providing expertise and fundraising for restoration projects in the wider Asia and Pacific region, including the Streetwise Asia School Restoration Project in the Philippines.[22] Australia ICOMOS, and in particular, Richard Mackay AM, have been involved in conservation management advice for the World Heritage Listing of Ankor Wat in Cambodia for many years.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b c Susan Thompson, Planning Australia: An Overview of Urban and Regional Planning (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
  2. ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Advisory Bodies". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  3. ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Our Partners". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b Australia ICOMOS Website
  5. ^ National Trust Australia, Media Release 3 August 2011 Archived 18 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Australia ICOMOS > The Burra Charter Archived 6 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Full text of the 1999 revised version of the Burra Charter. Retrieved 16 August 2011
  7. ^ Marta De la Torre, Getty Conservation Institute, Heritage Values in Site Management: Four Case Studies (Getty Publications, 2005)
  8. ^ Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Australia ICOMOS State of the environment 2011 workshop, summary notes DECEMBER 2011 Archived 22 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ a b "ICOMOS National Conference, 'Imagined Pasts, Imagined Futures'". Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  10. ^ Robert Bevan, 'Selling heritage to China' The Australian June 02, 2011
  11. ^ Samantha Fabry' Conserving local heritage through heritage management Times of Malta December 18, 2005
  12. ^ a b c Australia ICOMOS publications
  13. ^ a b c Australian Heritage Bibliography, RMIT, INFORMIT
  14. ^ Historic Environment (Online) Australia ICOMOS. Published Carlton Vic. : Council for the Historic Environment, (Vic.), 1980–, On line access Archived 21 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine or on CD-ROM
  15. ^ 'Extreme Heritage' Historic Environment Volume 23 number 2 2007
  16. ^ State Library of New South Wales on-line access
  17. ^ Australian Public Affairs Information Service (APAIS)
  18. ^ OCLC World Cat
  19. ^ "Researchers, ANU Research". Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  20. ^ Australia ICOMOS mentoring scheme, University of Melbourne
  21. ^ Winners of the Inaugural Australia ICOMOS Victorian Scholarship 2008 Archived 22 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ Australia ICOMOS E-Mail News No. 439 Jun 04 2010 'Successful completion of Streetwise Asia School Restoration Project in the Philippines' & 'Fund Raising for Streetwise Asia Fund Philippines School Restoration project No 2 – 2010 – 2011'
  23. ^ LIVING WITH HERITAGE AT ANGKOR, Prof Richard Mackay, AM & Sharon Sullivan

External links

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