18 April - The International Day for Monuments and Sites

The International Council on Monuments and Sites is an association of professionals throughout the world that currently brings together more than 9500 members. ICOMOS works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places. It is the only global non-government organisation of this kind, which is dedicated to promoting the application of theory, methodology, and scientific techniques to the conservation of the architectural and archaeological heritage. Its work is based on the principles enshrined in the 1964 International Charter on the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites (the Venice Charter).

ICOMOS is a network of experts that benefits from the interdisciplinary exchange of its members, among which are architects, historians, archaeologists, art historians, geographers, anthropologists, engineers and town planners. The members of ICOMOS contribute to improving the preservation of heritage, the standards and the techniques for each type of cultural heritage property : buildings, historic cities, cultural landscapes and archaeological sites.

Mission

Objectives

• to bring together conservation specialists from all over the world and serve as a forum for professional dialogue and exchange;
• to collect, evaluate and disseminate information on conservation principles, techniques and policies;
• to co-operate with national and international authorities on the establishment of documentation centres specialising in conservation;
• to work for the adoption and implementation of international conventions on the conservation and enhancement of architectural heritage;
• to participate in the organisation of training programmes for conservation specialists on a world-wide scale;
• to put expertise of highly qualified professionals and specialists at the service of the international community.

Initiatives

• the strengthening of its presence world-wide by encouraging the creation and growth of ICOMOS National Committees;
• extending the influence of the Venice Charter by creating flexible doctrinal texts for specific sectors of architectural heritage;
• defining adaptable management techniques for cultural properties;
• developing training programmes on a multilateral basis involving the collaboration of National and International Committees;
• enriching ICOMOS International Documentation Centre in Paris and setting up video and slide libraries devoted to architectural heritage;
• organising and managing expert missions at the request of heritage administration and legal entities which judge necessary the intervention of a consultant for a particular conservation question;
• playing a vital role in counselling UNESCO on those cultural properties to be included on the World Heritage List and on the reporting of the state of conservation of the properties already listed;
• reaching specialists by means of wide distribution of the organisation's quarterly newsletter, ICOMOS News, its Scientific Journal, the publication series "Monuments and Sites" on the heritage of particular countries and the publishing of conference proceedings;
• awaking public interest in conservation by encouraging media coverage and the celebration of the International Day for Monuments and Sites (18 April).