World Heritage Site

In the search for yet another lockdown project I thought time had come to pimp up the TWHS pages on this website. These have always been more limited in content than the WHS pages, but as there are currently 1751 of them that is a missed opportunity. Even more so while we are steadily making progress covering them by visitor reviews. So I set myself to this huge task and managed to already implement some quick wins.

Changes at each TWHS page

Most of the changes can be found on the individual TWHS pages:

• The shortened name is used more often. The full name is still visible on the right after “Official name”, but a shortened version is used in general headers. Shortening of the names is often hard to do by the way, more polished names usually occur when a site is nominated for WH status.

• Each TWHS will eventually get an introduction text of 3 sentences, which states what the site is about and where potential OUV may lie. The main source for this is the description by the State Party on the UNESCO website, paraphrased. Sometimes a bit of wiki or the official website is thrown in to get more content.

• The new design shows a photo when there is one available.

• Like the WHS, all TWHS now have been categorized as either Cultural, Natural or Mixed.

• When the TWHS is proposed as an extension, it will show in the Site Info box (including a link to the WHS it will extend).

• And finally, in the bottom right corner the list is shown of who visited this TWHS.

Also, the TWHS table on the country pages has been updated to include the Cultural/Natural/Mixed indicator and whether the TWHS is an extension to an existing WHS.

What more can be done?

How can we further polish the TWHS pages or present data to clarify the subject of TWHS? This preferrably with the reuse of concepts already present for other pages such as the Site page of the Country page. Some ideas:

• Make visible that a TWHS is part of a transnational/transboundary nomination with TWHS in other countries.

• Categorize them like the site pages. This can provide interesting data, for example whether the mix of categories among TWHS is really different from that of the WHS.

• Add more Links, for example to the offical websites.

There are also a few things that I’d rather not tackle at the moment. Adding the site criteria (ii, iv etc) for example: a lot of work, they will probably change during the nomination process and I do not find them that interesting anyway. Also: adding connections (too slippery terrain as the borders of TWHS are often unclear). And this whole makeover does not include the FTWHS.

I can use some help...

The idea is to add content on a country-by-country basis, or at least begin with the countries sharing the same initial letter. For the TWHS in each country it has to be determined:

1. Is it an extension to a current WHS? Close reading of the description often is needed. I already added those with “Extension” in their full name.
2. Are photos available? Look for them in the public domain or donate your own.
3. Can we write 3 sentences of introduction text, starting with “[TWHS name] is a [what is it and why is it special]”?

I did Afghanistan, Australia and Belgium already and I must say that it was illuminating. So if you plan to visit a certain country in the future, this exercise helps to get an in-depth look at the TWHS.

I will report on the progress via this Forum topic. If you’d like to participate in any way, please pick a task there.

Which further improvements do you see for the TWHS pages?