I found a
Report on the work of the Finnish tentative list working group (in Finnish). Here are some interesting findings about next possible Finnish tentative sites.
The working group has divided into three categories the sites that have a potential to meet the conditions set by the World Heritage Strategy. Here are the categories and sites with some excerpts from the report:
THE FIRST CATEGORY: INTERNATIONAL SERIAL NOMINATIONSThe first category has a number of sites that may not be considered on their own, but have a chance to succeed as part of an international serial nomination.
Olympic buildings- "The Finnish Olympic buildings are a well-preserved entity, most of which is still in use. It may not be realistic to make a serial nomination of all of Helsinki's Olympic buildings as functionalist buildings, for example."
Labor movement initiative-
Paasitorni (Helsinki Workers' House) has appeared in discussions on the Danish serial nomination proposal about the Labor movement. In the Danish investigation, Paasitorni emerged as a possible target from Finland.
- "The labor movement is not represented on the World Heritage List, so the Danish initiative is a significant addition to the World Heritage List."
Underwater cultural heritage- "Possible themes could be, for example, naval battle zones, merchant shipping over a period of time, or the development of shipbuilding or ship type."
- "The well-preserved wrecks of the Baltic Sea, especially from the 17th and 18th centuries, are likely to be able to meet the requirements of the World Heritage List."
- "The proposal should be a multinational serial designation involving several Baltic Sea states. In such a project, Finland could even be proactive."
War graves- "With regard to the proposal for the Finnish war graves of Winter War, Continuation War and Lapland War, it makes sense to wait for the committee's decision on the evaluation of
Sites Associated with Memories of Recent Conflicts."
- "Finland seeks to monitor whether other countries' nominations create combinations that Finland could join."
Salpa Line- "World War II defense lines, such as the Salpa Line, are not on the World Heritage List to the same extent as older defense lines.
- "Also in this case, it is worth waiting for the decision of the World Heritage Committee on the evaluation of
Sites Associated with Memories of Recent Conflicts."
THE SECOND CATEGORY: REQUIRE FURTHER INVESTIGATION OR RESEARCHThe second category has sites or themes where the working group sees potential for OUV, but which require further research or studies to demonstrate this.
Oulujoki power plants- "The Oulujoki power plant architecture is a fine, nationally very important industrial entity. In its scope, it is quite exceptional on a Finnish scale."
- "However, the potential of the site to show OUV is currently not entirely clear. Similar power plants can be found in, for example, the USA, Canada, Russia, China and Brazil."
- "A similar site in Norway can already be found on the World Heritage List: Rjukan-Notodden."
- "There is potential in the Oulujoki power plants, but if the site is to be presented as an industrial site, the study must be extended to engineering. Standardization and construction technology would require further research to demonstrate the special value of Oulujoki hydropower plants. Presenting the site as a change in the environment, on the other hand, would require a completely different approach."
- "The view of the working group is that it is difficult to get a site on the list based on hydropower or architecture alone."
Finnish lighthouses and waterways (mixed)
- "A similar site does not already exist on the World Heritage List."
- "It would be worthwhile to make a brief comparison with other similar sites in order to find out to what extent Finnish sea marks, their abundance and historical stratification are an exceptional phenomenon in the world."
Conifer tar production- "Tar production has been a major industry in the area of present-day Finland and the most important export product in the 17th and 18th centuries, both in the new area and along new routes in the 19th century. The working group sees that conifer tar production could be an issue that would have the potential to meet the criteria set by the World Heritage List. However, the topic would require further investigation and inventory."
Cultural landscapes- "Cultural landscapes are an under-represented group and have therefore been prioritized in the national World Heritage Strategy."
- "It would be worthwhile to study, for example, the whole "Diverse cultural landscapes marked by agriculture", in which the areas at different stages would be represented, for example, in one and the same riverside valley. Another possibility would be to study structural development in the landscape through sites at different stages of land redistribution."
- "Of the Finnish agricultural landscapes, those related to water either in Lakeland or in the archipelago, are probably the strongest on an international scale."
- "For all cultural landscape sites, it is particularly important that they are large enough."
THE THIRD CATEGORY: READY TO BE EVALUATED FOR THE TENTATIVE LISTThe third category has sites that are so ready that the working group believes they can be sent to ICOMOS for evaluation for a tentative list.
Areas created as a result of systematic settlement activities during and after World War II (1940–1954)- The proposal is made by the Finnish Settlement Museum.
- "Important themes could be the outcome strategy or Finland's post-war settlement activities, which are important issues for Finland."
- "There have been settlement activities elsewhere (eg in Germany) but not on almost the same scale as in Finland."
- "Much research has been done on the subject in the history of architecture, art and social history, and it is still being done because it is a topical issue in today's world as well. The conservation situation and the chances of finding representative sites are good."
- "The phenomena would be architectural design, standardization, and the results of land distribution and zoning for population relocation. The target areas could be rural areas for small-scale farming, housing areas for urban populations and residential areas for industry."
- "Criteria two, three, and six would be possible. However, criterion four (typology) should be avoided."
- Sites included to this tentative site is not yet decided. Only sites mentioned are
Laivateollisuus Residential Area in Pansio, and the
Finnish Settlement Museum in Lapinlahti.
The humane modern architecture of Alvar Aalto- "The buildings and plans implemented by
Alvar Aalto are recognized in the international architectural literature and are thus arguably Finland's most internationally known phenomena."
- "The evaluation of Paimio Sanatorium (Icomos 2007) called on Finland to examine the possibility of submitting more than one of Aalto's buildings to the World Heritage List."
- "The performance cannot be based on personal history, but rather on how Alvar Aalto influenced modernism in the world. The working group considers this proposal to be the strongest of all the proposals received."
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Of the second and first categories, I think the best potential is "tar production" (if there are enough well-preserved sites), "underwater cultural heritage", and "labor movement". I would LOVE a site of Finnish lighthouses, as I very much like to visit lighthouse islands, but it is hard to know how unique it would be. "Cultural landscapes" and "Salpa Line" could have some potential. I think "Oulujoki hydro power plants" don't have OUV. "War graves" and "Olympic buildings" have weak chances.
Of the third category, Aalto architecture should be enough for WHS. Settlement nomination is a bit difficult to grasp, but they seem to believe in it. If the site selection is reasonable and the title is understandable, it might have some chances.