I was just poking around on
www.worldheritageireland.ie, which is actually a pretty useful resource.
I came across a publication called
Tentative List and World Heritage StatusIt gave a decent introduction to many of the issues involved, without getting too academic. There was one bit I was interested in though.
DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, HERITAGE AND
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, IRELAND:
Discussions are underway in the World Heritage Committee regarding the serial listing of
sites which are already separately inscribed on the List. France is currently considering
this option to combine several of its cathedrals into a single serial nomination. By linking
up individual World Heritage sites into one World Heritage serial listing, the European
numerical bias of the List could be reduced by sinking the amount of World Heritage
listings, while not reducing the actual number of protected sites under the World Heritage
Convention. This measure would not reduce the cultural/natural significance of each
individual site nor diminish the prestige value of the listings.
The nomination of cultural routes is another way of linking similar sites into one serial
listing. This type of World Heritage site should be based on historical cultural routes
such as the Route of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, inscribed on the list in 1993.
Cultural routes also have great potential as transnational nominations. France has its own
Routes of Santiago de Compostela World Heritage site, inscribed since 1998.
Discussions are now progressing between the two States Parties to join up these two
separate sites into one listing in the form of a transnational cultural route property.
I really hope this will come to something and it can help bring a little more balance to the list. The Santiago issue seems astoundingly obvious to most of us, but at least there is some discussion going on relating to it. It looks like perhaps the nordic countries are taking a lead as wel with the recent additions to the T-List that seem to indicate
Viking sites may be joined into one serial site.
I'm not holding my breath but maybe it can lead to something.
That Irish World Heritage website actually seems pretty useful, so I may do a little more exploring.