Integrating Heritage and Culture in Plans

Bio: Ron has worked for UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre in Paris for twelve years (from 2000 to 2012), where he supervised and coordinated a variety of projects and programmes. Between 2003 and 2005 he was the Chief of Unit for Latin America & the Caribbean. From 2005 to 2012 he coordinated the World Heritage Cities Programme, under which he spearheaded the international effort to develop new guidelines for urban conservation that were adopted by UNESCO’s General Conference in November 2011 as the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape. From 2001 onwards he’s been coordinating a USD 2 million Netherlands Trust Fund at UNESCO. In October 2012 he accepted a position as Vice Director of the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for Asia and the Pacific (WHITRAP) in Shanghai, where he was also appointed as Senior Researcher at Tongji University’s Advanced Research Institute for Architecture and Urban and Rural Planning to set up a research programme for the application of the Historic Urban Landscape approach in China. He remains the coordinator of the worldwide implementation of the new UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape, as well as the Netherlands Trust Fund, on behalf of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre.

Education: Ron received his PhD from Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) with a thesis on Dutch Colonial Town Planning (1600–1800), published in book form in 2000. He holds Masters Degrees in Technological Design (MTD) and Urban Planning (MEng).

Key Publications: Ron is the Founding Co-Editor of the Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development (JCHMSD), published by Emerald Group in the UK, and a Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Change over Time: International Journal of Conservation and the Built Environment, published by Penn Press, University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design (USA). Recently his book The Historic Urban Landscape – Managing Heritage in an Urban Century (co-authored with Francesco Bandarin) was published by Wiley-Blackwell in Oxford, UK (March 2012). He's currently writing a sequel, together with Francesco Bandarin, on the Historic Urban Landscape Approach, which is scheduled for publication by Wiley-Blackwell in the Spring of 2014.

Other Publications: The Economic Feasibility of Heritage Conservation (provisional title), in: Blackwell Companion to the New Heritage Studies, edited by William Logan and Mairead Nic Craith, Wiley-Blackwell Publishers, Oxford (forthcoming). Cities of Asia. Heritage for the Future (co-authored with Ken Taylor), in: Cultural landscapes, legacy and portent. Thinking towards 21st century challenges, edited by Ken Taylor, Archer St Clair & Nora Mitchell, Routledge, London (forthcoming). UNESCO’s Programme on Modern Heritage, in: Critical Encyclopaedia of Reuse and Restoration of XXth Century Architecture, edited by Roberta Grignola (forthcoming). From Astronomy to Zanzibar – 10 Years of Dutch Support to World Heritage, UNESCO, Paris 2012. Aan Amsterdam de toekomst – De positive van UNESCO ten aanzien van behoud en beheer van historische binnensteden en de rol van Werelderfgoed daarin, in: Amsterdams Werelderfgoed – De grachtengordel na 400 jaar, M. Slooff and J.E. Abrahamse (editors), Bureau Monumenten & Archeologie, Amsterdam 2012 (pp. 80–86). The Historic Urban Landscape – Managing Heritage in an Urban Century (co-authored with Francesco Bandarin), Wiley-Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, UK (March 2012). Gough and Henderson – Treasure Islands in Danger (co-authored with Lucia Simion), World Heritage No. 59, April 2011 (pp. 47–51). Managing Historic Cities, World Heritage Papers No.27 (editor), UNESCO, Paris 2010 (available at: http://whc.unesco.org/en/series/27/). Nomination of the Silk Road in China to UNESCO’s World Heritage List: Proposals for a Strategic Approach and Reference Framework for Heritage Routes, in: Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road, N. Agnew (editor), The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles 2010 (pp. 62–71). Sleeping with the Enemy? Private Sector Involvement in World Heritage Preservation, in: Proceedings of the Xth World Congress of the Organization of World Heritage Cities, Quito (Ecuador), The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles 2009. The Challenge of Genadendal, South Africa, H. du Preez, R. van Oers, J. Roos & L. Verhoef (eds), IOS Press, Amsterdam 2009. Towards new international guidelines for the conservation of historic urban landscapes (HUL), in: City & Time 3 (3): 3. [online] URL: http://www.ct.ceci-br.org Safeguarding the Historic Urban Landscape, in: Topos – The International Review of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, No. 58, 2007 (pp. 91–99). Conservation intégrée du patrimoine colonial néerlandais: politique et examples de projet, in: Architecture Coloniale et Patrimoine – Expériences européennes, Institut National du Patrimoine, Paris 2006 (pp. 161–169). Preventing the Goose with the Golden Eggs from Catching Bird Flu – UNESCO’s Efforts in Safeguarding the Historic Urban Landscape, in: Cities between Integration and Disintegration: Opportunities and Challenges, ISoCaRP Review 02, Sitges 2006 (pp. 10–27). Caribbean Wooden Treasures, World Heritage Papers No.15 (editor), UNESCO, Paris 2005 (available at: http://whc.unesco.org/en/series/15/). Dutch Involvement in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage Overseas, Proceedings of the second International Symposium on Restoration, L.Verhoef & R. van Oers (eds), Delft University Press 2005. Identification and Documentation of Modern Heritage, World Heritage Papers No. 5 (editor), UNESCO, Paris 2003 (available at: http://whc.unesco.org/en/series/5/). Dutch Colonial Town Planning between 1600 – 1800: Planning Principles & Settlement Typologies, Southeast Asia Research Paper No. 56, Asia-Pacific Research Program (APARP), Academia Sinica, Taipei (Taiwan), April 2002 (38 pages). Stadsplanning en het behoud van VOC structuren, in: Kennis en Compagnie – De VOC en de moderne wetenschap, L. Blussé & I. Ooms (editors), Uitgeverij Balans, Amsterdam 2002 (pp. 21–34). The Dutch Urban Heritage of Recife, Pernambuco, in Brazil, in: The Journal of Architectural Conservation, Donhead Publishers, United Kingdom, Volume 7 Number 1, March 2001 (pp. 56–71). Dutch Town Planning Overseas during VOC and WIC Rule (1600-1800), Walburg Pers, Zutphen 2000. Dossier for the Nomination of the Historic Inner City of Paramaribo to the World Heritage List of UNESCO, VACO Press, Paramaribo 1998.

Past Assignments: External Reviewer for the South African National Research Foundation of the research output of Prof. Karel A. Bakker, Head of the Department of Architecture of the University of Pretoria in South Africa (19 June 2012). Co-Supervisor of Ms. Marlen Hörenz’s Master Thesis on “The Implementation of World Heritage Management Plans: a Quality Assessment Framework for European World Heritage Cities and Towns”, in the World Heritage Studies Program at the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus, Germany (graduated on 14 May 2012). Expert Advisor to the Getty Conservation Institute’s Readings in Conservation series on “Historic Cities and Urban Settlements” (2011 – ). External Advisor to Ms. Paloma Guzmán’s Master Thesis on “Social and Cultural Impacts of Urban Interventions in the Public Space of Mexico City’s Historic Centre/The Revitalization Project of Plaza Garibaldi – A case Study”, in the World Heritage Studies Program at the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus, Germany (graduated on 18 October 2011). Member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies (IMRS) at Durham University in the United Kingdom (2011 – ). Lecturer in ICCROM’s course “Conservation of Built Heritage” (CBH 10), Rome, April 2010. Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Change Over Time: International Journal of Conservation and the Built Environment, published by Penn Press, University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design, Philadelphia, USA (2010 – ) 2009–2010 Getty Conservation Institute Visiting Scholar, Los Angeles, to conduct research on the Historic Urban Landscape. Development of 2009–2012 research project “OUV, WH Cities & Sustainability – Surveying the impact of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) assessment practices on the sustainable development of World Heritage (WH) Cities”, with Dr. Ana Pereira-Roders of Eindhoven University of Technology. Development of the “Advanced Course in World Heritage Conservation and Management” at World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and Pacific Region, Beijing, China (2009). Senior Research Fellow at the College of Design, University of Minnesota, USA (2006–2009) Research Fellow at the Research Centre for Modification, Intervention and Transformation of the Built Environment (®MIT), Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands (2000–2009). Member of the Jury for the 9th International Berkeley Undergraduate Prize for Architectural Design Excellence, University of California at Berkeley, USA (2007). External Reviewer at the Doctoral Review Board of the University of Cape Town, South Africa, of the PhD-thesis of Mr. Stephen Stewart Townsend: “Development Rights and Conservation Constraints – Urban Conservation-oriented Controls in the City of Cape Town” (2003). Development of the Module “Promotion & Consulting of World Heritage” for the Master Course in World Heritage Studies at the Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Germany (2001–2002). Research Associate at Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto, Japan (2000–2002).