SWISS PAGS (7)

ALL BELLS RING OUT THE NEWS – LAVAUX IS ON UNESCO’S WORLD HERITAGE LIST !

EVELINA RIOUKHINA, UNECE

The moment the news was announced, the inhabitants of Lavaux, including all the 14 villages
concerned : Lutry, Cully, Epesses, Chexbres, Grandvaux, Chardonne, Rivaz, St. Saphorin, Riex, Villette, Puidoux, Corseaux, Jongny and Corsier-sur-Vevey held their breath from joy and then spontaneously the bells in all the churches and abbeys started to ring out this news of joy.

It was the news for which perhaps all Switzerland had for so long waited and longed. Until then Switzerland counted six sites listed on the World Heritage List (see UNS 658/2007) and seven more in the Tentative List. And this year, Lavaux became the seventh World Heritage property on its territory.

For those of my colleagues who are not familiar with the region, herewith a very brief description. It is the site (among the seven) closest to Geneva, situated between Lausanne and Vevey, an hour’s quiet drive from UNOG. Its rich historical traditions date back to almost to the end of the first millennium, more precisely to 1142 when the first monks built their Abbeys and began to cultivate grapes on the rocky terraces. A special method of cultivation provided the vertical rocks with platforms to stop the grapes literally falling into the lake. It gave the place a special and unique beauty. Even the grape in Lavaux is unique, as the inhabitants tell, because it ripens under the three suns – one shining from the sky, one reflected from the waters of the lake and a third retained by the vertical stone walls that give out the sun’s heat during the night.

This place is rich with historical facts, traditions and legends. You will see it even on the reverse side of the 200 CHF banknote with the words of the famous Swiss writer Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz (1878–1947) from the novel “Beauté de la Terre” in the memories of Igor Stravinski, the writer lived there and devoted some of his writing to this land. You will also find a stone inscribed by Napoléon who visited Lavaux in 1797 and admired the beauty of the site and its grapes. About all this and many other events I will write in my next article. Today I would like to invite a person who pioneered the project in the hope that one day the region might be included in the World Heritage List.

Ms. Céline Fuchs graduated from the University of Lausanne, faculty of geography, and while working at the architect company Vallotton & Chanard, she was one of the pioneers who prepared and coordinated the pilot project on Lavaux until its submission to UNESCO in December 2005. Since August 2006, she joined the World Heritage Centre in the Europe and North America Unit, as an Associate Expert. Now she is back from the World Heritage Committee session in New Zealand where the news was announced, and I decided to ask her about the process of choosing World Heritage sites and how she felt about what had happened :

As I understand it, you started to work for UNESCO after the nomination dossier was submitted ?
Yes, I never thought about joining UNESCO and the World Heritage Centre. By chance, I was involved in the preparation of the nomination dossier of Lavaux. Then the Swiss Culture Office decided to create a post of Expert Associate for two years in the World Heritage Centre in UNESCO. I decided to apply for this job, as it was a great opportunity to discover an international organisation such as UNESCO.

Please tell our readers how and when you had the idea to present the candidature of Lavaux.
First of all, the preparation of the nomination dossier is a huge amount of work and it was done by a motivated team. In order to concretise the idea of Lavaux and UNESCO, an association, the AILU (Association pour l’inscription de Lavaux au patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO) was created in 2005 to promote this project, to collect funds, to establish a network which supports this ambitious idea.

Are you from this region ? How did it happen that you participated in the preparation of the file ?
I was born in Nyon, which is close to the Lake of Geneva. I didn’t have a good knowledge of the history and diversity of Lavaux until I started to work for this nomination dossier. The town planning company for which I was working was involved for many years in different projects in Lavaux, so we had a good knowledge of its characteristics and the local communities. When the idea of preparing a nomination dossier became real, the region asked us to prepare all the technical documents. You must know that a nomination file must follow very strict rules, defined in the Operational Guidelines for the implantation of the World Heritage Convention. The proposed nomination must contain a description of the site with imposed themes, a justification according to the ten criteria defined by the World Heritage Committee, a clear explanation of the national and local legislation and management, etc. You can imagine that it takes a long time to collect all these documents. The nomination dossier has to answer very high standards, as we are presenting a site that should have an outstanding universal value for future generations.

Tell us about the history of the nomination project.
In fact, it is a long story, as many people had more or less the idea that the landscape of Lavaux should join the World Heritage List of UNESCO. The main important step was the decision of the Swiss Confederation (the Culture Office) to register Lavaux on the Swiss Tentative List in 2004. More than 20 authors from universities, museums, writers have been involved in chapter 2, which is the description of the site.
Many meetings have been organised with the local authorities to explain the project, the idea and the concept of the World Heritage List. It is useless to prepare a nomination report without the support of the local communities, so we were very careful that this “UNESCO idea” was understood and accepted. Furthermore, with the participation of the association AILU, we made presentations to convince people, foundations and Private Corporations to give us funds for this project.
We did all this work without knowing if the decision of the Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Committee would be positive. We had the answer on 28 June 2007, but you can imagine that it was a long time to wait.
In order not to lose the whole work done, the AILU had decided to publish a book with all the texts of the descriptive chapter. During the preparation of the nomination dossier, we had many requests from the inhabitants of Lavaux to read what had been said about their region. So, aside the decision of the World Heritage Committee, the AILU prepared a book which will be published on 10 September 2007 in order to share this great adventure with the general public.

Since you are now working in the World Heritage Centre in UNESCO, I assume you are dealing with the heritage of unique universal values in all countries, and provide expertise to evaluate their unique importance for the world heritage ?
I am working in the Europe and North America Unit, which is in charge of 423 inscribed sites, for 51 State Parties. We are now dealing with half of the properties inscribed on the World Heritage list (in July 2007, the World Heritage Committee decided to inscribe 22 new sites, for a total of 851 properties). I am also involved in different European projects in order to improve World Heritage awareness, to ensure a better understanding of the concepts of safeguarding and managing World Heritage properties.

Imagine, that you are not from Switzerland, that you are not the one who prepared the dossier, how from outside, from UNESCO headquarters of the World Heritage Centre, would you assess the importance of this region, its historical and environmental significance ?
This is my personal opinion, but I think that maybe the World Heritage Centre staff does not always realise how difficult and hard it is to prepare a nomination dossier. It is a real challenge to convince all the local authorities and to prepare a good management system. Thanks to my experience, I know the background history for the Lavaux dossier, but I must admit I do not know the story and the significance of the others sites which have been inscribed this year and for which I am now responsible. It is very frustrating, as we do not have enough time to really be involved in the follow-up and to assess the importance of every new property.

From experience, I know that wherever we go, wherever we work, of course defending first of all international interests, we still keep in our hearts the part of the place where we originated. As I understand it, for you it is near Lavaux.

I can feel that it is as if it were your baby. How do you feel now, being a UNESCO staff member in Paris, that something to which you gave birth many years ago, today is considered part of the World Heritage List ? Does it bring a special sense to you emotionally ? Does it bring a special meaning to your work and life, such as an appreciation of your past work ?
Of course, I feel my situation is very particular, as I know “both sides of the story”. From a personal point of view, I am very
proud and touched that the Lavaux is now inscribed. The preparation of the nomination dossier was very intense. But all the efforts made have led to the inscription on the World Heritage list, which is the best reward. From a professional point of view, my past experience is very useful as I know how difficult it is to understand the meaning of World Heritage concepts. Despite the “Operational Guidelines of the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention” made to explain the World Heritage Convention, the State Parties are lost with all the procedures. In many occasions, I provide them with advice based on my own experience.

You experienced ”live” the session in New Zealand. From the report I know that 22 sites were considered for the World Heritage List ; please describe this very event – how did you live this very day, and this very news ?
The 28th June was a very long day for me. The vineyard of Lavaux was more the less the last site to be discussed by the World Heritage Committee (due to alphabetical order and region). We were already late in the general agenda of the Committee, so the Committee’s members decided to have an evening session. The World Heritage Committee had very intense discussions concerning other inscriptions. Time was running by and I got very stressed. Finally at the request of the Swiss delegation, the Chairperson asked to discuss the site of Lavaux before the end of the session. The vineyard was inscribed on the List without any discussion. Everything went so fast, I must admit it was a bit frustrating...But I was very happy, and at the same time very tired !

How do you think the choice might change the future of Lavaux ? Having visited many times the villages, the sites, having spoken to many inhabitants of this region, I could feel the pride of those who live there for this land and I could feel how deeply they treasure their land. What do you think this accession will mean for them ? What positive and negative consequences can you foresee ?
For me, the inscription of Lavaux on the World Heritage List is an international recognition of the efforts made for many years to protect the incredible landscape. Usually, an inscription on the World Heritage List could attract more tourists, but the region has already sufficient infrastructures. This inscription means also that the local communities and the Swiss Confederation are responsible for the safeguard of this outstanding universal landscape by establishing and promoting an adequate management of the property for the future generations of the world.

The official celebration of the accession will be on 22 September. Will you come to Lavaux ?
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to participate in this celebration. I deeply regret not to be there, but I will certainly visit the site later by myself, with a deep feeling and new eyes on the villages, the vines and the lake.

I plan to visit Lavaux during this celebration and will be happy to share the joy of the people living and working in the vineyards there, I also promised to write about them and will do that in the future UNS. Thank you for the interview. All my congratulations again that perhaps for you one of the most important dreams in life came true. I also wish all best luck to you in your very important work for UNESCO.