In 1993 Riksantikvaren (Norway's Directorate for Cultural Heritage) offered a contract to ICOMOS Norway to monitor two World Heritage Sites: Bryggen in Bergen, which was inscribed on the List in 1979, and Røros, inscribed in 1980. Both are urban sites.
Røros is an extensive mining settlement. The town dates from 1644 when the development of the copperworks began. The numerous surviving wooden buildings represent the Norwegian tradition of wooden construction and reflect the dual occupations of the inhabitants, mining and farming. The domestic groups are arranged as compact farmyards. These groups form a regular urban pattern adapted to the mountain terrain. Røros is an outstanding survivor of a traditional kind of human settlement using traditional methods of construction. Also, it has become vulnerable under the impact of economic change since the cessation of copper mining in 1977 after 333 years of continuous activity. Røros was listed under criteria (iii), (iv) and (v) of the Operational Guidelines.
Bryggen (the Hanseatic wharf) is a part of the historic centre of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. In its present appearance, Bryggen, with its traditional wooden buildings, perpetuates the heritage of one of the oldest large trading ports of northern Europe, and is the only trading port outside the Hanseatic League whose original structures remain within the city limits and cityscape. About 1350, the Hanseatic League gained control of Bergen. Bryggen owes its physiognomy to the German colonists. It is characterized by timber buildings along narrow streets running parallel to the docks. The urban unit revolves around a courtyard, which is common to several three-storied wooden buildings. In its present form, following a great fire in 1702, Bryggen illustrates the use of space in a quarter of Hanseatic merchants. Bryggen was listed under criterion (iii).
For both sites Riksantikvaren requested ICOMOS to
The contract stipulated that ICOMOS Norway should establish a working group to be chaired by the President of the National Committee. The working group should be independent and not include representatives from the local community or from cultural heritage administration in Norway. The final contract was signed in the beginning of November 1993 and the work was stipulated to be completed in four months, by the end of February 1994. ICOMOS Norway approached its complex and complicated task by establishing a team based on national and international expertise. We were very lucky to attract the following experts:
The working group visited each site for 3 days. Thanks to committed and efficient site managers, the group was quickly introduced to problems and expectations from the local community's perspective, including the owners'. At Røros, the Mayor participated in a one-day seminar with the group and local administrators and businesses. The group surveyed the sites as well as the surrounding areas. Based on the acquired information and the group's observations and subsequent analysis, the group drafted its report before leaving the sites. It is thanks to Jukka Jokilehto that this was done on computer and thus saved the group leader an immense amount of work afterwards. The working group concluded the monitoring reports with a series of recommendations representing a comprehensive future planning programme for the sites.
Based on the reports, ICOMOS Norway's annual seminar in March 1994 added valuable insights which were submitted to Riksantikvaren in a supplementary report. The work of ICOMOS has been very well received by Riksantikvaren and the local communities. In cooperation with the site managers, Riksantikvaren is now implementing the ICOMOS recommendations. These included a proposal to extend the boundaries of the Røros World Heritage Site to encompass the vast mining and industrial landscape (the "Circumference") surrounding the presently inscribed mining town.
Riksantikvaren's monitoring contracts with ICOMOS Norway were based on a wish to manage the sites according to current thinking within the World Heritage field. This meant that the ICOMOS working group had to consider the economic, social and symbolic dimensions of the sites and their interactions throughout time with their environment in all its diversity, in addition to issues related to architectural and urban preservation. Everybody who was involved in the work of the monitoring working group appreciated the opportunity to bring their problems to the attention of an independent team which could bring all problems out in the open. ICOMOS Norway benefited from the monitoring contracts in several ways. We have subsequently seen that the reports have opened corridors for debate among professionals involved in cultural heritage and nature management.
Knut Einar Larsen is professor of architectural history and preservation at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, Chairman of ICOMOS Norway since 1992, and Secretary General of ICOMOS International Wood Committee since 1990.