Analysis and Explanation of the Effective Components in the Selection of Sites for Inscription on the World Heritage List

Abstract
The convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage, or the World Heritage Convention (1972), is now considered the most remarkable international tool to protect and identify the shared heritage of humans. Inscription of a site on the World Heritage List is a function of regulations that are specified by the 1972 World Heritage Convention and its operational guidelines. According to the convention, the member states selected sites within their geographical expanse as nominees to enter the world heritage list according to the regulations of the convention. In the years that followed the formation of the convention, the increasing influence of politics made many countries see the world heritage list as a tool to achieve their political, economic, and cultural goals. Thus, the selection of the sites is now a function of multiple factors that make the process of inscription complicated and, in some cases, costly. The present study aimed to answer the following question: “What factors influence the selection of site processes for inscriptions on the world heritage list?” The goal was to identify the explicit and implicit factors so that more successful and cost-effective decisions could be taken from a domestic policy perspective. As a result, the influential components were identified and explained by a descriptive-analytical investigation of the texts related to the convents and a select group of 10 countries with distinguished performance in the process using content analysis, and their relationships were interpreted. Investigations showed that the factors that influenced the process were placed in three layers: the central layer was the requirements of the convention, the middle layer was the constraints of inscription, and the prioritized themes, and the external layer was the factors that influenced the method of selection adopted by countries that included items ranging from their governmental structure to their macro-scale policies in the international arena (among others).
Keywords: World Heritage Convention, Inscription, Cultural Heritage, Natural Heritage.
 
Introduction
The World Heritage Convention that deals with protecting and identifying the most significant tangible natural and cultural heritage of humans (Outstanding Universal Value or OUV) contains extensive concepts. The list of the World Heritage Sites is at the heart of the convention and is regarded as its main instrument in terms of identifying and preserving the shared heritage of humans. Investigating the convention indicates that nominating the sites for inscription in the list of world heritage sites is the responsibility of the member states. In addition, the list of world heritage sites includes anything that has a OUV according to the regulations published by the world heritage committee. Thus, it could be argued that the selection of the sites by the countries according to the regulations and the specification of priorities form the backbone of the process of inscription in the World Heritage List; as a result, based on the approach taken by each country to the inscription of the World Heritage sites, a variety of the methods of selection and the motives to nominate and register them have made the selection process complicated. 
On the other hand, putting a site on the list of World Heritage is very important for some countries since it creates a distinguished cultural status for them on the global stage and brings about economic value. In such situations, national interests replace the main goal of the convention – i.e., the protection of heritages (Frey & Steiner, 2011, p. 560).  
The main question that arises in the process of inscription is the following: “What factors influence the process of selecting sites in different countries to inscribe in the world heritage list, and how do they relate to each other?” The present study is intended to answer this question. The goal was to find the main components of the process of selecting a site and illustrate a clear image of that process by accurately identifying the implicit and explicit factors. The identification of such components is necessary because it can assist convenient policymaking in the process of inscribing and protecting sites, allocating resources to appropriate paths, and making successful registrations at world heritage sites. Thus, the present study could contribute to modifying the process of selecting sites in the country and focusing attention on all influential aspects that affected the process of registering a site on the World Heritage List.
 
Identified Traces
Looking at the World Heritage Convention and its executive manual shows that a site needs to have an “outstanding universal value” so that it can be inscribed in the World Heritage List. The concept of OUV has three main aspects that make it definable and assessable: world heritage criteria that include cultural, natural, and mixed criteria; and any nominated site needs to meet at least one out of the ten criteria to be inscribed. In addition, a site needs to meet integration, authenticity, protection, and management conditions. 
The OUV is the main criterion for any nominated site, but it is not enough for a successful inscription due to the vast extent of the sites having potential OUV. The most important factor at the international level is the approach taken by the World Heritage Committee to fill the gaps in the list (global strategy) that have appeared due to the imbalances introduced to the list over time. Thus, the committee prioritizes themes that have rarely emerged in the list of World Heritage sites and has imposed certain restrictions on the nomination of sites by the member states to guarantee the success of the approach. 
On the other hand, the convention has explicitly given the responsibility of identifying and nominating the sites to the member states. Thus, the way each country deals with the selection of the sites is another important factor that influences the process of selection. Investigating a sample of different countries and their approaches to dealing with the topic shows that certain factors influence the process in most of the member states. The factors include the policies and the political orientations of the countries, the government’s structure, the organizational structure of the institutions responsible for the selection of the sites, national laws related to World Heritage sites, screening of the sites on a domestic level to nominate a single site, the participation and involvement of the stakeholders, the manner of collecting suggestions for the nominated sites, geographical distribution, the costs of preparation and creating a nomination file, and different methods of evaluating the sites in various countries. 
 
Conclusion 
In response to the main question of the present study regarding the relationship between the influential factors in the process of selecting a site to be inscribed in the World Heritage List, it could be argued that the process of selection is a function of three levels of factors; the first levels concern the obligations of the convention for the registration of a site. The second level deals with the approach taken by the World Heritage Committee concerning the inscription of sites. Finally, the third level concerns the approach taken by each member state to the topic of selecting the sites and their approaches concerning world heritage. Thus, if the relationships between the main and peripheral factors that influence the process of selecting a site for the World Heritage List are supposed to be shown as a model, the central position is taken by the OUV of a site. Moreover, the next layer is occupied by the global strategy program, which includes the evaluation of the lists of countries and the limitations of the inscription. Finally, the last layer deals with the method of selection adopted by each country, which is formed by various components and influences the method of selection along with the obligations of the committee.