Kazan University’s astronomical observatories nomination proposals for the UNESCO World Heritage List finalized
All the documents will be submitted to UNESCO in the next few days.
The preparations started in late 2019, and in December 2020, KFU received a confirmation from Dr. Mechtild R枚ssler, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center, that the proposals had been moved to the organization’s Tentative Lists. KFU experts visited the Heritage Center and continued consultations, but the process was significantly hindered by the pandemic – including a planned but never materialized visit by a UNESCO inspection to Kazan. However, the work was still completed and is going to arrive in Paris on Tuesday, 1 February.
Preparing the proposals is but a small part of the whole procedure, says Director of the Institute of International Relations Ramil Khayrutdinov, “In the next three months, we hope to receive a positive answer. In that case, a technical commission from UNESCO will visit Tatarstan. The experts will observe the objects and re-check the data, after which a final opinion will be formalized. Finally, the World Heritage Center should make a decision about the nomination.”
In June 2022, Kazan is hosting the . However, the decision is not expected so soon and will probably be made in 2023.
An international conference about KFU’s astronomical observatories will be held this year, as well as the Universities and World Heritage Forum.
The idea to include KFU’s astronomical heritage into the World Heritage List was first voiced in 2009. In 2017, it received support from the then Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova, President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, and State Counsellor of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev.
Source text: Alina Iskanderova
Translation: Yury Nurmeev