Nov 07 - Gibraltar Museum At Official Opening Of New UNESCO World Heritage Site In Israel
Professor Clive Finlayson and Dr Geraldine Finlayson have recently returned from Israel. They were invited guests of the Israeli Commission for UNESCO, the Regional Council Hof HaCarmel, the University of Haifa and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, for the ceremony marking the inscription by UNESCO of the Mount Carmel Caves in Nahal Me’arot Nature Reserve as a World Heritage Site. The site is the most recent one reflecting caves and early human occupation to be inscribed by UNESCO and has obvious parallels and affinities with Gibraltar’s own caves.
The opportunity of the invitation was taken to learn from the recent experience of nomination of these sites and a number of meetings were arranged that provided a fruitful exchange of ideas and opened up avenues for future collaborative work. One such avenue was with the University of Haifa itself with the Finlaysons having a lunch meeting with its rector, Professor David Faraggi. During the course of the visit Professor Finlayson gave a seminar to staff and students at the university.
A meeting was organised with Dr Dalit Atrackchi, Secretary General of the Israel National Commission for UNESCO and Professor Michael Turner, UNESCO Chair in Urban Design and Conservation Studies. A separate meeting involved the Hof-Hacarmel Regional Council, on whose area the new World Heritage Site is located, and was chaired by Vice Mayor Modi Bracha. Both proved extremely useful as part of the learning experience but also as a forum for mutual exchange of ideas and for future collaborative work in a number of heritage areas.
Commenting on the visit Dr Finlayson said that she had been impressed by the high standards which she had seen adding “this has been a hugely important and productive visit for us and one that promises for the future. We have been received with wonderful hospitality, have met old friends and made many new ones. We are most grateful to the Israeli authorities”.
Meanwhile work on Gibraltar’s own bid gathers pace and a meeting of the Steering Committee which has been set up in Gibraltar will be held on 10th December. Works will be carried out to the site shortly after a digital survey is completed. Professor Finlayson expressed his satisfaction at Government’s support for the bid “It is all gathering pace now and we must keep the momentum up. We have a hard year ahead but we are confident that we can meet the challenge”.
