Three year Plan 2021-24

The IPHC is an active and productive ICOMOS international scientific committee (ISC) that will extend and enhance its endeavours in the coming three years – and beyond.

ICOMOS:

• Continue active engagement with ICOMOS Working Groups;

• Engage with other ICOMOS ISCs, as and when required;

• Provide opportunities for emerging professionals to engage with the IPHC;

• Develop a cohort of colleagues for succession.

Advocacy:

• Continue the IPHC’s leading role in enhancing polar cultural heritage governance,

management, and fieldwork.

Arctic engagement:

• Build strong relationships with Arctic nation ICOMOS committees, Arctic nations,

the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), Association of Arctic Expedition

Cruise Operators (AECO) and related organizations;

• Formally expand the IPHC mandate to include indigenous sites in the Arctic;

• Increase Arctic IPHC membership;

• Liaise with the Polar Archaeology Network (PAN);

• Convene an Arctic heritage conference in 2021 or 2022, depending on the public

health situation;

Antarctic engagement:

• Enhance the IPHC’s relationships with the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP), and the International Association of Antarctic Operators (IAATO) by providing expert advice and counsel;

• Produce and have endorsed Antarctic Archaeology Guidelines in ICOMOS and SCAR formats:

o ‘ICOMOS Antarctic Archaeology Guidelines’;

o ‘SCAR Code of Conduct (CoC) for researching and protecting archaeological evidence in Antarctica’;

o Provide a cover paper for SCAR/ATS introducing the CoC, and to foreground other related Antarctic heritage matters.

• Develop papers/guidelines for the SCAR/ATS and the CEP’s Environmental Portal.

These could include the following themes and topics:

o Antarctic Heritage, a history and analysis;

o Review of Historic Sites and Monuments (HSM) criteria and values – responding to the CEP 2018 paper on HSMs;

o Development of Heritage Conservation and Management Plans for all HSMs, and heritage related Antarctica Specially Protected Area (ASPA) or Antarctic Specially Managed Area (ASMA);

o Incorporation of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for HSM listing and ongoing management;

o Examination of legal, semi-legal and cultural ‘ownership’ issues relating to ex-situ conservation;

o Antarctic Heritage at Risk;

• Establish, as and when required, IPHC working groups on these and other matters to access expert advice and provide professional enhancement opportunities for IPHC members.

Environmental responsibility:

• Enhance the IPHC’s current use of digital platforms to further reduce travel;

• Continue to have joint meetings with polar related organizations, with virtual links for those unable to attend.