Territorial conference: on the road to action

François Bonneau, President of the Centre Region and the Mission Val de Loire, was delighted that aspirations won over constraints as regards the management plan, approved by over 90% of the authorities of the listed site (plus 9.5% with reservations). 

The Prefect Pierre-Etienne Bisch said that the two major challenges were now governance and mobilisation of funding, particularly on the basis of the future European and State-Region plan Contracts. 

Concerning governance, the official establishment of bodies that had been formed to monitor the management plan was announced: 

• Département-level consultation bodies chaired by the representative of the département prefect, involving the Département-level Directorate for Territories (DDT), Territorial Department for Architecture and Heritage (STAP), Regional Directorate for the Environment, Development and Housing (DREAL) and Mission Val de Loire so as to share feedback from the field and coordinate action on projects that could affect the OUV.
• A technical inter-regional committee, under the auspices of the Centre Secretary-General for Regional Affairs (SGAR), made up of the Centre and Pays de la Loire Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs (DRAC) and DREAL, one representative of each département-level body, the two Regions and Mission Val de Loire. This will work on coming up with a strategy for implementing the Management Plan in all its components, shaping a common culture through the most sensitive projects encountered and preparing for the Territorial Conference.

Towards an action plan

Through their actions, several local officials have proven the commitment of their authorities to taking the World Heritage on board in their planning documents and projects, or in the territorial policies of Regions and Départements alike. 

Nicolas Forray for the DREAL and Xavier Clarke de Dromantin for the DRAC talked about the actions under way or being considered by the State in terms of information, managing the public river domain and regulatory protection. 

Isabelle Longuet for the Mission Val de Loire presented the outline of the action plan concerning guidelines VII to IX of the Management Plan, jointly drawn up with the Loire Valley stakeholders during the many meetings held over the past two years. The next meetings are scheduled for October and November. 

On this website:

• 1res Rencontres des collectivités locales

Relations with UNESCO

France has submitted its periodic report on application of the World Heritage Convention and the state of conservation of the listed properties. The report on the Loire Valley World Heritage, forwarded by the Centre DRAC at the end of June, concluded on preservation of the authenticity, integrity and outstanding universal value of the Loire Valley.  The main difficulties involve preventing: urban sprawl, architecture from losing its character and farmland from being encroached upon – all subjects covered in the management plan. A summary of the periodic report can be obtained from the Centre DRAC. 

Work on the terms for using the UNESCO label is under way.  Nevertheless, public mission organisations wishing to use the new logo may get in touch with the Mission Val de Loire to find out what the current terms are for using it. 

Download:

• Territorial Conference programme
• Note de synthèse Approbation du plan de gestion du site UNESCO – Septembre 2013 (PDF, 568.19 kB)
• Mission Val de Loire – L’essentiel des activités 2012-2013