The World Heritage Site of Petra in Jordan is a large and complex site to manage with its multiple stakeholders, governance complexities, and competing local interests. It has been subjected to numerous management plans, none of which were fully implemented. In developing a new Integrated Management Plan one of the biggest challenges was to develop a methodology that would allow all voices to be heard, various interests brought together, and local ownership of the plan's objectives achieved. This paper reflects on the practical experience of a novel approach to management planning at a cultural heritage site which draws on the theories and practices of participatory planning and natural environment management, and combines top-down and bottom-up approaches through collaboration with local entities and stakeholders. Utilising local institutional resources, in an approach that is locally driven and externally facilitated, the resulting Integrated Management Plan exemplifies a process of co-creation of management decisions.

The Petra Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985, characterized by a spectacular geo-archaeological landscape, is also a fragile site facing a wide diversity of natural phenomena (landslides, flash floods, earthquakes) that pose a major threat to the heritage as well as to the visitors. The UNESCO Office in Amman, in partnership with the Department of Antiquities of Jordan and the Petra Archaeological Park has engaged in a long term strategy aimed at the prevention and mitigation of natural hazards at the site. Specific attention has been devoted to the case of the Petra Siq, a 1.2 km naturally formed gorge in the sandstone mountains serving as the only tourist entrance to the site, which is particularly at risk due to its narrow pathway, limited access points and recent active slope processes. Drawing on this approach, the UNESCO "Siq Stability" project has been developed to design a strategy towards prevention and mitigation of instability phenomena at the Siq of Petra. After an initial phase devoted to the reconstruction of geomorphological dynamics and monitoring of active slope processes, the current phase of the project focuses on the implementation of landslide risk mitigation measures, the capacity development of the national authorities and the development and implementation of an awareness strategy on natural hazards. Main focus has been placed on project activities undertaken, results achieved and suggestions for steps ahead, aiming to present a useful case study on the management of natural hazards applied to heritage sites leading to the conservation of a unique World Heritage property.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to discuss the application of documentation and recording techniques for World Heritage conservation using the case studies of the Petra Archeological Park (PAP) in Jordan and the Silk Roads Cultural Heritage Information System (CHRIS) in Central Asia. In the PAP case study, these techniques could aid in the assessment of risks faced by World Heritage properties and threats to the integrity of the Outstanding Universal Values (OUV). With respect to the Silk Roads CHRIS case study the Geospatial Content Management System (Geo-CMS) proposed aims to improve information management and collaboration among all stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach -Integrated surveying techniques and information management systems together with active stakeholder participation can be used as conservation and management tools. In the case of PAP, using a systematic documentation tool (MEGA-J) to conduct site condition and risk assessment of cultural heritage and combining photographs, maps and GPS measurements within a GIS platform allows for identifying the location and intensity of risks, and the degree of vulnerability within the PAP boundaries and buffer zone. In the Silk Roads CHRIS project the Geo-CMS brings together data from different fields, e.g. geography, geology, history, conservation, to allow for a holistic approach towards documentation, protection and management of a number of diverse sites to be combined in serial transnational World Heritage. Findings -The study provides insight into how digital technologies can aid in heritage documentation and conservation, including stakeholder involvement and training. Moreover, by means of the two case studies it can be shown that a combination of digital technologies allows for an efficient mapping of buffer zones and risks and how a Geo-CMS can form a common platform to manage large quantities of information of different origin and make it accessible to stakeholders in transnational projects. Originality/value -This paper discusses the use of digital technology and the participation of stakeholders in heritage conservation and documentation when dealing with complex World Heritage properties, e.g. serial transnational and archaeological ensembles at high risk.

ABSTRACT:The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Petra is characterized by a spectacular geo-archaeological landscape that lead to its inscription as World Heritage Site in 1985. Petra is also a fragile site facing a wide diversity of risks, ranging from those posed by environmental factors as well as those attributed to tourism. In recent years, hazardous natural phenomena were registered as increasingly impacting the site, and most specifically the 'Siq', a 1.2 km naturally formed gorge serving as the only tourist entrance to the archaeological park, posing a major threat to cultural heritage and visitors. These recent events have prompted UNESCO Amman Office, in cooperation with the national authorities, to develop a strategy towards prevention and mitigation of instability phenomena at the 'Siq' and, thus, further contribute to the management and conservation of the site through the implementation of the multi-year Italian funded "Siq Stability" project Actions have been primarily focusing on the analysis of the stability conditions of the 'Siq' slopes, the installation of an integrated monitoring system and the definition and implementation of mitigation measures against rock instability. This paper reports a detailed description of the integrated monitoring system installed paying particular attention on the wireless monitoring devices and the EASA applications, which proved to be some of the most successful systems implemented in the framework of the project. Some preliminary results regarding the data retrieved, policies applied and actions taken to ensure longterm sustainability and capacity development of the national authorities are also reported.

This paper describes the activities carried out in Petra by an international and multidisciplinary group of graduate students specializing in heritage conservation from the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation (RLICC), University of Leuven (Belgium) in cooperation with the University of Jordan, Faculty of Architecture, the Al Hussein Bin Talal University and in partnership with the UNESCO Office in Amman. The main objective of the work was to carry out a preliminary assessment of the risks affecting the integrity of the Petra World Heritage Property, due to both natural and man-made events so to understand the impact of the site's major threats. The outcomes provided the foundations necessary to develop a risk management plan, which should be integrated in the development of a comprehensive management plan for the site. The result of the overall study has been a preliminary risk management recommendation achieved through a rapid risk assessment of specific areas within the property, which readily identified vulnerabilities and threats to the state of conservation of the PAP. Outcomes of this work comprise two movies using time-lapse photography, 25 geo-referenced panoramas, a GIS system showing GPS track logs for all trails, satellite imagery and location of facilities, signage, monuments, 395 geo-referenced photos for the trails assessment, 105 geo-referenced photos for the areas assessment. An easy way to understand and visualize the circulation in the PAP was to bring the different trails on a satellite image through the use of a GPS system, combined with the ArcGIS software, in order to create a live track log while walking the trails in the PAP. Tracing this track log later in the GIS software indicated the actual location of parts of the PAP circulation and proved a very useful tool to retrieve the paths and areas analyzed.