Preparations for a joint management organisation of the cross-border Fertő/Neusiedler See World Heritage Site continued in Fertőszéplak

The second meeting of the local support group for the establishment of a joint management organisation for the cross-border World Heritage Site Fertő/Neusiedler See took place on 10 November 2021 in Fertőszéplak. CESCI staff presented the results of the benchmarking process and asked for the opinions of the participants on the identified forms of cooperation in an interactive way.

The “Common Heritage” project, co-funded through the Interreg V-A Austria-Hungary programme, continued on 10 November 2021 in the Széchényi Castle, renovated in 2020, in Fertőszéplak. The Széchényi Castle in Fertőszéplak serves as the home of the Peisonia (World Heritage) Visitor Centre and at the same time the headquarters for the Hungarian Council of the Fertő Landscape World Heritage Association. The full-day programme opened with an interactive workshop of the Austrian partners (Allregio, Stadtland), which started the preparation of a joint management plan for the World Heritage site by identifying threats and potentials related to the World Heritage site. The original management plan was completed in 2003, so its renewal is more than timely. What adds special interest to the cooperation is the difference in the regulations of the two countries: while in Hungary the World Heritage Act regulates the framework for the preparation of management plans, there is no such regulation in Austria.

The afternoon programme of the workshop was moderated by the staff of CESCI. Prior to the meeting, a summary document was sent to the members of the local support group both in Hungarian and German to lay the groundwork for joint work. This material contained information on potential cooperation models in addition to the World Heritage legislation. At the event, Gyula Ocskay, Secretary General of CESCI, gave a presentation on the results of the preparatory work, and then, with the help of Kitti Dubniczki, he used interactive tools to ask the members of the local support group for their opinion on the cooperation models presented. The participants evaluated the models from different points of view and made useful additions. The technical work on the joint management organisation will continue in 2022.

After the two technical programmes the general public and the press were also invited to follow the project partners’ presentation on the Common Heritage Interreg V-A ATHU project. In this section, Gyula Ocskay, among others, gave a short presentation on how a cross-border joint management organisation could serve the more efficient functioning of the World Heritage. The day-long programme ended with a goose dinner on the eve of St. Martin’s Day and a tasting of wines from the Fertő region.