The Monitoring of the Management Plan

In order to guarantee the effective implementation of the strategic actions for the World Heritage Site and thus of the Management Plan, it is essential to establish a monitoring system. The Monitoring system measures the progress and results of the Management Plan by analysing the state of implementation of the projects contained in the Action Plan. The objective of monitoring is to provide information on what is happening at the World Heritage Site and how much of the planned programme has been achieved in relation to the protection of the Outstanding Universal Value of the site and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.

The Action Plan is monitored in two ways through the analysis of:

  • Monitoring indicators of the individual projects in the Action Plan, to assess the implementation and effectiveness of these initiatives in maintaining the OUV.
  • Evaluation parameters in each Macro Area, to estimate in a more general way how projects have contributed to the Macro Areas and whether they have been in line with the priorities of intervention of the Management Plan and the Sustainable Development Goals.

In addition, the Monitoring will make use of a constant data collection and exchange of information on the feasibility and measurability of the projects and an engagement process with stakeholders and citizens.

The first Monitoring of the Management Plan for the Historic Centre of Florence was published in 2018, two years after the second update of the Management Plan of the World Heritage property. The Monitoring, which provided a detailed picture of the progress of the projects contained in the Action Plan, had its completion in 2022 with the third update of the Management Plan, which draws the final conclusions on many of the projects monitored in the management cycle.

The Monitoring has been positively evaluated by the ICOMOS Technical Review (2019) and is considered good practice at international level, so much so that it has been reported within the World Heritage Canopy, a platform of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre that provides an overview of concrete solutions in the field of World Heritage that integrate sustainable development and site protection and management.

The updated version of the Management Plan constituted a standard from which its latest revision was developed (2020-2022). In addition to greater involvement of the Steering Committee, active citizenship and a vast array of stakeholders, the new document structured the Action Plan in such a way as to lay the groundwork for future Monitoring processes. Each of the included projects was selected based on its alignment with the “The 5Cs” strategy (Credibility, Conservation, Capacity-Building, Communication, Communities), the Sustainable Development Goals and the five main threats affecting the OUV of the property. Moreover, each project sheet is sided by a set of precise and measurable performance indicators that facilitated the Monitoring process, which started in May 2022.

The process regarding the second Monitoring of the Management Plan of 2022 was initiated one year after the collection of 30 strategic projects included in the Action Plan. The project sheets accurately presented the objectives, timelines, expected results, list of contact persons and activities, monitoring indicators, timeline and budget of each reported initiative. Not to abandon the digital transition initiated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, thirty virtual forms were created and submitted to project proponents, including Municipal Departments, NGOs, institutions and associations. The forms were structured in such a way as to insert the value of each indicator contained in the project sheet and its state of implementation.

The main publication of the Monitoring of the Management Plan was edited in April 2024 and will be disseminated during 2024. The latter will present in detail the connections between projects, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, “The 5Cs,” and threats affecting the World Heritage the OUV of the property, following the example of the 2018 Monitoring, which was considered a good practice by the World Heritage Center and is included in World Heritage Canopy – Heritage Solutions for Sustainable Futures, a platform that promotes good practices in the field of World Heritage. 

29/04/2024

pdf – 9 MB

Monitoring of the Management Plan, Florence – 2024

29/04/2024

pdf – 9 MB

Monitoring of the Management Plan, Florence – 2018

20/06/2022

pdf – 363 KB

II cycle Periodic Reporting (2012-2015)

30/06/2022

pdf – 121 KB

ICOMOS_Technical Review