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Your partner for heritage projects

Westrik Consultancy provides professional advice concerning cultural and natural heritage, and is specialised in World Heritage. Areas of expertise are World Heritage nominations, management, sustainable tourism and cultural landscapes.

Westrik Consultancy brings the various parties together; works on uniting different points of view with respect for the individual opinions; ensures consistency, coherence and a professional coordination of the execution of the task.

Carol Westrik

Carol Westrik combines scientific knowledge with 25 years of experience in the field and as a policy maker. She is an Art Historian with a Master in the Conservation of Historic Landscapes and a PhD in Post-war Reconstruction and Development.

Carol has worked as an advisor for Governments, Advisory Bodies, UNESCO and individual World Heritage properties. As such, she has seen the heritage field from as many angles as possible and knows therefore the working of the various oganisations.

The professional involvement of Carol include the following:

Consultant for Purmerend regarding the World Heritage property Beemster Polder (2017 - present)
Consultant for the aspiring UNESCO Geopark Schelde Delta (2020 - present)
Consultant Irish Government regarding their new World Heritage Tentative List; Chair of the Tentative List Technical Group (2020 - 2022)
Consultant UNESCO World Heritage Centre: analysis of the Global Strategy (1984 - 2020) (2021)
Consultant World Heritage Nomination Koninklijk Eise Eisinga Planetarium (2020 - 2021)
World Heritage Advisor Nieuwe Hollandse Waterline, a site on the Dutch Tentative List (2018 - 2021)
Programme Specialist at the Nordic World Heritage Foundation (NWHF) (2012-2014)
Researcher on World Heritage issues at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (2011-2012)
Programme Specialist at UNESCO (2011)
Project Officer for Culture at the Netherlands National Commission for UNESCO (2003-2010)
Coordinator for the Dutch input during their term on the World Heritage Committee (2003 - 2007)

Carol has also published on the topic of (world) heritage, for example:

Westrik, C., ‘World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism: A Multifaceted Relationship’, in M.-T. Albert (ed.) (2015). Perceptions of Sustainability in Heritage Studies, De Gruyter, Berlin and Boston.
Westrik, C., ‘Opportunities and Challenges of Protected Areas in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding’, in Young, H. and L. Goldman (eds.) (2015). Livelihoods, Natural Resources, and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding, Routledge, Abingdon and New York.
Westrik, C., ‘Recognizing World Heritage best practices in successful and sustainable management’, World Heritage Review, 67 (April 2013).
Engels, B. and C. Westrik, ‘Sustainable development in the Wadden Sea, A Dutch-German World Heritage site’, in Galla, A. (ed.) (2012). World Heritage. Benefits Beyond Borders, UNESCO Publishing, Paris and Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Totcharova, P. and C. Westrik, ‘Capacity building in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe’, World Heritage Capacity Building Newsletter, 3 (2012)
Westrik, C., (2012). The future of World Heritage. The Netherlands and the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam ( http://ghhpw.com/future_world_heritage.pdf)
Westrik, C., ‘Beemster Polder: turning water into land’, World Heritage Review, 59 (March 2011)
Westrik, C. and S. Neuerburg, The Role of Culture in Post-conflict and Post-disaster Situations, Forum Archaeologiae 55/VI/2010 (http://farch.net).
Westrik, C., ‘The Challenges and Opportunities of World Heritage in Times of Armed Conflict’, paper presented at the Conference on World Heritage and Sustainable Development, Portugal, 7-9 May 2007.
De Merode, E., R. Smeets and C. Westrik (eds.), Linking Universal and Local Values; Managing a Sustainable Future for World Heritage / L’union des valeurs universelles et locales: La gestion d’un avenir durable pour le patrimoine mondial, World Heritage Papers, 13 (2003).

Photo gallery

Carol Westrik has worked on the following projects:

Consultant for the Dutch World Heritage Droogmakerij de Beemster regarding their World Heritage and local participation (2017 - present)
Projectmanager for the Stichting Werelderfgoed Nederland (2010 - 2018)
Management Plan for the Antwerp City Hall (2016 - 2017)
Development of the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) Strategy 2016-2018 (2015)
Website of the Cultural Heritage Inspectorate regarding the import and export of cultural property (2014)
Project on Sustainable Tourism for the Nordic World Heritage Foundation (2013 - 2014)
Revision German Tentative List (2013-2014)
Final Strategy for the Implementation of the Africa Natura Programme 2014-2017, World Heritage Centre, UNESCO (2012 - 2013)
One-off initiative best practice heritage management on the 40th anniversary for the World Heritage Centre, UNESCO (2012)
Colloquium 'Challenges and opportunities for the conservation and management of urban heritage', Brugge, Belgium (30 May - 1 June 2012)
Organisatie van de internationale bijeenkomst for Focal Points Werelderfgoed in de Westeuropese region, Amersfoort (2010)
Retrospective Statements of Outstanding Universal Value for the Dutch World Heritage sites (2010)

Lectures and Presentations

Carol also gives presentations and lectures on various topics related to World Heritage, for example:

UNESCO World Heritage: what is it and why does it matter?
Participation, Empowerment and Sustainable Development in the Context of World Heritage Tourism.
The World Heritage Convention: sustainable management and tourism.
UNESCO World Heritage in Danger.