Progress of the application

Recognition by UNESCO is a long process, with mandatory national and international milestones.

The history of the application as it stands today stretches back some time. Although the idea of an application project for the Carnac alignments has been around for many years, the project in its current form was not launched until 2016. The current project is a better fit for UNESCO’s aspirations in terms of territorial and participatory realities, and is also a better reflection of the progress of archaeological research over the past thirty years.

A six-stage application

There are many stages to be completed, nationally and internationally, in order to achieve recognition by UNESCO.

  1. In December 2016, the Paysages de mégalithes association filed a “confirmation application”, expressing the municipalities’ desire to revive a project for the megaliths across the territory to be listed as World Heritage.

    2016

  2. This List is a shortlist of properties that France can put forward for inclusion on the World Heritage list in the coming years. The Carnac megalith application is exceptional in that it has been on this list since 1980, when the first French sites were listed.

    In 1996, the French State updated the Tentative List, taking into account the Carnac alignments and several other related monuments.

    In the face of varied opposition to the different development plans for the Carnac site, the UNESCO project was put on hold. In 2005, the French Ministry of Culture revived the idea and included discoveries from the most recent major excavation works that suggested links between the various monuments. With a view to supporting the new UNESCO application, the municipalities formed the Paysages de Mégalithes association. The Tentative List was amended shortly afterwards to take this territorial dimension into account.

    1996

  3. In France, applicants must go through three mandatory stages handled by the country’s World Heritage Committee, which reports to the national Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition. They must demonstrate the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the Property, perform a national and international comparative analysis, present a geographical scope with supporting arguments, and suggest management systems to allow it to be preserved and handed down to future generations. All this must be done within the framework set out by UNESCO.

    Since 2012

  4. Once these three stages have been completed, the application must be selected by the Minister of Culture, then put forward by France to the World Heritage Centre, which must then confirm that the application is complete and has been recorded as a proposal for inscription.

    2024

  5. Examination of the application by international experts We are here!

    The World Heritage Centre will pass on the application to its consultative bodies. ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) will determine whether our project meets UNESCO’s criteria. The experts will then give their opinion to the French State.

    2024-2025

  6. In the summer, the 21 members of the intergovernmental World Heritage Committee will vote on whether to inscribe the megaliths in Carnac and on the shores of Morbihan on the List, or adjourn the inscription.

    20XX ?