6th Session of the Iranian National Committee for IGGP of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO
On 4 March 2017, the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO hosted the 6th session of the Iranian National Committee for IGGP of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO.
The main item on the agenda of this 6th meeting was to consider and finalise modalities of cooperation of the member organisations. Proposals submitted by the Ministry of Industry and Mines (on mining tourism), the UNESCO Chair on Natural Disasters Management, the International Institute on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES) and the Ministry of Petroleum were considered and some were accepted and included to the two-year work plan of the Committee. The members were asked to inform the Secretariat of the exact timeline for implementing their proposed projects.
Dr Gazani, Secretary of the Iranian National Committee for IGGP and Head of the Science Department of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO, delivered a report of a recent mission of UNESCO specialists (Mr Martini, the President of the UNESCO Global Geoparks Council and Mr Gevinian, UNESCO Consultant on geoparks) to Iran for studying the feasibility of the nomination of potential sites for geoparks. Their six-day mission began on 19 February and terminated on 24 February 2017. During the first phase of the trip, the UNESCO mission visited Sirik (midway between Bandarabbas and Jask) and the general northern area of Bandarabbas (including Geno and the salt dunes). The geosites of the region were explored and their cultural and natural attractions were considered. Visits were arranged for the UNESCO specialists with the Deputy for Financial Affairs and logistics, Governor, and Mayor of Hormozgan as well as the civil society.
During the second phase of the trip, the mission visited Firoozabad and Kazeroon in Fars province. The Deputy for Financial Affairs and Logistics of the Province also accompanied the UNESCO mission in this trip. The Specialists were impressed with his knowledge about geoparks and geosites.
A full report of the results of this trip and the future trip of the UNESCO mission to Iran will be prepared by UNESCO and submitted upon completion of the study.
Additionally, the session agreed to transform the committee meetings to informative and educational meetings whereby each session would end with a power point presentation by one of the members on a related topic. This educational section, which was envisaged to include an additional 40 minutes subsequent to the two-hour session of the Committee, will be open to the public.
The members reached consensus on holding the committee meetings on the first Saturday of each month from 15:00 to 17:00 at the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO.
