CAPLA Dean Nancy Pollock-Ellwand Elected to U.S. and International ICOMOS Organizations
Nancy Pollock-Ellwand, dean and professor at the University of Arizona’s College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, has been elected to two prestigious organizations of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).
ICOMOS is an international, non-governmental group that advises UNESCO on the conservation of monuments and sites around the world. It represents a network of specialists, ranging from architects, planners and historians to archaeologists, engineers, and sociologists. The organization helps to develop international policy, advances restoration approaches and recommends new World Heritage sites through the World Heritage program, which brings together exceptional cultural sites that belong to all humankind, such as the pyramids of Egypt, city of Venice, the Taj Mahal and Machu Picchu.
This spring, Pollock-Ellwand was selected to the Advisory Committee to ICOMOS, which is comprised of representatives of ICOMOS National and International Scientific Committees. As one of only six global members—in addition to the U.S., members currently come from Australia, India, Ireland and Nigeria—Pollock-Ellwand will advise the ICOMOS Board and make suggestions and recommendations on the priorities and directions of ICOMOS, including relaying National and International Scientific Committee communications. She is one of three officers representing the 31 International Scientific Committees, while the other three represent the 110 National Committees.
“A priority for our immediate work on the Advisory Committee is addressing equity, diversity and inclusion in the doctrinal texts that inform conservation globally,” Pollock-Ellwand says. “We are also exploring how hybrid symposia may be held, to improve access for more global participants while minimizing the carbon footprint of international travel.”
Eating reindeer jerky with Norwegian colleagues investigating the ancient Sami reindeer hunting landscapes of Arctic Norway.
Photo courtesy Nancy Pollock-Ellwand.
“We at World Heritage USA are enormously pleased and proud that one of our members will be among the six people who will advise ICOMOS on the issues of greatest concern to cultural heritage study and practices,” says Doug Comer, president of World Heritage USA, the United States National Committee of ICOMOS. “I served with Nancy Pollock-Ellwand for several years on the ICOMOS World Heritage Review Panel, and was deeply impressed by the expertise and intelligence she brought to this task, which is an essential role played by ICOMOS.”
Pollock-Ellwand was also elected to the Board of Trustees of World Heritage USA, serving with Comer and other cultural heritage leaders to promote the conservation of world heritage and stronger connections to the global heritage community through advocacy, education and the international exchange of people and ideas.
“It is an honor to represent the United States as a board member for World Heritage USA and the Advisory Committee to ICOMOS,” Pollock-Ellwand says. “Given the rapid environmental and cultural changes facing the globe, we find ourselves at a critical juncture for the recognition and long-term conservation of the world’s most important cultural sites. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the U.S. and internationally to continue the essential work of World Heritage USA and ICOMOS.”
Pollock-Ellwand, who joined CAPLA as dean in 2017, recently served as co-chair of the ICOMOS evaluation panels for new World Heritage nominations, and has participated in advisory missions to state parties considering new nominations. With degrees in landscape architecture, architecture and planning, she is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects and a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects.
Pollock-Ellwand’s research centers on the history of landscapes as they are manifest in urban reform, landscape design and heritage conservation. This expertise comes together in an online course on cultural landscape conservation she developed for the UArizona Graduate Certificate in Heritage Conservation. On a local basis she lends her expertise as a board member to the Patronato San Xavier, dedicated to the conservation, preservation and maintenance of Mission San Xavier del Bac.
Read “From Hedgerows on the Prairie to Footsteps on the Moon: A World Heritage Site Evaluator’s Journey” by Nancy Pollock-Ellwand.
