Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage of Sawahlunto | Indonesia

Built for the extraction, processing and transport of high-quality coal in an inaccessible region of Sumatra, this industrial site was developed by the Netherlands East Indies’ government in the globally important period of industrialisation from the late 19th to the beginning of the 20th century. The workforce was recruited from the local Minangkabau people and supplemented by Javanese and Chinese contract workers, and convict labourers from Dutch-controlled areas. It comprises the mining site and company town, coal storage facilities at the port of Emmahaven and the railway network linking the mines to the coastal facilities. The Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage was built as an integrated system that enabled the efficient deep-bore extraction, processing, transport and shipment of coal. It is also an outstanding testimony of exchange and fusion between local knowledge and practices and European technology.

Year of Inscription: 2019

Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Tyne Cot) | Belgium

All along the Western Front of the First World War, which stretched for some 700 km from the North Sea to the Franco-Swiss border, a series of 139 funerary and memorial sites bear witness to the common desire of the various parties involved in the conflict to honour their children who fell in battle. This objective takes the form of individual graves and/or memorials listing the names of the missing. Places dedicated to meditation, remembrance and tributes are specially created. Beyond the diversity in size, location and design, there is a clear desire to create spaces that are worthy of the sacrifice made. This is reflected in the choice of noble materials, as well as in calls for renowned architects, botanists, landscape architects and artists to design sites of exceptional architectural, artistic and landscape quality. These sites are visited daily by pilgrims, individual visitors, official delegations, school groups, local community representatives and descendants. They bear witness to funerary and memorial practices that are still relevant today, as remains discovered by chance or during archaeological excavations are still buried there with all honours. These commemorative sites represent a heritage that almost literally belongs to the whole world, spreading a message of reconciliation that is still very topical.

Year of Inscription: 2023

Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes (Mons) | Belgium

The Neolithic flint mines at Spiennes, covering more than 100 ha, are the largest and earliest concentration of ancient mines in Europe. They are also remarkable for the diversity of technological solutions used for extraction and for the fact that they are directly linked to a settlement of the same period.

Year of Inscription: 2000