Expert Advisory Group 2021

Dr Carol Westrik - Chair and World Heritage Expert

Heritage Consultant (Westrik Consultancy)

Dr Carol Westrik has more than twenty years’ experience working with the World Heritage Convention, having reviewed and developed many aspects of World Heritage policy and practice.

She was a member of the Dutch Delegation when they were on the World Heritage Committee (2003-2007). She was a Programme Specialist with Nordic World Heritage Foundations in Norway. The main responsibility here was the Sustainable Tourism Project, in cooperation with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. In 2015 Dr Westrik was Individual Specialist at the World Heritage Centre, UNESCO. The task was to provide advice aimed at strategic decision-making, especially on specialized topics and themes including sustainable development and the Global Strategy for a representative, balanced and credible World Heritage List. Another responsibility was to analyse heritage trends and provide a global perspective.

Jane Jackson – Industrial Heritage Expert

Principal Adviser and Lead Specialist at Historic England.

Currently Ms Jackson leads on a number of regeneration programmes in the North of England and is part of Historic England’s team supporting the  Governments Cultural Recovery Fund helping organisations recover from the pandemic. From 2008 to 2016 Jane was principal heritage consultant with Capita Property and Infrastructure co-ordinating a great variety of projects, from options appraisals for sensitive/scheduled structures and sites to project management of archaeological evaluations and refurbishment schemes such as Category A listed Dunoon Pier on the Clyde Estuary.

From 1995 to 2000 she was World Heritage Co-ordinator with Telford and Wrekin Council where she Co-ordinated the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Strategy and Management Groups, and co - authored the first World Heritage Site Management Plan in 1999. She was responsible for conservation guidance and advice within the District and managing the building repair grants scheme for the Ironbridge Gorge.

From 2005 – 2008 I was World Heritage Officer for the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site, specifically managing delivery of the WHS Management Plan through a targeted action plan, leading discussions on major development and infrastructure projects and promoting the values and significance of the two towns.

Dr Alison Sheridan FBA FRSE FSA FSA Scot ACIfA – International Archaeological Expert

Research Associate, National Museums Scotland, Honorary Fellow, School of Classics, History and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh and Corresponding Fellow, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut

Dr Alison Sheridan is a prehistorian and specialist in the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, and in the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age material culture of Britain and Ireland. She worked at National Museums Scotland 1987–2019, latterly as Principal Archaeological Research Curator.

She is a former President of the Prehistoric Society and a current Vice-President of Archaeology Scotland. Dr Sheridan was awarded the British Academy Grahame Clark medal 2018 and the Prehistoric Society Europa prize 2019; and was voted Current Archaeology's Archaeologist of the Year 2020. In December 2020 she delivered the Rhind Lectures on Neolithic Scotland to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

Dr Will Megarry – Irish Archaeological Expert

Senior Lecturer in Archaeology, School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast

Dr Will Megarry is a member of ICOMOS Ireland and an expert member of the International Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management. He has over 15 years’ experience working with World Heritage in a range of capacities including drafting and reviewing nomination dossiers, contributing to management plans and site assessments, and responding to site-specific challenges including over-tourism and the impacts of climate change. He has worked on projects at World Heritage properties on five continents including the Giant’s Causeway and Brú na Bóinne in Ireland and Machu Picchu in Peru. He is currently leading the UK DCMS-UKRI-funded CVI Africa Project providing foundational training and exploring climate change vulnerability at WH properties in Tanzania and Nigeria, and is a bureau member of the ICOMOS Working Group on Climate Change and Heritage. He remains an active field archaeologist with a project exploring Neolithic communities on the Shetland Islands, Scotland.

Dr Claire Cave – Natural Heritage Expert

Lecturer of World Heritage Management, School of Archaeology, University College Dublin

Dr Claire Cave is a lecturer and coordinator of World Heritage Management programme at University College Dublin. The UCD World Heritage programme includes a PhD in World Heritage Studies, an MSc in World Heritage Management and online postgraduate courses in World Heritage Conservation. Claire holds a Ph.D. in Zoology from UCD with a focus on conservation biology. Her work centres on protected area management in view of globalization and sustainable development. She has supervised research projects on the implementation of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in countries all around the world. Claire participated in the development of the global training strategy for UNESCO World Heritage and regularly attends the UNESCO World Heritage Committee Meetings. Claire co-authored the book ‘World Heritage Conservation: The World Heritage Convention linking culture and nature for sustainable development’ and is co-editor of the Springer series Heritage Studies.