The chances of being added to the UNESCO World Heritage List have increased significantly for the Colonies of Benevolence. This is evident from the latest report from ICOMOS - the advisory committee to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. UNESCO published this report on their website on June 4th.

ICOMOS ADVISORY REPORT
In its advisory report, ICOMOS confirms the essence of the Colonies of Benevolence and recommends that this large-scale and far-reaching social experiment for poverty alleviation through the design of domestic agricultural colonies should be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. ICOMOS recognizes the scientific basis and universal value of the Colonies of Benevolence to be globally exceptional.

NEW UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE OF TWO COUNTRIES TO BE EXPECTED
ICOMOS’ positive advice brings the Colonies of Benevolence another step closer to placement on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This advice concerns the transnational and serial dossier of the Colonies of Benevolence which includes Frederiksoord-Wilhelminaoord (NL), Wortel (BE) and Veenhuizen (NL).

In 2020, the meeting of the World Heritage Committee could not take place due to the corona pandemic. UNESCO recently announced that their 44th sitting will take place online from 16th - 31st July 2021. The committee members will then meet to consider, among other things, new entries for the World Heritage List, including the Colonies of Benevolence. The World Heritage Committee is expected to take the final decision. between 23 and 27 July.

AN EXCEPTIONAL STORY
The Colonies of Benevolence were created in 1818-1825 as an integral solution to poverty alleviation by means of agricultural home colonies. After the Napoleonic Wars, poverty and begging were rife in the then United Netherlands (the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg), especially in the cities. With the design of the Colonies of Benevolence, the sparse heath and peat landscape was completely rearranged and overwritten with an ordered and geometric layout. The resulting reclaimed landscape, with its monumental avenues, typical colony houses, institutions and farms, fields and meadows, reflects the enlightened ideas of the time.

A walk through the various colonies is a walk back in time. Although the former inhabitants (colonists, vagrants, orphans) have long gone, their spirits are almost tangible as traces of their existence are still clearly visible in these surroundings. The former colonies are strong reminders of how experimental solutions for battling poverty and a changing social morality have left their historical mark in the landscape.