Will the early modernist centre of Gdynia be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List?
It is still possible, but we have to wait a bit longer for the decision on this matter. In the evaluation report and recommendations of ICOMOS, Gdynia was assessed positively in many aspects, but there are also issues that need to be clarified and supplemented. That is why the nomination of our city will not be put to the vote during the session of the World Heritage Committee in July this year. However, there is still a chance in 2026.
The application to include the early modernist centre of Gdynia on the UNESCO World Heritage List was officially submitted in 2023. After the initial evaluation of the nomination dossier by the experts, the State Party twice answered a series of detailed questions. The second response was sent by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage to Paris on 28 February this year. At that time, the stage of substantive steps related to the submitted nomination dossier ended.
Since then, the nomination of Gdynia has been assessed by specialists from ICOMOS (International Council for the Protection of Monuments and Historic Sites). On 22 May, the evaluation report and recommendation were presented to the representatives of the Polish government. Next, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage handed over the documents to Gdynia local government officials.
The final recommendation of ICOMOS is the so-called 'referral', i.e. a statement that the facility has an outstanding universal value (OUV), but there are also some issues that need to be clarified. In many aspects, Gdynia was assessed positively, which puts our city in a good starting position for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List. However, ICOMOS also formulated comments that need response.
The city authorities and specialists argue that it would be possible to prepare all the comments and answers within a few days, so that there was a chance to process the nomination during the session of the World Heritage Committee scheduled for July 2025. The decision on this matter belonged to the General Conservator of Monuments and Secretary of State Bożena Żelazowska. Talks on this matter took place in Warsaw. Gdynia local government officials were included in the talks only after the Mayor of Gdynia sent a letter asking for the opportunity to meet and present the substantive position of the representatives of our city.
The meeting with Bożena Żelazowska – Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage, as well as the representatives of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took place on 10 June 2025. Oktawia Gorzeńska, Deputy Mayor of Gdynia, participated in the meeting.
On behalf of the Gdynia local government, I declared that after analysing the ICOMOS recommendations and the final comments, the city, in cooperation with specialists, is able to urgently prepare substantive responses to the council's comments, if a decision is made to vote on Gdynia's candidacy later this year. Still, it is already known that this will not happen. However, we still have a chance for the inscription on the List in 2026. It would be very symbolic, because let us remind you that next year Gdynia will celebrate its centenary – emphasises Oktawia Gorzeńska, Deputy Mayor of Gdynia.
On 12 June, Deputy Minister Żelazowska recommended submitting Gdynia's nomination for voting at the committee session in 2026 – after the city will have completed the information for ICOMOS. Now Gdynia has time until 1 February to provide relevant information.
Let us recall that the UNESCO World Heritage List (WHL) was created on the basis of the 1972 Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It contains the most treasured cultural and natural assets in the world, which have been considered valuable from the point of view of all humanity. Currently, there are only 17 Polish sites on the list, so the List has an extremely prestigious significance. Voting on nominations takes place during World Heritage Committee sessions, with the participation of the representatives of 21 member states of the Committee.