Dr. Tran Tan Van - A Scientist Connecting Heritage Sites
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Tan Van, former Director of the Institute of Geology and Minerals is a veteran in preparing UNESCO world heritage and global geopark (GGP) dossiers. He has participated in and chaired two World Heritage dossiers related to global outstanding geological values and four GGP dossiers. However, for him, preparing the dossier for Ninh Binh's Trang An Landscape Complex was considered the most challenging due to the high demands of UNESCO experts and the differing opinions within Vietnam.
Dr. Tran Tan Van, a leading Vietnamese expert in geology. Photo: Tat Son/VNP
According to Dr. Tran Tan Van, the World Cultural and Natural Heritage dossier for the Trang An Landscape Complex was put together in a very short time, and was one of the most challenging, heart-felt dossiers, and no other dossier had given him the feeling of being involved in an "all-out battle".
The most difficult part in the process of preparing the world heritage dossier was to find the outstanding universal values and prove them through comparative analysis with other sites in the world. In addition, it was necessary to find a way to connect these outstanding universal values in a vivid way. In other words, telling a unique, attractive, persuasive, and untold "core story" was a great challenge for the group of experts building the world heritage dossier.
In the process of preparing the Trang An Heritage dossier and defending it before the UNESCO General Assembly, Dr. Tran Tan Van worked with many international scientists such as Prof. Paul Dingwall (New Zealand) - a leading UNESCO/IUCN expert and "commander-in-chief" in building the Trang An dossier, Prof. Paul Williams - a geologist and Dr. Ryan Rabett (University of Cambridge) - an archaeologist. In the first few months, Dr. Tran Tan Van and his colleagues both surveyed and investigated, and struggled to discuss with international consultants to find the outstanding universal values and find the "core story" that connected them.
The Trang An dossier was officially submitted to UNESCO in January 2013. In August 2013, the UNESCO evaluation team began its work and submitted its evaluation report in March 2014. However, the evaluation results were not positive and IUCN, ICOMOS recommended category D - redoing the dossier. With this result, if the dossier was redone, the field evaluation would take another 10 years. Therefore, Dr. Tran Tan Van, Prof. Paul Dingwall and a group of colleagues studied the evaluation reports and decided to "fight" the decision. Dr. Tran Tan Van said: "We had to identify the shortcomings in the evaluation reports of IUCN and ICOMOS, and we had to convince them that the Trang An dossier deserved to be inscribed".
During the negotiations in Doha, all 21 members of the UNESCO Executive Board voted in favor of Trang An as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site, overturning the evaluation reports of the two UNESCO advisory bodies - a rare occurrence. Trang An became the first and only Mixed Heritage Site of Vietnam and Southeast Asia at that time.
Dr. Tran Tan Van is the Head of the Sub-committee on Global Geoparks (GGPs) of Vietnam under the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, a member of the Advisory Board of the UNESCO Global GGP Network. He has participated in the preparation of a number of dossiers on UNESCO World Heritage and Global Geoparks, such as the Dong Van Stone Plateau (Ha Giang), the Trang An Landscape Complex (Ninh Binh), Non Nuoc Cao Bang, Dak Nong Global Geoparkand Ly Son - Sa Huynh Global Geopark (Quang Ngai).
In addition to the Trang An Heritage, Dr. Tran Tan Van has also been involved in building dossiers for a number of UNESCO global geoparks, including the Dong Van Stone Plateau Geoparkin Ha Giang. It is impossible to tell all the hardships and dedication of the people who built dossiers for the global geoparks in Vietnam that have been recognized by UNESCO.
Continuing the mission of a scientist, Dr. Tran Tan Van has continued to quietly and tirelessly pack his backpack and go on the road to participate in the dossier work for global geoparks such as Dak Nong and Ly Son - Sa Huynh which have been recognized internationally. Any area that has geological terrain has his footprints along with surveying, doing research and having international connection. Dr. Tran Tan Van hopes to apply geological science and connect the heritage values of each area with the livelihoods of the people.
Story: Bich Van Photos: Tat Son/VNP & Files Translated by Hong Hanh