Periodic Reporting
Questionnaire
Fourth Cycle | 2026-2030
Following the Reflection Period (2024–2025), the Periodic Reporting Questionnaire has been revised to reflect feedback gathered during the previous reporting cycle, a reflection survey, and consultations with a wide range of actors.
The proposed revision to Annex 7 to the Operational Guidelines (Format of the Periodic Reporting Questionnaire) was presented in Document WHC/26/48.COM/10. The World Heritage Committee adopted the new format at its 48th session (Busan) in July 2026.
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Use your username and password to access the questionnaire.
Access to specific State Party or World Heritage property Periodic Reporting questionnaire is restricted to designated national focal points and site managers of World Heritage properties.
Fourth Cycle 2026-2030
The reflection period (2024-2025) following the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting revealed the need for a shorter reporting period to capture the trends. By Decision 47 COM 10, the World Heritage Committee decided to launch the Fourth Cycle of Periodic Reporting in July 2026 with two regions reporting each year.
| Region | Reporting period | Year of examination of Regional Report by the World Heritage Committee |
Number of States Parties |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arab States | 2026-2027 | 2028 | 19 |
| Africa | 2026-2027 | 2028 | 47 |
| Asia and Pacific | 2027-2028 | 2029 | 46 |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 2027-2028 | 2029 | 33 |
| Europe and North America | 2028-2029 | 2030 | 51 |
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The updated questionnaire largely retains the overall logic and structure used during the Third Cycle, while introducing targeted adjustments.
The update of the questionnaire was guided by the following points:
- Restructuring the chapters to improve clarity, coherence and usability;
- Reducing the reporting burden;
- Reformulating existing questions and introducing new ones; and
- Integrating updated and more detailed, explanatory guidance.
Guidance
Wherever possible, information has been prefilled to reduce reporting burden and ensure continuity across cycles. Each chapter of the questionnaire is introduced by a short text outlining its purpose. Additional explanations are provided directly within some questions.
A comprehensive set of definitions is available in the List of Key terms developed for the Periodic Reporting process, which can be consulted below.
Furthermore, the new Periodic Reporting questionnaire builds largely on the conceptual approaches and terminology used in the recently published Resource Manuals Managing World Heritage and the Enhancing Our Heritage Toolkit 2.0. This is particularly reflected in the extended explanatory guidance incorporated into the questionnaire, which draws on these manuals to support a clearer and more consistent interpretation of key concepts.
Frequently Asked Questions
National focal points fill in Section I of the questionnaire. They review and submit all Section II questionnaires that have been completed by managers of World Heritage properties. They can also make any changes to the questionnaires before their submission. National focal points are responsible for the final submission of all Section I and Section II questionnaires for their State Party.
Managers of World Heritage properties fill in Section II of the questionnaire. They can access the questionnaire of the property(ies) for which they are responsible.
At the beginning of the reporting in a given region, the World Heritage Centre sends an access email to all national focal points and all managers officially designated by their respective authorities. The email contains the username (usually registered email address) and a personal link to create the password. Those who do not receive this email should request the World Heritage Centre ([email protected]) to resend this email.
To access the online questionnaire for your State Party/property, go to https://whc.unesco.org/en/prcycle4/. Before the launch of the Periodic Reporting exercise in your region, your State Party should communicate your contact details to the World Heritage Centre.
The Centre will create a username and password for you and will email them to you at the time of the launch of reporting in your region.
At the top and bottom of the page, there is a page menu bar to help you navigate from page to page.
If you click on the ‘Navigation’ button below the menu bars you will be shown a list of chapters and questions which will help you browse through different parts of questionnaire.
Since Cycle 4, the answers are saved automatically by default.
Should you wish to disable autosave, you can do so at the bottom of the page. Please remember to save your replies regularly by clicking the ‘Save’ button at the end of the questionnaire page.
The questionnaire is available in English and French and must be answered in one of these two languages.
Please note that a national focal point should ensure that any information provided by a manager of World Heritage property in another language is translated into English or French, before submitting the questionnaire to the World Heritage Centre.
In order to change the language of the questionnaire, click on the ‘English’ or ‘French’ text located on the top left corner of the webpage (just above the UNESCO and World Heritage Convention logos). Please note that this action will change the language of both the questionnaire and the Centre’s website.
Yes, if a Periodic Report has previously been filled out for your State Party/property, some of this information will be carried forward to your next report.
For some questions, you can see the previous answer, directly in the questionnaire.
If you wish to see further answers from a previous report, please consult your State Party/property page on the World Heritage Centre website, under "Documents".
Yes, for data management purposes the character limit is set at 500 characters, 1500 characters in some comment boxes.
Yes, a number of people can work on the questionnaire simultaneously but this is not recommended. Working on the questionnaire at the same time as someone else could lead to confusion and problems when it comes to saving your work, especially if you both try to save the same page. We recommend that you do not work on the same page as someone else at the same time.
You can use the Navigation panel by clicking on the ‘Navigation’ button located on the top left corner of your questionnaire. You can expand each chapter and see the list of all questions by clicking on ‘play_arrow’.
In the navigation panel, each question is preceded by a small pictogram giving the completion status of each question. The following pictograms depict different levels of completion:
: the question is not yet completed, or not properly, and must be answered;: the question is completed properly;
: the question is optional and is not taken into account in the completion bar. No answer is required for this question
National focal points are the only persons who have authorized access to submit the Periodic Reporting questionnaire Section I and Section II. When a manager of a World Heritage property has completed Section II, national focal points should be notified to validate and submit Section II.
No, the questionnaire should be submitted through the online platform only.
Yes, the questionnaire will be still accessible to the national focal points and the manager of the World Heritage property. However, the questionnaire will be locked, and it will be not possible for you to modify its contents.
In these cases, your answers should be agreed with the persons responsible for the other components and answers should be qualified in the comment boxes.
Only one report per World Heritage property (Section II) should be submitted. For serial properties, only one questionnaire (Section II) per property shall be submitted, which should be answered in consultation with all relevant managers and stakeholders.
Only one report per World Heritage property (Section II) should be submitted. For transboundary and transnational properties, only one questionnaire (Section II) shall be submitted and therefore, before reporting begins, it should be agreed who will submit the report. It should be prepared jointly by, or in close collaboration between the States Parties concerned. The States Parties decide on one focal point per transboundary and transnational property to validate and submit Section II of the questionnaire.
If there is a change of managers, the national focal points should inform the World Heritage Centre as soon as possible in order to give the new designated manager access to the online questionnaire. The former manager will no longer be able to access the questionnaire.
Access to the questionnaires is restricted to national focal points, managers of World Heritage properties, the Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Centre, and according to the level of access.
You can change your registered email address and/or password through the World Heritage Centre website. To change your password: https://whc.unesco.org/en/174/?msg=forgotlogin To change your email: you can login and edit your profile on the website or contact the World Heritage Centre ([email protected]).
Contact
Should you have any technical questions, please contact the World Heritage Centre.