Ray Bondin was one of the main speakers at an international conference to evaluate the possibility that the town of Steyr, in Austria, and its surrounding industrial heritage, be admitted to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Dr Bondin has already performed a number of evaluation and monitoring missions for various international heritage organisations including UNESCO itself and has taken part in a number of professional evaluation missions for possible inclusion in the list.

The conference participants were given a detailed tour of both the town and the important, almost abandoned, iron ore mines in the area. The role of Dr Bondin was to evaluate for the city the universal values and the authenticity of the site and its relevance to world heritage.

Ray Bondin is the president of the Historic Towns and Villages Committee (CIVVIH) amongst other positions.