Just having another look at the nominations I think I'm only looking forward to 4 inscriptions so almost as if they could skip the session lol. How many would you guys personally consider worthy inscription?

From the ones that I visited, I gave these 3 a thumbs-up rating: the Spa towns, Quanzhou and Padova.

I agree with spa towns & padova. I would add Mathildenhohe, as well.

List as we show it on
https://www.worldheritagesite.org/new/nominated/2020

Amami-Oshima Island - Japan
Ancient Quanzhou - China
Arslantepe Mound - Turkey
Chankillo - Peru
Classical Karst - Slovenia
Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands - Georgia
Colonies of Benevolence - NL, Belgium
Cultural Rock Arts in Himã Najrãn - Saudi Arabia
Darmstadt Artists' Colony Mathildenhöhe - Germany
Deer Stone Monuments - Mongolia
Fortress of Spinalonga - Greece
Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Danube Limes - Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia
Getbol, Korean Tidal Flat - South Korea
Great Spas of Europe - Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, UK
Historical and Archaeological Site of La Isabela - Dominican Republic
Holqa Sof Umar: Natural and Cultural Heritage - Ethiopia
Kaeng Krachan Forest - Thailand
Le phare de Cordouan - France
Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie (extension) - Netherlands
Padova Urbs Picta - Italy
Ramappa Temple - India
Site of the Retiro and the Prado in Madrid - Spain
Sítio Roberto Burle Marx - Brazil
The Work of the Engineer Eladio Dieste - Uruguay
Trans-Iranian Railway - Iran

Don't know that many of the sites, so maybe there are some hidden treasures? The ones I know are mostly mhew.

Great sites:
Padova Urbs Picta - Italy => Top Missing. no doubt.
Chankillo - Peru => Should be great too.

OK sites:
Great Spas of Europe - Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, UK => Too many countries. Should have been limited to way less countries and sites.

Mhew sites:
Site of the Retiro and the Prado in Madrid - Spain => I like Madrid, but don't see this is WHS material. And the suburbs are already dotted with WHS.
Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie (extension) - Netherlands => Existing site not really great. Doubting extending it will help much.
Le phare de Cordouan - France => Reviews where enthusiastic.
Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Danube Limes - Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia => Hadrians and Antoines Wall already cover this.
Fortress of Spinalonga - Greece => Rhodes, Corfu, ... Why any additional ones?
Classical Karst - Slovenia => Not sure what the OUV should be ehre.
Colonies of Benevolence - NL, Belgium => Feels like each and every local movement gets a WHS. I am not sure why this has global significance.

What would bother me would be to see 2 properties in the UK for 1 single place: Bath

No news about that?

The session has taken place, but nothing has come out into the open yet...
https://twitter.com/mechtildrossler?lang=nl

Do we at least know what exactly has taken place, or are there any news whatsoever?

From the description on the UNESCO website, I had understood that the one on the 30th of September was just a meeting to take some decisions about the session proper...

* * *

In the meantime, just some free comments about some of the nominations:

- Known & visited:
Darmstadt Artists' Colony Mathildenhöhe - Germany : I like it so much! I think it might be a nice addition.
Deer Stone Monuments - Mongolia : Yes, but I am biased :-)
Fortress of Spinalonga - Greece : well, I don't know... it is an interesting place with a dark story, but feels like a weak candidature...
Padova Urbs Picta - Italy : well, of course. It will make it on the list. The Scrovegni chapel alone would suffice.

- Others:
Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands - Georgia : it sounds very interesting and unique, but I can glimpse very little from the description.
Colonies of Benevolence - NL, Belgium : nice, but what are their real chances?
Great Spas of Europe - Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, UK : I am left perplexed. And why is Hungary left out? It needs more focus, maybe
Trans-Iranian Railway - Iran : woah, that's a... long one. Is it really definable as a WHS?

Officially nothing... But rumour* has it that inscribing 'online' those with ICOMOS/IUCN recommendations without further discussion... Any Def/Ref to be faced during the next meeting.
(*Someone who's working for Paris headquarters)

:) oh I like the intrigue it is like a John le Carré novel!

I think that seems like a reasonable proposal, and will be a sign of good will to the Advisory Bodies that for 1 year their recommendations are important. Perhaps the counterbalance can be that those not recommended for inscription can be put forward again next year without it counting towards any country/ regional tally.

The years when there was the least registration were 1989 (7 sites) and 2002 (9 sites), are we going to beat this low record?

I think that a year with 0 sites would be very sad but very symbolic of the year that we have just lived.
However, I would at least like to see the sites recommended by ICOMOS / IUCN listed, even though it is in December.
Imagine a year with only one Italian chapel registered! :)

an extension of Škocjan Caves?

That's too bad that it sounds like we will only see the results of this year's discussions, and not the actual meetings. The discussions during nominations are some of the most interesting parts. Not to mention the hats and the traditional poetry we're missing out on.

Maybe there'll be an Iranian video message. :)

Feels ironic that Corona WHC is actually the more sensible one... Overruling the advisory body had become the norm and now they just stick to the recommendations..