Heritage Management Practice Research Articles

Digital Footprint as a Public Participatory Tool: Identifying and Assessing Industrial Heritage Landscape through User-Generated Content on Social Media

International heritage management approaches have developed into a more inclusive process wherein public participation is identified as a pivotal tool. Thus, determining how to assess public interests and include the public’s ideas in heritage protection has become a technical issue, but relevant research still remains limited. This paper aims to test the digital footprints of social media users as a public participatory tool, with the objectives of identifying industrial heritage landscape attributes and assessing associated values. Targeting the Sanxian industrial heritage landscape of Liangdancheng in China as a case study, in this research the data from user-generated content on social media platforms Ctrip, Weibo, and Meituan were collected and processed with ROST CM 6 and NVivo 12, and content analysis (CA) and importance-performance analysis (IPA) were conducted. Results revealed that the industrial heritage landscape of Liangdancheng encompasses various built, cultural, and natural environmental resources, including both tangible and intangible attributes such as architectural constructions, historic artifacts, cultural events, and plants. These attributes were assessed and categorized into four quadrants of importance–performance characteristics, wherein cultural environmental resources show relatively high performance but built environmental resources need further actions to improve their value perception and interpretation among the public. This research demonstrated that the digital footprints of social media users as a participatory tool can work well in terms of data accessibility, value identification, and public representation, advancing the theoretical framework of Chinese industrial heritage management and global practices.

Managing Contemporary Archaeology in the Mediterranean: Challenges Observed from #pubarchMED

Contemporary archaeology was one of the topics addressed within a large study to improve understanding of archaeological heritage management in the Mediterranean basin by the pubarchMED project. While 19th and early 20th century contexts are often studied, contemporary archaeology in the Mediterranean (especially post World War II period) still represents a challenge both for practitioners and heritage managers. This article delves into some structural issues of archaeological heritage management and archaeological practice of the contemporary world, disentangling the main challenges they reveal and the interesting questions they raise for archaeological practice.

Identifying modes of managing urban heritage: Results from a systematic literature review

This article presents a systematic literature review on urban heritage. It analyses (a) how urban heritage is conceptualized and interpreted in academic research, (b) urban heritage management modes. This literature review interprets urban heritage as a resource, collective memory, and space. It categorizes urban heritage management practice into six management modes according to stakeholders' collaboration levels: community-led, expert-coordinated, government-led, conflict-resolution, and privatization. These modes are analyzed based on different political regimes. The review observes five approaches to conceptualizing urban heritage: researching people's perspectives towards urban heritage, framing urban heritage, tracing the process of urban heritage forming, reviewing international policies and charters, and exploring the functions of urban heritage. Finally, for the future research agenda, the article recommends a focus on the following themes: the causal relations between factors and effects of adopting different urban heritage modes, researching community engagement and interactions between different levels of government, and analyzing conflict-resolution processes systematically.

The role of communities in preserving, using and remembering heritage: archaeological monuments and dark heritage sites in Estonia

ABSTRACT This article deals with the question of how communities relate to their heritage in Estonia by focusing on four case studies, two of which represent archaeological sites and two dark heritage sites, and the respective communities involved with these places. The main objective is to understand the dynamics of how heritage communities preserve, use and remember their heritage. Another aim is to explore contemporary community-based and participatory heritage management practices in Estonia and how they relate to the ideals described in the Faro Convention. We examine how the location, the contribution of researchers and personal connections to historic places motivate local people, enthusiasts and the state to care for the sites. It is demonstrated that community-based heritage management is most effective when people are emotionally attached to historic sites, have a sense of ownership and want others to engage with and experience them.

Youth participation in cultural heritage management: a conceptual framework

ABSTRACT The management of cultural heritage is no longer exclusive to heritage professionals. The engagement of various stakeholders, particularly underrepresented groups in communities, is crucial to promote inclusiveness in heritage management practices. As future decision-makers, youth are vital to be engaged, yet their participation remains at a low level due to the underestimation of youth capacities and a lack of motivation among youth. Little research has been done to comprehensively conceptualise youth participation and frame it in the context of cultural heritage management. To fill this gap, an integrative literature review was conducted using academic and grey literature from participatory urban planning, design, governance, and heritage management fields. The results show that existing theories have made valuable insights into approaching youth participation by identifying the definition and roles of youth, levels of participation, and methods of engagement. However, they have so far failed to fully address the fluid nature of youth engagement and lack reflections from youth perspectives towards their initiatives to participatory practices. Drawing on the results, we propose a new conceptual framework consisting of four dimensions: purpose, positioning, perspectives, and power relations, which define youth participation theoretically and methodologically in cultural heritage management.

Sensory Ecofeminism for Heritage, Tourism, and Sustainability in Mauritius

Worldwide, UNESCO provides a global and authorized set of protocols for the conservation of heritage. The organization has long framed the discourse and practice of cultural heritage management. At the Hangzhou International Congress in 2013, UNESCO declared culture as key to development, thereby confirming the role of culture and cultural heritage in sustainable development. In this article, attention is given to emerging sensory ecofeminism and its links to heritage and tourism in Mauritius, specifically in “unauthorized” heritage management locales and hotel settings. The research problem engaged in this study is that globally, heritage conservation is perceived as being of primary interest to UNESCO, the prerogative of authorized professionals and nominated heritage sites. The goal of the research is to understand the manifestation of cultural heritage and its management in coastal locales and how coastal sites and “unauthorized” heritage managers, hitherto not included in national heritage discourse and practice, may advance inclusive heritage management. Using the anthropological research methods of semi-structured interviews and participant observation to produce ethnographic data in 2022, this study finds that a selection of luxury hotels in Mauritius advances a gender-influenced and ecofeminist discourse that supports heritage, tourism, and sustainability in Mauritius. The conclusion of this study is that “unauthorized” heritage management processes and practices in luxury hotels and tourism establishments can be gender and community inclusive, sensitive to various social hierarchies, and required to achieve environmental sustainability. It is recommended that national heritage institutions and practitioners give more attention to the diverse, often unexpected locales for heritage conservation and inclusion.

Can tourism enhance inclusitivity for indigenous peoples? Cham perspectives on tourism benefit sharing at living heritage sites in Vietnam

PurposeThrough a case study of the Po Klaong Girai temple in Vietnam, this paper explores how indigenous community perceive tourism benefit sharing (TBS) associated with their cultural tourism at sacred living-heritage sites and how this TBS enhances the equality and inclusion for indigenous community in the context of tourism in Vietnam.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed ethnographic fieldwork and semi-structured interviews with 35 indigenous Cham priests directly associated with managing and preserving the Po Klaong Girai temple.FindingsThis research found that Cham community perceive inequality and exclusivity on tourism benefit sharing at this religious site. While Cham Ahier priests face economic barriers in providing these services to the community, annual tourism revenue is allocated to local government budgets. Such economic pressure forces the priests to seek alternative economic avenues to support their families at the expense of their traditional commitments to communal, cultural and religious activities, significantly impacting sustainable heritage conservation. This has led to strained relations between the local community and local authorities.Practical implicationsThis research provides evidence to improve living heritage management practices by proposing tourism development policies for equality and inclusion among stakeholders, especially minorities and disadvantaged groups. This can be an experiential and necessary lesson for “dealing” with sustainable heritage management in heritage living sites in other ethnic minority areas in Vietnam and globally.Originality/valueThe findings from this study address the knowledge gap on equitable revenue sharing in heritage tourism, where financial benefits from the commodification of minority cultures should be used to support local communities and the custodians of indigenous heritage.

Co-creating the future of heritage in-the-making: empirical evidence from community deliberation at Naxos Island, Greece

ABSTRACT Although participatory heritage has become a ‘buzzword’ of cultural policy, it remains a challenging field for related practice. Set at Naxos Island, Greece, the research presented in this article forms part of a bigger project exploring the values and meaning-making processes in rural landscape, currently at risk of neglect and over-tourism. Here, we test the usability of the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) as a tool for allowing citizens to deliberate and devise community desirable actions for the protection and invigoration of rural monuments. As we discuss, apart from enriching our participatory ‘toolbox’, NGT can offer some insight into bottom-up processes of valuing the past and producing its historicity. Furthermore, our workshop participants initiate a dialogue, wherein they advocate for ‘hands-on’ solutions, which although fit largely with standard heritage management practice, are rearranged in alternative hierarchies; an atypical organisation of actions that reflects community aspirations to preserve a yet unsettled type of heritage that is currently ‘in-the-making’. This supports our main theoretical argument that participatory approaches shall not be treated instrumentally but positioned as part of a wider prefigurative politics project to resist dominant conservative and positivist processes of heritagisation.

The remediation of Kruger Cave: A Later Stone Age and living heritage site in the western Magaliesberg

We report on a programme of work to remediate Kruger Cave, a Later Stone Age painted rock shelter in the western Magaliesberg, South Africa. Kruger Cave, originally excavated in the 1980s and never backfilled or stabilised, has deteriorated through forty years of erosional and quotidian processes that have significantly reduced the extent of the archaeological deposit. The cave is currently occupied by a lay Christian pastor whose activities at the site place the remaining archaeological deposit at further risk. Remedial work was undertaken on what remains of the archaeology-bearing sediment. We also present the preliminary analysis from two small-scale excavations that aimed to document the site’s stratigraphy. We explore the ambivalence of Kruger Cave’s living heritage status within the context of current heritage management practices and discuss how our remedial work is designed to be responsive and respectful to both the archaeological and living heritage priorities.

World Heritage Convention at Fifty Years Old: Shifting to Outstanding Heritage Management Practices

World Heritage Convention at Fifty Years Old:Shifting to Outstanding Heritage Management Practices Eugene Jo (bio) and Webber Ndoro (bio) KEYWORDS UNESCO, World Heritage Convention Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. The 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting held in Baku, Azerbaijan, 1 Jul 2019. © Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan/M. Ragimov. [End Page 250] The World Heritage label emanates from the 1972 UNESCO Convention. The Convention is the instrument that is mostly used for celebrating the world's heritage, of Outstanding Universal Value. To most governments it is seen as an instrument of recognition and an arena for competition among other countries. As an international convention, its most important decision-making body is the intergovernmental World Heritage Committee. The Committee is formulated of twenty-one States Parties elected at the General Assembly, generally serving for a four-year mandate. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is the Secretariat to the Convention. Experts, particularly the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee, see the Convention as a tool to better practice the conservation and management of heritage, which is clearly the intention of the 1972 Convention. Much of these Advisory Bodies' discussions can be aligned to what Laurajane Smith has called "the Authorized Heritage Discourse."1 This is the notion of heritage as a professional (expert) vocabulary, which, by determining the rules of the game, determines what heritage is, what heritage is worth protecting, how it should be protected, and for whom.2 In 2021, thirty-four new sites were added to the World Heritage List, and one was removed because of the threats urban development posed to its conservation management (Liverpool–Maritime Mercantile City, UK). With 1,154 sites accumulated on the List over the past fifty years, there is probable cause to assume that at least twenty sites per year will continue to be added in the next decade. The annual meeting held online in July 2021 clearly indicated the current dynamics of the Committee and its various stakeholders, the States Parties of the Committee, the World Heritage Centre (the Secretariat) and the Advisory Bodies to the Committee. The increased politicization of the Committee over the past decade led to the formation of an ad hoc working group to establish a code of conduct. After more than two years of discussions, in 2021 at the Twenty-Third Session of the General Assembly of the World Heritage Convention, the Declaration of Principles to Promote International Solidarity and Cooperation for the Preservation of World Heritage was adopted as a nonbinding text.3 Though the Declaration is meant to apply for all actors involved with the Convention, the discussions were started essentially to address the conduct of States Parties. One illustration of the ongoing political tensions over the past ten years is the Committee's reactions to its Advisory Body's technical recommendations. The Committee has lauded science-based recommendations when they have been in favor of States Parties' interests and has vigorously challenged the legitimacy of those same recommendations when they have not. Although accusations of politicization of the Convention have persisted for [End Page 251] more than a decade, and have been described as detrimental to the credibility of the Committee, the intergovernmental—States Parties—DNA of UNESCO means that the organization and its deliberations will always be inherently political.4 The UNESCO Global Strategy, which calls upon the World Heritage List to be representative, balanced, and credible, is a problematic directive, considering the inherently political nature of the States Parties system.5 It is not clear how the objectives of the strategy are to be achieved: Is it through numbers per country or per region or even per area? What is the yardstick to indicate success or failure? UNESCO's own program Priority Africa cannot be judged apolitical. It is important for UNESCO to recognize that political issues will always dominate its deliberations. Hence, rather than denigrating the political nature of the Committee, the World Heritage Centre (WHC) needs to play a more active diplomatic role as Secretariat in ensuring that contentious issues between the States Parties and the Advisory Bodies are resolved prior to and between Committee meetings. This...

Heri-Graphs: A Dataset Creation Framework for Multi-Modal Machine Learning on Graphs of Heritage Values and Attributes with Social Media

Values (why to conserve) and Attributes (what to conserve) are essential concepts of cultural heritage. Recent studies have been using social media to map values and attributes conveyed by the public to cultural heritage. However, it is rare to connect heterogeneous modalities of images, texts, geo-locations, timestamps, and social network structures to mine the semantic and structural characteristics therein. This study presents a methodological framework for constructing such multi-modal datasets using posts and images on Flickr for graph-based machine learning (ML) tasks concerning heritage values and attributes. After data pre-processing using pre-trained ML models, the multi-modal information of visual contents and textual semantics are modelled as node features and labels, while their social relationships and spatio-temporal contexts are modelled as links in Multi-Graphs. The framework is tested in three cities containing UNESCO World Heritage properties—Amsterdam, Suzhou, and Venice— which yielded datasets with high consistency for semi-supervised learning tasks. The entire process is formally described with mathematical notations, ready to be applied in provisional tasks both as ML problems with technical relevance and as urban/heritage study questions with societal interests. This study could also benefit the understanding and mapping of heritage values and attributes for future research in global cases, aiming at inclusive heritage management practices. Moreover, the proposed framework could be summarized as creating attributed graphs from unstructured social media data sources, ready to be applied in a wide range of use cases.

The Heritage Jewel of Saudi Arabia: A Descriptive Analysis of the Heritage Management and Development Activities in the At-Turaif District in Ad-Dir’iyah, a World Heritage Site (WHS)

This study explores the change over time in the World Heritage Site (WHS) of Diriyah over three critical periods, focusing on three aspects: physical, social, and economic. Using a mixed-method approach, the site’s heritage management practices and development impact are investigated, and the impact of WHS inscription on the field of heritage in Saudi Arabia is demonstrated. A methodological approach is used in this study, which includes temporal analysis, analysis of historical images and photographs, non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews with key informants, site fieldwork, analysis of archival research, the content of official documents, related media, and promotional materials. The study concludes with a three-aspect matrix demonstrating Historic Diriyah’s various development and change over time. Historic Diriyah is a WHS, and it can still project a successful massive makeover development if a sustainable development approach is used, and visual integrity and site authenticity are preserved. The site of Historic Diriyah and its surroundings were critical in promoting the site as a national identity, an international destination, and presenting a new development agenda for the entire kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It has a significant impact on policymakers who are interested in how heritage sites can be integrated into a larger vision.

Heritage-led urban regeneration: the case of “El-Shalalat District”, Alexandria

PurposeThe paper aims to clarify threats facing heritage management in developing countries. It investigates the challenges facing the application of the historic urban landscape approach (HUL) in the city of Alexandria in Egypt, where heritage is trapped between unplanned developments from one side and deterioration from another side.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses SWOT analysis regarding the heritage management approach of the historic site. Site observation, documentary reviews, an online questionnaire (due to the COVID situation) and some interviews with park visitors and shopkeepers have been adopted to capture the changes in the site management, specifically capturing the current status of the site.FindingsThe paper presented an empirical study covering the evolution of heritage management practices. It suggests that building and maintaining the synergy between the government, the private sector and the public is essential for the sustainability of urban development in the city of Alexandria. It also asserts that heritage is a major catalyst of urban regeneration in the city.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper highlights major threats facing Alexandrian heritage. However, it lacks generalizability.Practical implicationsIt suggests inclusive urban conservation strategies that are based on the HUL approach that would revitalize the historic core and assist in preserving both its tangible and intangible heritage. These strategies can help decision makers to develop more sustainable approaches in managing city heritage and achieving sustainable development of the city core.Social implicationsThe paper presents a social implication through involving stakeholders in the sustainable revitalization project of Al-Shalalat district located in the city center of Alexandria.Originality/valueThe paper presents an empirical study that fulfills an identified need for adopting more sustainable strategies in heritage management in Alexandria.

Archaeological Sites’ Management, Interpretation, and Tourism Development—A Success Story and Future Challenges: The Case of Bibracte, France

Bibracte is described as a well-managed property with significant heritage value. Even as the site’s managing body and its partners continue to deliver encouraging and engaging projects, there are barriers to success. Thus, the primary purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the possible future challenges that the current management may encounter. This study used a field work methodology, and comprised interviews, observations, guided visits, discussions, discourse analysis, and the review of an important corpus of material, from which conclusions were drawn. Significant problems arising from various causes were identified. The results reveal that despite the appropriate heritage management, interpretation, and tourism development practices, the heritage and tourism potential remain not fully captured. The management of the site has established its notoriety as an important research center for experimental and educational archaeology, rather than as an important tourist attraction. Thus, the site has failed to become a popular tourist destination. These difficulties are said to have been molded and enforced by imperatives connected to the site and its surroundings, as well as the Réseau des Grands Sites de France title. This research may contribute to elucidating heritage sites and their unknown management difficulties, which will be beneficial to the sites’ employees and visitors.

Íhé Ńkètá and Òkè: concepts and practice of indigenous cultural heritage management in the Igbo cultural area of south-eastern Nigeria

PurposeThis study explored an alternative understanding of heritage through the lens of the Igbo cultural group in Nigeria. It used the Igbo concept of “Ihe Nketa” or “Oke” to examine the complex relationship between indigeneity, attachment and sustainability in the context of heritage management and conservation.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach was used, and ethnographic methods of data collection that include interviews and focus-group discussions (FGD) applied. The interview participants included village chiefs and the elderly (men and women), and the FGD comprised village elders (men and women) and youths. The interview guide contained demographic questions to determine age and occupation, followed by interactive open-ended questions stemming from the study's objectives. The interviews were conducted in the language most preferred by the respondents such as the Igbo language, Nigerian Pidgin English and the English language. The evidence generated was thematically analysed in a descriptive and interpretive manner.FindingsThe study found that while the Igbo understanding of heritage have related meaning with the definitions offered by the United Nations, their approach to heritage conservation takes a different turn through the concepts of “Ihe Nketa” or “Oke,” which recognises the ephemerality of tangible heritage resources with particular focus on the preservation of intangible heritage–knowledge over objects. The Igbo approach describes the framework for the acquisition, use and transfer of heritage resources in the Igbo society.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the understanding of the concept of heritage through the lens of the Igbo of Nigeria. Against the centralised national management approach to heritage, this paper argues that achieving sustainable heritage management in a multi-ethnic country like Nigeria requires the recognition of the principles that conserve(d) and manage(d) heritage among the indigenous/local peoples.

What makes a corporate heritage brand authentic for consumers? A semiotic approach

In this article, the purpose is to develop a consumer-focused understanding of authenticity within corporate heritage research. Our research question is as follows: “What makes a corporate heritage brand authentic for consumers?” We employ Peirce’s semiotic concepts of icon, index and symbol to analyse consumers’ perceptions of the Finnish corporate heritage brand Fazer, founded in 1891. Our study shows that childhood memories, consumer experiences and expectations as well as shared social conventions make the corporate heritage brand authentic for consumers. Thus, our research empirically advances the understanding of authenticity as socially constructed. Importantly, our study highlights the temporal dimension of this construction and advances the current knowledge on corporate heritage brands by showing that uniqueness, credibility and consistency over time are key dimensions of corporate heritage brand authenticity assessments. This understanding is fundamental for corporate heritage management practice, especially for developing the strategic positioning of corporate heritage brands in the markets by harnessing the assessments of authenticity.

Heritage Assemblages. The Heritage Site of Borobudur (Indonesia) as a Cultural Landscape

This paper interrogates the recent designation of the Borobudur heritage site (Central Java, Indonesia) as saujana budaya by a network of Indonesian activists and academics. Saujana budaya is a newly coined compound term that serves as a translation of the international heritage concept of “cultural landscape”. I argue that this translation, far from representing a perfect correspondence between the source and the target language, entails the assemblage of a localised version of the cultural landscape with Indonesian characteristics. In the context of the Reformasi, which facilitated the emergence of new forms of cultural localism in Indonesia, activists and academics assume that the power to translate, and therefore to produce heritage concepts, empowers heritage advocates, giving them further agency in the heritage arena. Hence, translation is an act of political defiance, representing a critique of the narrowness of governmental approaches to heritage. It also seeks to transform heritage management practices, making them more inclusive and representative of the sacred, spiritual, and religious legacies of the syncretic Hindu-Buddhist traditions linked with the Borobudur Temple and the surrounding territory.

Cultural Heritage Management Practices- in the Medieval Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia——Survival of the Heritages and the Legacies it Contains

Cultural Heritage Management Practices- in the Medieval Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia——Survival of the Heritages and the Legacies it Contains

The ex/inclusion paradox in heritage management: the Mobarak mosque in The Hague

PurposeIn the field of critical heritage studies, it has often been argued that a more inclusive and participatory heritage management approach neutralises differences and can contribute to a more contemporary, plural, democratic and inclusive notion of heritage. Yet, the needs and aspirations of those assumed being excluded from heritage making are not always taken into account, because the analysis and critique often focussed on the dominant heritage discourses, organisations and institutions. This paper conceptualises heritage from below and explores and reconceptualises how subdominant notions of heritage relate to dominant, institutionalised conceptualisations of heritage.Design/methodology/approachBased on a case study of the Mobarak mosque in The Hague, the authors present the multiplicity of subdominant conceptualisations of heritage, the ways heritage is (expected to be) recognised and represented by the community and the complexity of issues of social inclusion/exclusion.FindingsThe authors conclude that inclusive and/or participatory heritage management practices are inclusive in name only when the needs and aspirations of those seemingly being “excluded” are not fully understood and taken into account.Originality/valueA binary heritage/non-heritage framework, the authors argue, is limited to understand matter that matters. Also the authors find that the assumption that there is a growing desire among local community groups to include their histories and related materialities as heritage in the dominant heritage discourse should be challenged.

State-of-the-practice: Assessing community participation within Chinese cultural World Heritage properties

Community participation is a key part of heritage management. However, in practice, unlike natural heritage, the nature of community participation within cultural heritage is seldom assessed, nor are there theoretical frameworks developed to baseline such assessments. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper developed and tested an assessment framework, to assess community participation within cultural heritage. Based on the conceptualisation of community participation from heritage management policies, a literature review was conducted to develop an assessment framework, including four criteria and 23 indicators. This assessment framework was tested on the management practices of 36 Chinese cultural heritage properties inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List from 1987 to 2018. Using content analysis as a method, this research applied this assessment framework to UNESCO documents, reporting on the state-of-the-practice of heritage management as applied to Chinese World Heritage. The results provide an overview of the current situation on how community participation is positioned within World Heritage management in China. Several World Heritage properties in China have reported relatively high community participation in examples such as Honghe Hani Rice Terraces and Kulangsu. However, most of them demonstrate minimal community participation, such as the Yungang Grottoes and Lushan National Park. Moreover, the assessment framework of community participation in heritage management has been extended and improved, which is relevant to heritage management practices worldwide.