Focus Area 3: Sustainable Protection and Use of Heritage in the Context of Innovative Concepts of Heritage
The management of World Heritage sites is supposed to meet UNESCO’s standards of economic, social, ecological and cultural sustainability. However, these four spheres of sustainability may conflict with each other, as the praxis of World Heritage management and use frequently shows. In particular, the economic exploitation of tangible heritage can be at the expense of social and ecological sustainability. A central issue, also in this focus area, is the fact that World Heritage, because it has increasingly become a marketed product, is less and less treated as a cultural good. This has significant consequences, especially for the management of World Heritage sites. The balancing act between the tight and strict conservation regulations and the demands on use and accessibility, which World Heritage site managers have to satisfy, is becoming increasingly difficult. Therefore, case studies may be more likely to provide solutions and answers than theoretical studies. This also applies to the goals of UNESCO to involve all so-called stakeholdersin nomination management processes, as well as to the communication between stakeholders, and their training and efforts in capacity-building. Research projects in this area, for instance on the potential and limits of participatory approaches, on conservation-compatible urban and regional planning, or on the development of “affordable” housing options, are an interdisciplinary challenge. All conflicts and potential innovative solutions shall be examined taking into account future macro- or micro-economic, ecological and demographic developments. Innovative management structures and concepts shall be developed on the basis of participatory approaches, and shall be combined with modern urban planning concepts, for instance in relation to historic city centres. This focus area is therefore closely connected to studies in management, but aims at the same time at urban and regional development.
Thematic Focus Areas
- Impact of migration on the cultural heritage of mobile and sedentary population groups.
- Impact of migration and globalisation on cultural diversity.
- Conflicts between the necessity to protect historic sites and usage demands of local communities and mass tourism.
- Post-industrial use of industrial plants as World Heritage sites.
- Influences of modern urban development (in particular mobility and migration) on the use of historic sites.
- Enhancing the participation of local communities in the protection and use of tangible cultural heritage.
- Research on cultural “routes” and their technological/material foundations.
- Research on the motive of cultural diversity in concepts of sustainable development.
- Research on the relation between cultural conservation and cultural development in sustainable development programs.
- Research on the mitigation of unsustainable industrial cultural impacts within heritage site management frameworks which are based on principles of sustainability.