Community involvement in heritage

The value of heritage for society is increasingly underscored. This goes hand in hand with a growing interest for local communities’ involvement in heritage management plans. Although this shift in discourse is acknowledged, its practical implementation seems often too ambitious and not easy to apply. Therefore, the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation (RLICC, University of Leuven) considered “community participation in valuing and managing heritage” a relevant and timely topic for its annual international conference, the “Thematic Week”.

This volume reports on the lectures and fruitful debates dedicated to this theme during the 2014 Thematic Week, which took place January 22nd-24th. The conference entailed an integral and holistic approach towards community participation. Focusing traditionally on the conservation of the historic urban environment and immovable heritage, the RLICC took the opportunity to involve both the intangible and movable heritage fields which have a more apparent relation with community participation in managing heritage.

The contributions by different international authors, including theoretical reflections, policy / discourse analyses and practical case studies, show that a balanced approach is needed. They evidence that more research is required on the success and on failure factors associated with community participation in heritage preservation and management projects. It appears that taking full advantage of public participation requires considering heritage as an economic, social and intellectual resource for local communities. These added benefits can enhance the value a community attributes to heritage and encourages them to maintain it.

This publication was developed in context of the UNESCO Chair on Preventive Conservation, Monitoring and Maintenance of Monuments and Sites (PRECOM3OS), established at the RLICC in collaboration with Monumentenwacht Vlaanderen and the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Cuenca in Ecuador and financially supported by the Janssen Fund for Preventive Conservation.