Upscaling Local Adaptive Heritage Practices to Internationally Designated Heritage Sites

TY - JOUR

T1 - Upscaling Local Adaptive Heritage Practices to Internationally Designated Heritage Sites

AU - Kerr, Sarah

AU - Riede, Felix

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2022/7

Y1 - 2022/7

N2 - World Heritage Sites can face an onslaught of risks from high tourist numbers, climate changes, the impacts of conflict and war, and static management practices. These sites have been ascribed a value that is considered both outstanding and universal (OUV) and as such they are placed at a higher prioritisation than all other heritage sites. The aim of this listing is to ensure their protection for future generations. Yet, the management practices enacted under this preservation mandate can be reactive rather than proactive and reflective, overly concerned with maintaining the status quo, and restricted by a complexity of national and international regulations and stakeholders. We here introduce a local-scale, community-driven heritage project, called CHICC, that offers, we argue, a useful insight into management practices that may be upscaled to internationally designated sites. Although this is not a blueprint to fit all heritage needs, some of the fundamental intentions embedded within CHICC can and perhaps should be adopted in the approaches to internationally designated site management. These include inclusivity with the local community as a priority stakeholder, a deeper understanding of the site including its future risks, consideration of the wider heritage landscape, and greater incorporation of heritage dynamism. Through analysing and evaluating the case study project, this conceptual chapter argues that adaptive heritage practices are underway in some local-scale contexts, and this can be a useful template for advancing the management of World Heritage Sites.

AB - World Heritage Sites can face an onslaught of risks from high tourist numbers, climate changes, the impacts of conflict and war, and static management practices. These sites have been ascribed a value that is considered both outstanding and universal (OUV) and as such they are placed at a higher prioritisation than all other heritage sites. The aim of this listing is to ensure their protection for future generations. Yet, the management practices enacted under this preservation mandate can be reactive rather than proactive and reflective, overly concerned with maintaining the status quo, and restricted by a complexity of national and international regulations and stakeholders. We here introduce a local-scale, community-driven heritage project, called CHICC, that offers, we argue, a useful insight into management practices that may be upscaled to internationally designated sites. Although this is not a blueprint to fit all heritage needs, some of the fundamental intentions embedded within CHICC can and perhaps should be adopted in the approaches to internationally designated site management. These include inclusivity with the local community as a priority stakeholder, a deeper understanding of the site including its future risks, consideration of the wider heritage landscape, and greater incorporation of heritage dynamism. Through analysing and evaluating the case study project, this conceptual chapter argues that adaptive heritage practices are underway in some local-scale contexts, and this can be a useful template for advancing the management of World Heritage Sites.

KW - adaptive management

KW - climate change

KW - community archaeology

KW - local heritage

KW - world heritage

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133816837&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/cli10070102

DO - 10.3390/cli10070102

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85133816837

SN - 2225-1154

VL - 10

JO - Climate

JF - Climate

IS - 7

M1 - 102

ER -