International policies for sustainable development from cultural empowerment

Author(s):  
Yacy-Ara Froner

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the international agenda regarding the discussion on the sustainable development. It asserts the idea that economic growth is a process that embraces the cultural values, human capability, and transnational policies aimed to guide and support the efforts of nations to achieve social security. The paper places the issues of contemporary heritage science theory on the recent debate concerning the cultural heritage preservation based on scientific, legal, social, and management issues. Design/methodology/approach The paper selected mainly reports, declarations, resolutions, and recommendations concerning this theme. The framework comprehends almost 30 years: from the first project titled “World Decade of Cultural Development” (1988) to the last conference in Tanzania (2016). Some questions defined the methodological approach of this investigation: how can we generate sustainability in terms of the use, maintenance, and conservation of cultural heritage? How can we adjust the local, national, and international guidelines to a common logic without letting go of the community autonomy? Findings The paper provides a historical context about the enlargement of the debate concerning the international policies for sustainable development from cultural empowerment. It suggests that UNESCO, WHC, and ICCROM have been promoting positive projects in vulnerable regions. Research limitations/implications Eurocentric models of development and occidental concept of culture exposure in the selected documents should be reviewed mainly in decolonization areas. Practical implications The article offers a distinct perspective for the system of international evaluation of cultural heritage, and a different focus of reflection for the academic community. Originality/value The study promotes a reflection regarding the international agenda for sustainable development over the last 30 years.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zdzisława Elżbieta Niemczewska

PurposeThe paper is to propose a tool for holistic impact assessment of commercially reused immovable cultural heritage resources on local, sustainable development along with the possibility to ensure the cultural sustainability of these assets themselves. The paper contains a case study using the proposed tool. The case study concerns a historic object in the form of a Polish manor house located in rural areas in Poland adapted for commercial purposes – restaurant, painting gallery and renovation of antique furniture.Design/methodology/approachThe author proposes a holistic approach based on aspects, to impact assessment of given heritage resources on the economic, social, cultural and environmental pillars of sustainable development and the sustainable use of heritage assets themselves. Above that, the approach proposes to use the assumptions of EMAS or ISO 14001 systems for assessment of environmental aspects in case of reused cultural heritage assets.FindingsThe test study showed that the proposed tool allows determining whether, how and to what extent the contemporary commercial function of a given element of immovable cultural heritage contributes to local sustainable development and whether and to what extent the cultural sustainability of a given cultural heritage is ensured.Research limitations/implicationsIn the proposed approach, very detailed quantitative data cannot be included because of the need to simplify the research.Practical implicationsThe proposed tool can be used by owners of reused historic buildings, local authorities, services responsible for the protection of cultural heritage and financing institutions to determine whether a given contemporary commercial function of cultural heritage resources contributes to local sustainable development in holistic approach and whether this function ensures the preservation of its cultural sustainability.Social implicationsThe use of the proposed tool will give the opportunity to take appropriate actions to increase the impact of historic objects on local sustainable development including social aspects. Moreover, it will be possible to increase the cultural sustainability of these objects.Originality/valueThere are not many studies and tools that provide a possibility to assess a holistic impact of reused cultural heritage on local sustainable development. Research usually concerns one or two pillars: social and economic. Above that, the study of the cultural appreciation in two different groups: direct users and the local community is a novelty in the perception of contribution to cultural development. It may contribute to the different way of measurement of appreciation of cultural heritage and its contribution to social and cultural development. In addition, to study the environmental pillar, the author proposes an approach used in environmental management (ISO 1400 and EMAS), i.e. the application of activities related to eliminating the potentially harmful impact of a new function of the historic resource on the natural environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Héctor Moreno - Mendoza ◽  
Agustín Santana - Talavera ◽  
José Molina - González

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to affirm that it is possible to segment visitors of cultural heritage into homogeneous groups according to a series of characteristics to detect the variables that have statistical significance to identify visitor clusters.Design/methodology/approachFour case studies were selected, where a total of 500 questionnaires were made to visitors. The authors proceeded with cluster analysis using SPSS software to differentiate visitor segments. Four groups of visitors were first identified and which have subsequently been reduced to three, according to several factors.FindingsThe main contributions of this paper are: (1) the segment to which each one of the determinants of the cultural tourism product is dedicated; (2) the variable object of the analysis, i.e. the formation of visitor segments; and (3) the inclusion of less studied variables such as type of accommodation contracted, treatment offered in the museums or entrance price.Research limitations/implicationsThe analysis has been developed in different museums, with different management models, in a specific place. However, the results are generalizable to other places and to other institutions that manage cultural heritage. The implications are management strategies for a sustainable cultural development in institutions of tourism and heritage.Practical implicationsFrom a practical point of view, the results are useful for cultural managers, travel agencies, tour operators, tourism companies or political offices, among others, because they generate new ideas and strategies focused on maximizing the use of the resources of cultural institutions.Social implicationsFor both local and non-local agents, the knowledge of the factors that make up the groups of visitors in the heritage sites represents a strategy in aspects of marketing, promotion and distribution, thus generating capacities for the different intermediaries, and the possibility of negotiating lower prices with better benefits. It is also possible to create new products destined for other publics.Originality/valueThe study is original because this has not been published.


2020 ◽  
pp. 50-56
Author(s):  
В. Я. Качмар

The problem of criminal law protection of the cultural heritage of mankind is one of the most relevant in modern criminal law. Law enforcement practice has difficulties in qualifying the destruction or damage of cultural property. Most often, this is due to the definition of a set of crimes while encroaching on both religious feelings and cultural values. The urgency of solving this problem is growing due to the threat of destruction of cultural values due to man-made and natural disasters, as well as as a result of anthropogenic activities. These circumstances determine the relevance of the study of the problems of social conditionality of criminal liability for destruction or damage to cultural heritage sites, cultural values. The purpose of the article is to analyze the factors of social conditionality of criminal liability for criminal offenses in the field of protection of cultural values, the task of the article is to characterize the types of social harm as the basis of factors of social conditionality of these offenses. The article examines the factors of social conditioning of criminal liability for criminal offenses in the field of protection of cultural values, gives a characteristic of the types of social harm as the basis of the factors of social conditioning of these offenses. The article proves that the destruction or damage of cultural heritage objects, natural complexes, cultural values cause harm, is expressed not only in the direct loss of unique objects and objects that accumulate the centuries-old spirit of history, the foundations of material and spiritual culture, but also personify the absolute beauty and perfection of human talent and abilities, but also in the destruction of the very centuries-old spirit of the historical and cultural development of mankind, therefore, the harm from damage to this or that historical monument is necessarily reflected in all the above areas. It is concluded that the destruction or damage of cultural heritage sites are characterized by encroachment on public morality, which is expressed in the active influence of destruction or damage of cultural heritage sites included in the single state register of cultural heritage sites, identified cultural heritage sites , natural complexes, objects taken under state protection, or cultural values on cultural, historical, archeological, scientific bases of public life.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Alqahtany ◽  
Sreejith Aravindakshan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the trajectories of the urbanization process in Saudi Arabia in its regional context from the unification of the country by King Abdul Aziz Al Saud in 1932 to the present time, and the urbanization impact on the status and management of cultural heritage in the Kingdom.Design/methodology/approachOur study design integrated a well-articulated theoretical frame of sustainability to gain a heuristical understanding of urbanization in Saudi Arabia, and its link to cultural heritage. The methodological approach was mixed in nature involving (1) literature search and review, (2) analysis of public documents and databases, (3) analysis of photographs and (4) expert interviews.FindingsOne of the most obvious findings reached in this study is that there is considerable trade-off between heritage site conservation, population and economic demand for increased urbanization. Hence, with increasing urbanization pressures, the value of the heritage site may be rethought based on Saudi Arabia's economic and cultural conservation perspectives.Research limitations/implicationsSince our data are mostly of textual narrative in origin, precise predictions were difficult or impossible for many reasons such as non-linearity, and non-equilibrium dynamics, context and scale dependence as well as the historical exigency of urbanization. However, the same theoretical framework can be applied to appropriate longitudinal/ time series data for predictive analyses, which can be taken up as a future research agenda.Originality/valueThis paper analyzes the urbanization process and sustainability challenges of cultural heritage sites employing a mixed methodological approach, embedded in a holistic theoretical framework of sustainability.


Author(s):  
Guillermo S. Reher

PurposeThere are currently various methodologies used for carrying out impact assessments of cultural heritage. This paper aims to critically explore the reasons for this diversity and ascertain their varying consistency.Design/methodology/approachThe paper does a comparative analysis of the methodologies used, exploring how they measure up to the theoretical underpinnings of the ecosystem services approach and the cultural values model, considered to be the most comprehensive strategies for assessing the impact of cultural heritage.FindingsThe study reveals that there are few methodologies, and they only inconsistently work upon the theoretical perspectives mentioned earlier. In addition, from the public policy perspective, surprisingly few areas endowed with cultural heritage have been, in one way or another, assessed for impact, perhaps in part due to the lack of adequate methodologies.Research limitations/implicationsThe methods analysed are those that have been made public, which can be found in English. Also, they may be exploratory themselves, so some of the conclusions reached here may have also been found by the analysts themselves. This research serves to provide some scientific groundings for developing a more comprehensive impact assessment method.Practical implicationsThe results of this paper highlight certain glaring absences from current methodologies which invite the development of more definitive cultural impact assessment models. This is possible given the current state of the art, and further research and practice are necessary to develop a more comprehensive cultural values model–based research assessment.Social implicationsBy focussing on the absence of certain indicators on behalf of impact assessment methodologies, this paper sheds light on the overlooked (or under-measured) benefits derived from cultural heritage. Many of the benefits derived from this type of resource find an opportunity to come out in the open, greatly affecting researchers, cultural heritage planners and local communities.Originality/valueThis paper also serves to substantiate a glaring absence within the ecosystem services framework, which is the lack of practical methodologies for measuring some of these service values.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karol Król

PurposeAt the turn of 2018 and 2019, a certain era in the history of Polish Internet came to an end. Most of the websites of rural tourism facilities hosted on free servers no longer exist; however, the very phenomenon has significantly distinguished itself in the promotion of rural tourism in Poland. The paper presents archaic websites or rural tourism facilities in Poland as digital cultural heritage assets. Its purpose is to propose attributes potentially indicative of content or phenomenon being part of digital cultural heritage.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 211 websites of rural tourism facilities in Poland, hosted on free servers, were analysed. The study investigated digital artefacts, i.e. only the websites that no longer exist but whose archival copies are found at the Internet Archive (IA).FindingsThe structure of most websites of rural tourism facilities was based on tables. None of the websites were responsive. The graphics of 132 websites (65%) were never changed, with the oldest recorded copies dating back to 2001 and the newest ones to 2018. On many websites, components that are relatively rarely found these days were noted, e.g. “marquee”-type “floating” objects or online surveys.Originality/valueThe phenomenon of using free-of-charge hosting services by rural tourism facilities in Poland in the years 2004–2012 is part of the history of Polish Internet and an example of digital cultural heritage. Archaic websites of rural tourism facilities in Poland are digital artefacts but not all of them have cultural values. In total, three groups of attributes are proposed that can be important for determining whether a website, content or phenomenon can be considered digital cultural heritage assets.


Author(s):  
Mustafa Dogan

Purpose – The concept of sustainable development is now widely accepted as a means of protecting natural resources and cultural heritage. One approach to ensuring sustainability, especially in relation to cultural tourism, is the ecomuseum. Turkey has considerable potential to develop ecomuseological models to encourage local sustainable development. The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of ecomuseums in Turkey by analysing the recent implementation of the concept in Hüsamettindere and Bogatepe villages. Current practices at these two sites are evaluated in comparison with the basic principles of ecomuseum theory. Design/methodology/approach – This paper explores local community involvement in two emerging ecomuseums in Turkey based on several years of participant action research by the author; it describes the nature of the two ecomuseums based on that experience. In addition an in-depth survey was carried out between February and April 2013 by Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University when 45 local participants were interviewed for their views on the ecomuseum developments, using the MACDAB method (Borrelli et al., 2008) as a guide. Findings – Even though the two implementations in Turkey have different features deriving from their local dynamics, they have had a similar experience in terms of the development process. Both began with a volunteer movement, the organisation of the local community, the formation of civil initiatives, a joint decision-making processes and the existence of participation and consensus. This process conforms to the basic principles of ecomuseology. The ecomuseums have also raised concerns about the loss of rural heritage and the mechanisms for conserving it within the model of the “living” ecomuseum. The most significant fact to emerge from this initial review of the two ecomuseums is that it is not necessarily their ability to conserve fragments of tangible and intangible heritage that is paramount in Turkey, but their importance in providing employment opportunities in rural areas. Originality/value – Ecomuseum movement is a very important and practical model for sustainable development and tourism. Ecomuseums can also be functional tools for protecting of cultural heritage and developing of local areas. Even though Turkey has got many cultural heritage sources, they are not used productively for local sustainable development. The two implementations will be sample to all natural and cultural heritage areas of Turkey for sustainable development.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Selena Aureli ◽  
Mara Del Baldo

PurposeThe paper aims to investigate the approach and tools adopted by an Italian city, included amongst the UNESCO World Heritage sites (WHS), to involve different stakeholders in the protection and valorisation of its historical centre to achieve the goals of sustainable development. The paper focusses on the role of local authorities as the key actors that should engage different city users to jointly achieve heritage conservation and socio-economic development.Design/methodology/approachData were collected, thanks to the researchers' direct participation in a project launched by the municipality of Urbino, which involved several local stakeholders and lasted about a year. Participant observation allowed the authors to collect informal interviews, join collective discussions and reflect on the direct observation of the activities undertaken.FindingsThe case study analysed suggests how participatory governance may be effective in fostering responsible principles in “asset usage” by any type of city users and how citizens actively co-design and co-implement initiatives of heritage revitalisation when engaged in cultural heritage (CH) policies.Originality/valueThe paper addresses a long-standing problem that has never been solved: how to enhance the consciousness of the CH amongst stakeholders and reconcile their different and conflicting needs in the historical urban environment in the process of revitalisation.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terngu Sylvanus Nomishan ◽  
Paul-Kolade Tubi ◽  
Dimas Solomon Gubam

PurposeThe aim of this research is to discuss the effect of corruption on conventional management of cultural heritage (CH) resources in Nigeria. It identifies the means by which the effect can be curtailed to bring about proper management system in the CH sector and pave the way for economic/sustainable development through cultural tourism in the country.Design/methodology/approachThe research draws from both exploratory and comparative approaches. It took a study of selected locations and museums in the six geopolitical zones of the country, with a review of literatures on cultural heritage management (CHM). It also gives summarized information on the present overall effect of corruption in the CH sector of Nigeria.FindingsThe research reveals that there are some levels of mismanagement and destruction of CH resources in the country. This is manifested in acts of museum theft, illicit trafficking, unlawful possession and general mishandling of CH, as well as the deterioration of facilities in the sector. The research gathered that the problem came as a result of wrongful appointment of none heritage experts as heads of heritage-related institutions and agencies. It also results from lack of required attention by the government and other relevant stakeholders (such as community leaders/members, academics and law enforcement agencies, inter alia) toward CH preservation, protection, management and promotion for sustainable development. The research recommends that the government and other CH stakeholders (mentioned above) should make efforts to address the issues discussed, so as to improve the management of CH in the country for sustainable development.Originality/valuePrior to this research, there has been no publication addressing the effect of corruption on CHM in this context and location. The article makes recommendations that call for action and also set grounds for future discourse.


Author(s):  
Mavis Thokozile Macheka

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which Great Zimbabwe World Heritage Site has contributed to the sustainable development of the local people who live in its vicinity. What is critically important to underscore is the value of the site to society. Design/methodology/approach The relevant data were collected through questionnaires, personal interviews and site visits. Findings The paper reveals that cultural heritage has affected sustainable development of local communities living in its vicinity in social and cultural terms. There is promotion of Shona traditions through exhibitions and selling of curios by local people at community projects such as the Shona Village and the Great Zimbabwe Nemanwa Craft Centre. The two projects also generate revenue to the local communities. However it was established that a number of benefits from the site such as employment creation are temporary and unsustainable. The main challenge for effecting sustainable development to local communities is lack of community participation. Originality/value Most researchers are arguing that sustainability of cultural heritage is much more difficult compared to natural heritage but the findings reflect that cultural heritage through Great Zimbabwe World Heritage Site could be an essential engine and valuable resource for sustainable development.


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