Common ground and shared frontiers in heritage conservation and sustainable development: partnerships, policies and perspectives

Abstract

Heritage conservation and sustainable development share common ground that is not being fully explored by design and planning professionals. This paper examines how innovators in both fields are seeking that common ground by challenging divided approaches to natural and cultural conservation, environmental and economic processes and the treatment of tangible and intangible resources. These divisions are reinforced by traditional institutional and educational structures, as well as polarised worldviews. Creative practitioners in heritage conservation and sustainable development are exploring the potential of new partnerships, comprehensive policies and broader perspectives. These innovations potentially include everything from minor regulatory modifications to much less likely systemic structural shifts in governance and education. If successful, it could result in broader and more effective strategies, providing a shared frontier for both heritage conservation and sustainable development.

Keywords:

• sustainability
• natural resources
• cultural resources
• conservation
• intangible heritage resource
• tangible heritage resource
• environment
• economics

Notes

1. For a lively discourse in the heritage conservation fields, from both the cultural and the natural sides, see IUCN at http://www.iucn.org/; and ICOMOS at http://www.icomos.org/.

2. See the World Heritage ‘Global Strategy for a Representative, Balanced and Credible World Heritage List’ (http://whc.unesco.org/en/globalstrategy).