Cultural heritage is a treasure that gives us a glimpse into the past and shapes our values, beliefs, sense of identity, and sense of belonging. It is a fundamental asset that must be preserved, but also used to foster social cohesion and encourage creativity and cultural exchange.
When people think of cultural heritage, they often imagine art (paintings, drawings, prints), historic buildings and monuments, archaeological sites, but it can also include museums, architecture, traditional craftsmanship, and even landscapes. It can also include towns, underwater heritage, and natural landscapes where communities identify with.
In addition, it is important to note that cultural heritage can be intangible as well as material: it can include oral history and traditions, dances, music, costumes, cuisines, languages, customs, rituals, knowledge, skills and representations that are passed from generation to generation within a community. The intangible components of cultural heritage can be extremely diverse: from tango and flamenco, to traditional handcrafts and folk songs, to religious festivals and rituals, the Mediterranean diet, Kabuki theatre, and Chinese shadow puppetry, to name only a few examples.
Clearly, this makes the task of protecting and using cultural heritage a complex one. As a result, it is essential to build on the many strengths of cultural heritage to sustainably boost local economies and create jobs, ensuring that a city’s cultural heritage remains relevant for both present and future generations.
Cultural heritage also has the potential to enhance a city’s image and promote tourism development. The challenge is to ensure that this is done in a sustainable manner, in line with the preservation of cultural heritage and in order not to generate negative impacts on residents such as over-tourism, anti-social behaviours, pressure on public services or housing prices.
To successfully preserve and use cultural heritage for economic and social benefit, it is crucial to involve residents in a dialogue about the value of their city’s heritage, its identity and its future. The UNESCO’s “Making Cities for People” initiative focuses on creating this space for dialogue by engaging residents and stakeholders in the planning and management of their city’s cultural heritage.
A recent example is the Cultural Heritage in Action project, which gathered good practice examples from around Europe and organised peer-learning visits on how to integrate cultural heritage into urban regeneration. This report captures the main trends identified by the project and articulates key learning points, for both policies and projects. It also includes a practical guide on how to engage with stakeholders. The full report is available on the UNESCO website.