AppendixConclusions and Recommendations of the Symposium Participants

The GCI symposium “Values in Heritage Management: Emerging Approaches and Research Directions,” held in February 2017, provided a platform for participants to share their experiences and foster a dialogue around the research and cases developed for this volume. In keeping with the GCI’s mission to advance conservation practice internationally, and to create and deliver knowledge that contributes to the conservation of the world’s cultural heritage, participants considered some of the key issues related to the development and application of values-based approaches in heritage management. The following summarizes the major themes that emerged, including significant challenges and needs along with recommended actions for advancing practice. While these represent a collection of ideas from the gathered heritage professionals rather than a consensus on behalf of the field, they nonetheless suggest a practical agenda for future action.

Worldviews and Concepts (Philosophy and Theory)

The internationalized professional standards that are promoted in the heritage field today are based largely on Western cultural concepts. A broader understanding of how heritage is valued in non-Western cultures is needed to inform more inclusive development and more context-sensitive application of values-based methodologies, and this work is needed urgently.

Recommended actions:

  • Develop and publish explanations of how heritage is valued (including key concepts) from a variety of non-Western cultural perspectives, and how these values flow through into conservation, stewardship, policies, and institutions.

Policy (Institutions and Governance)

While values-based approaches have been codified in governance structures for heritage in a number of countries, most applications occur at a project level. Further research is needed on how to more extensively adapt and integrate values-based approaches into institutional and regulatory heritage policies.

Recommended actions:

  • Develop guidance and case studies on integrating values-based approaches into institutional heritage policies and processes.

Frameworks and Tools (Professional Resources)

At the professional or practitioner level, there is a need for greater understanding of how values-based conservation approaches can effectively play out in practical terms through the entire conservation process (from understanding stakeholder perspectives, to developing plans and interventions, to monitoring outcomes). This includes deeper investigation of methods for identifying, assessing, and managing social values, as well as the development of tools for dealing with conflicting values.

Recommended actions:

  • Develop culturally appropriate values-based frameworks with guidance on application and tailoring for specific contexts, publish the frameworks in a variety of languages, and promote their application in a variety of cultural contexts.

  • Further develop cultural mapping methods to demonstrate how this approach to values elicitation can more effectively relate to other survey and elicitation methods, and develop information on how the social values identified flow into policy and management.

  • Develop guidance on application of a variety of methods for identifying, assessing, managing, and conserving social values.

  • Develop a tool kit for understanding and managing conflict over values in heritage management.

  • Develop case studies, tool kits, and guidance on economic evaluation methods for heritage practitioners.

Capacity Building and Awareness Raising (Education and Advocacy)

While the “Frameworks and Tools” section above discusses some of the resources needed to support professional practice, added training, advocacy, and educational materials could enhance capacities to adapt and apply such tools.

Recommended actions:

  • Develop a step-by-step, illustrated process map of values-based management practice (from understanding values, to policy development, to management, to monitoring).

  • Develop didactic materials on values-based management.

  • Develop didactic materials and more training opportunities on conflict resolution for heritage practitioners.

  • Develop professional capacities for integrating economic valuation in heritage management.

Inter-field Collaboration (Interdisciplinary Collaboration)

While there is a need to develop capacities within the heritage profession itself, it was also acknowledged that advancing value-based approaches requires collaboration with those from other fields and with other types of knowledge, especially in the environmental realm, but also other disciplines (anthropology, economics, et cetera).

Recommended actions:

  • Develop guidance for integrated values-based management of nature and culture.

  • Develop values-based nature-culture resilience guidelines.