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To counteract processes of landscape deterioration, marginalisation and loss of cultural heritage due to rural restructuring of farming in late-modern Norwegian society, an agricultural landscape scheme started up in 2009. The purpose of this paper is to examine the way this recently introduced strategy of directing particular resources to a group of selected agricultural landscapes contributes in instigating integrated landscape management and to gain insight in the role cultural heritage play.

The authors ask how potential conflicts between local interpretations of cultural heritage and the assessments made by authoritative heritage managers are expressed in the initial planning documents.

While the reasoning and selection of the two areas are strongly influenced by the authoritative heritage discourse, the agricultural landscape scheme is nonetheless open to local adaptations and adjustments, and the two plans vary both in form and contents due to the major stress put on active involvement of farmers to render long-term management feasible.

Examination of the role cultural heritage plays is part of a larger research project where problems related to biodiversity, legal implication and public participation are dealt with separately.

The study will provide important results for future adjustments and potential enlargement and has transfer value to conservation schemes in other European countries.

The purpose of this study is to explore the potential of social media as a framework for people-centered heritage. With a focus on the interpretation and display of heritage by online communities, this paper aims at providing insights into the social production of heritage – the social co-construction of meanings of everyday landscape and the making of the collective and local identity.

This paper proposes a methodological roadmap for the digital ethnography of everyday heritage. It reveals (1) the fundamental principles according to which people make value judgments and associate meanings to the urban landscape, and (2) the role of online communities in conveying collective identity and heritage values within the community realm. As a case study area for the implementation of the proposed method, three Facebook community group pages for Tripoli, Lebanon were chosen. The posts and comments were translated into English and uploaded to NVivo 12 plus and a deductive thematic approach to qualitative data analysis was applied. The data was coded into three main nodes: the actors, the tangible assets and the value registers.

Results show that Facebook users are concerned with environmental equality, common interests, utility, right to the city and representativeness, while the beautification of heritage is often perceived as a threat to these values.

This investigation goes beyond heritage attributes (what) and values (why) to examine how values are assigned by local communities. It provides a comprehensive understanding of value judgment and the rationale and arguments used to justify positions and mobilize online community members in order to contribute to the digital co-construction of everyday heritage.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the consequences on conservation theory and practice resulting from contemporary global trends, including the increasing involvement in the field by the general public and the broader social, economic and political roles that cultural heritage is being called upon to play in contemporary society.

Based on observations and discussions in various international fora, it is argued that alongside traditional heritage places, a new paradigm for heritage sites has emerged whose values no longer rest entirely on material culture, but on intangible concepts for which traditional conservation practice often is neither effective nor applicable.

Besides evidencing the evolution of the cultural conservation field as a continuous attempt to reconcile the conservation of cultural heritage and development, this paper reflects upon the role of the World Heritage Convention. It also puts forward several innovative ideas and potential research topics to bridge cultural heritage management and sustainable development.

The paper suggests how conservation of heritage sites fitting the characteristics of this new paradigm will require a re‐examination and expansion of the field's theoretical foundations, as well as the development of a new set of tools for their adequate protection.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how safeguarding intangible cultural heritage contributes to environmental conservation and favours sustainable development of natural landscapes. To do so, the authors will focus on a study of dry stone constructions, which have been recognised by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The research has been carried out through three methodologies: the search and review of archives (historical and administrative documents), ethnographic methodology (field work and interviews) and case studies.

The abandonment of dry stone constructions is placing rural zones at risk, as they assume a strategic role in environmental conservation efforts. This article seeks to highlight the importance of safeguarding this cultural heritage.

The art of dry stone walling has its origins in ancient times and can be found in numerous regions around the world. The main ideas of this paper may be applied to many of the places where this vernacular architecture can be found.

Some stakeholders may apply the results of this study to identify new uses for heritage resources that allow maintenance of ecosystems while at the same time safeguarding intangible cultural heritage.

This paper stresses the importance of raising public awareness of cultural heritage and vernacular architecture, its link with traditional activities such as farming and livestock raising, the rural landscape and reinforcement of cultural identity and historical memory.

This study illustrates the actions taken by UNESCO to safeguard intangible cultural heritage and the effects of those actions. It also considers dry stone constructions from the perspective of environmental sustainability, an area that has been subject to limited study.

In 2011, UNESCO recommended the application of a value-based landscape approach to cultural heritage conservation. In this framework, culture in its manifold expressions is considered as an embrace for the social, economic, and environmental pillars of sustainable development. There is a need to unveil the different cultural values generated from the interaction between people and their environment since these values will help cities maintain their unique identity and integrity. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to present the results of a survey method intended to assess the range of cultural values attributed by people to the historic urban landscape (HUL).

This paper is an experimental enquiry that combines a qualitative and a quantitative approach. It is designed to distinguish the different interpretations and outlooks of people to the HUL. It integrates landscape preference studies with investigation on representative images of the city and assesses these in relation to activities, feelings, and valued aspects of landscapes.

The main finding is that the most preferred scenes of the city are not the ones that best represent the city. Results exposed two sides of the HUL and related heritage values. The first is associated with the scenic beauty of the landscape and its aesthetic values, while the second is reflected in ordinary landscapes and everyday practices.

This paper provides an insight into the different interpretations and meanings of the HUL throughout the city. It provides an empirical evidence that ordinary landscapes are of great heritage value as they surpass all aspects of human environmental interaction to contribute to the image that societies make of themselves.

This study aims to examine whether there are significant differences between laymen's, professionals' and policy makers' evaluations of the conservation of historic buildings.

The research began with interview surveys using a sample of laymen and professionals in the built environment and it examined their evaluation standards of a sample of 25 historic buildings in Hong Kong. The research also used the controversial Queen's Pier case to examine the extent to which different preferences of conservation between laymen and professionals and policy makers has led to its conservation campaign.

The results indicate that laymen and professional groups evaluate historic buildings based on slightly different criteria. The research also reveals that their preference for what is worth conserving is different from policy makers. The debate over the conservation of the Queen's Pier illustrates a wide range of issues other than differences of preference that may have stimulated the campaign.

The sample size of the respondents and the sample buildings are limited due to manpower resource and funding. Further study can expand the sampling size.

The study is original research which illustrates the differences between laymen's, professionals' and policy makers' evaluation criteria and assessment of historic buildings. It recommends a greater understanding of all stakeholders' interests in heritage conservation and the incorporation of the public's view into legislative and administrative procedures in designating and listing historic buildings.

Improving the energy performance of historic buildings has the potential to reduce carbon emissions while protecting built heritage through its continued use. However, implementing energy retrofits in these buildings faces social, economic, and technical barriers. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to present the approach of IEA-SHC Task 59 to address some of these barriers.

Task 59 aims to achieve the lowest possible energy demand for historic buildings. This paper proposes a definition for this concept and identifies three key socio-technical barriers to achieving this goal: the decision-makers’ lack of engagement in the renovation of historic buildings, a lack of support during the design process and limited access to proven retrofit solutions. Two methods – dissemination of best-practice and guidelines – are discussed in this paper as critical approaches for addressing the first two barriers.

An assessment of existing databases indicates a lack of best-practice examples focused specifically on historic buildings and the need for tailored information describing these case studies. Similarly, an initial evaluation of guidelines highlighted the need for process-oriented guidance and its evaluation in practice.

This paper provides a novel definition of lowest possible energy demand for historic buildings that is broadly applicable in both practice and research. Both best-practices and guidelines are intended to be widely disseminated throughout the field.

Spatial identity is an important constituent of general cultural identity in that it provides its share of continuity, sustainability, character and inertia. The purpose of this paper is to trace spatial identity’s formulation, reflection and perception within the mainstream media. The authors are particularly interested in spatial identity’s general aspect, consisting of architectural and other elements that give spatial character to places, making them both common and recognisable at the same time. The proposed spatial identity presence index is one of the indicators through which stakeholders in cultural heritage management could monitor, and even manage, the public perception of built heritage’s wider context.

The research seeks wider relevance through the development of new methodology that combines web search services, visual data quantification, and data mining methods, and compares this with expert opinion. The research methodology is showcased and established in terms of the connection between the fundamental work in relation to Slovenian architectural landscapes from the pre-internet era and spatial identity’s web reflection as broadcast and collectively co-shaped by the internet-permeated society more than 20 years after the internet’s inception.

The findings indicate that results based on expert opinion and results acquired by counting spatial character carrier elements are aligned.

The introduced index of web-sourced spatial identity presence measures web-projected spatial characteristics in selected settlements. It is applicable in similar cases where the existing body of work on local spatial identity allows it, and can be used for comparative purposes. It also has social, economic and political connotations.

This paper aims to provide an empirical analysis of residents’ perceptions and attitudes in the city of Aveiro, Portugal, regarding the appropriation of public spaces by tourists. An analysis of how the perceptions of this appropriation influence residents’ attitudes (RA) towards tourists, and even restructuring of space considering RA, is also presented. It is intended to do this based on a theoretical framework where tourism socio-cultural impacts on urban destinations are analysed with a focus on appropriation processes. Attitudes of residents are also examined.

A questionnaire survey (N = 301) was carried out with residents of the city of Aveiro, using a cluster sampling approach. The aim of the empirical study is to use multiple linear regression analyses to assess the extent to which the residents’ perceptions of tourists’ appropriation of public spaces influence the attitudes of the former towards the latter.

The results show that, overall, the residents consider that tourism has more positive than negative impacts. However, it can be observed that residents already perceive some negative impacts of tourism regarding the appropriation of space. Concerning RA, these tend to be more positive than negative. It can also be observed that various perceptions of appropriation of space significantly influence these attitudes. The paper ends with some guidelines for designing policies and strategies for tourism development that promote better use of public spaces by tourists.

Considering the limited empirical research on perceptions of appropriation of tourism space, the study carried out in this paper analyses the impact of a comprehensive set of residents’ perceptions regarding the appropriation of public space by tourists on various types of attitudes of residents towards tourists.

This paper seeks to highlight issues surrounding ownership and copyrights relating to intangible cultural heritage and to raise potential concerns for local (rural, remote, smaller) communities involved in cultural heritage tourism.

The objective of the paper is to provoke reflection and further discourse on how local culture in smaller rural communities has been appropriated for tourism and related issues and concerns. Selected literature, other relevant documents and data from personal observations, derived from previous research, were examined to provide insights on the subject and to help achieve this objective.

Findings suggest that an inequity gap exists in benefits distributed to many rural communities whose cultural heritages are being appropriated and exploited by multiple commercial entities for tourism purposes and personal gain. Little, if any, of the profits realized benefit the local community – the actual creators and owners of the local culture.

With a new awareness and understanding of this phenomenon, developing and implementing a new and alternative approach is possible – an alternative approach that may help narrow this inequity gap while also ensuring significant sustainable benefits to all the stakeholders.

This paper presents new perspectives about the value of intangible cultural heritage when used for tourism. This paper should be of interest and importance to community tourism planners and policy makers, industry operators/suppliers dependent on local cultural tourism products, and consumers of local intangible culture who seek unique cultural experiences.