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The purpose of this article is to introduce the papers selected for the current issue. Furthermore, it provides a common background in presenting and discussing the role of heritage impact assessments, considering the projected growth of their implementation not exclusive to World Heritage properties and their potential role in bringing cultural heritage management and sustainable development closer together.

From a brief introduction to the background and state‐of‐the‐art on heritage impact assessments, this article describes and explains the ten guidelines recently published to assist cultural heritage managers on the application of heritage impact assessments for World Heritage properties. After this, the role of heritage impact assessments in bridging cultural heritage management and sustainable development will be discussed and new doors opened for further research within the field.

Ten recommendations to structure and classify heritage impact assessments have been identified throughout the ICOMOS guidance on Heritage Impact Assessments for World Heritage properties. Yet, only further research and opportunities to implement them will validate their contribution to the efficiency of World Heritage site management.

In providing an overview of heritage impact assessments, this paper is useful to the readers of the journal interested in guidelines on heritage impact assessments for World Heritage properties, and in the wider ramifications of the management of properties designated as cultural heritage. It introduces the state‐of‐the‐art on heritage impact assessments and reveals areas where research has been lacking, which can be taken up by researchers working on this aspect, or even to highlight the relevance of their ongoing research.

The purpose of this paper is to propose the use of social impact assessment (SIA) principles to evaluate the contribution of cultural heritage to social sustainability, supporting both a people-centered and socially responsible approach to heritage management.

Specifically, the paper explores SIA as a methodological tool for post-project evaluation, used to define projects’ contributions to aspects of social sustainability through analyzing impacts of participation in a rural context case study, that of the Scapa Flow landscape heritage scheme in Orkney Islands, Scotland, UK.

Based on research findings from the thematic analysis of 40 semi-structured interviews on impacts (with heritage managers, planners and participants in the scheme), the paper proposes a combination of heritage value assessment process with social impact identification to achieve a context-relevant assessment of social sustainability. Existing research around social capital and sense of place supports the analysis of relevant impacts and heritage values. Findings support overlaps between socio-environmental impacts, when looking at the role of heritage for community well-being in rural contexts.

The qualitative approach allows for a context-relevant, bottom up impact assessment and allows for multiple stakeholders perceptions to be included.

The proposed methodological approach has greater implications for the work of institutions and professionals involved in project evaluations that can inform participatory heritage project planning, ensuring high social relevance.

Application of SIA principles in heritage sector can increase social benefits of heritage projects and enable wider community participation in processes of heritage management.

Through this case study, the effectiveness of SIA principles when applied in cultural heritage project evaluation is discussed, reflecting on a novel methodology for impact assessment in heritage.

There 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.

The 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.

The 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.

The 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.

The 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.

By 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.

This 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.

This article aims to raising awareness on the potential of the application of the Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) methodology – developed by ICOMOS in 2011 – with a focus on UNESCO World Heritage sites that are characterized by a widespread presence of vernacular architecture, one of the most vulnerable and fragile typologies of heritage.

Starting from a theoretical introduction about the recognition of vernacular heritage into the international non-governmental panorama, and the dynamics that are mostly affecting it, the present contribution focuses on the case study of the Chora of Patmos (Greece), a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999. The research has been carried out as follows: (1) comparative analysis of selected literature for the theoretical part; (2) field research; (3) interdisciplinary research for understanding the features of the site and assessing potential risks; (4) project design and assessments of the potential impacts.

The pivotal application of the HIA method on the case study of Patmos highlighted the importance of the methodology as an essential tool for facilitating management and safeguarding WH sites from possible threats due to development projects on vernacular architecture.

The originality of the research presented here lies in the connection between three different topics: vernacular architecture, Heritage Impact Assessment and Sustainable World Heritage Management. In fact, its goal is to bring cultural heritage management and sustainable development closer together, by emphasizing that HIA should not be used as a tool to hinder development, but as a practice for shaping and evaluating projects that might alter or compromise the integrity and authenticity of WH sites in a sustainable and balanced way.

This paper introduces a methodology to identify, analyse and represent heritage site attributes, emphasizing their impact on value, authenticity, integrity and management, with a case study on Ghadames, Libya. Inscribed in 1986 and moved to the In-Danger List in 2016 due to conflict, this work seeks to update the site's attributes and values for improved management.

This methodology, focusing on Ghadames, leverages recent heritage management advancements to monitor conflict-induced changes, aiming to enhance decision-making through a detailed analysis of the site's natural and cultural attributes.

Our findings highlight the need for systematic and holistic assessments of heritage site attributes and values, crucial for managing sites of both local and global significance. This approach is a key to understanding their identity, guiding interpretation, management and preserving cultural significance.

Developed for Ghadames, the methodology requires adaptation for other sites, underscoring the importance of identifying core tangible and intangible attributes that define a site's uniqueness.

Our developed methodology offers a replicable framework that can be modified by local heritage professionals to map attributes and assess the direct and indirect impact of conflict on heritage sites.

The detailed assessment provides a foundation for crafting informed policies and effective management strategies. It specifically targets minimizing the adverse effects of conflict on heritage sites' attributes. This effort is instrumental in preparing the necessary documentation to support the delisting of these sites from the UNESCO World Heritage Site In-Danger List, promoting their preservation and recovery.

The 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.

The 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.

The 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.

In the proposed approach, very detailed quantitative data cannot be included because of the need to simplify the research.

The 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.

The 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.

There 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.

In this paper, of exploratory character, the purpose of this paper is to propose the analysis of the life cycle for assessing the environmental, economic, and social impact in the activity of recovery, restoration, and valorization of Cultural Heritage.

The analysis protocol is applied to the case of recovery and restoration processes and then outlining the salient features of what may become a model of Cultural Heritage Life Cycle Management (CH-LCM).

The authors propose the approach of the life cycle, normally used to assess the impact of materials, processes or products, to the management of cultural heritage as an innovative methodology with great potential.

The methodology for this sector is highly innovative, especially in its interdisciplinary approach, through the use of different technical, historical, and economic skills which can provide the tools for the preparation of a management plan according to the logic of the life cycle.

Holistic renovation of historic and heritage buildings involving different stakeholders has the potential to reduce environmental impact. Climate change concerns are emphasizing environmental issues of cultural built heritage leading to new policies, guidelines and methods dealing with the challenge on how to lessen the environmental impact of built heritage without damaging its cultural significance. The purpose of this paper is to review existing international and New Zealand holistic guidelines for renovation of historic and heritage buildings.

A systematic review is used to identify international projects, methods and criteria within the holistic approach. Secondly, the New Zealand context is explored and compared with best international practices.

For instance, in New Zealand one increasingly important issue is the many vacant heritage and historic buildings in provincial town centres that need action to deal with building code seismic changes. Upgrades and adaptive reuse are opportunities to make them more sustainable and climate change resilient. However, the lack of national holistic guidelines regarding the challenge of reducing environmental impact whilst keeping the heritage values is a critical gap which urgently needs to be resolved. The need is further increased within the context of the recently passed Zero Carbon Act 2019, which aims for national zero carbon emissions by 2050.

These shared responsibilities for conserving historic and heritage buildings to maintain life in provincial towns on one hand, and the need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on the other, have the potential to contribute to a sustainable development of cities and communities.

Cultural heritage (CH) sites are not only important components of a country’s identity but can also be important drivers of tourism. However, an increasing number of extreme events associated with the impacts of climate change, natural hazards and human-induced threats are posing significant problems in conserving and managing CH worldwide. Consequently, improved climate change adaptation and enhanced hazard/threat mitigation strategies have become critical (but to-date under-researched) considerations. The purpose of this paper is to identify the key hazards and threats to CH sites, the most common types of risks to CH and the strategies being adopted to mitigate or even eradicate those risks.

This paper reviews 80 CH case studies from around the world, which have been presented at a UNESCO International Training Course between 2006 and 2016. The case studies cover 45 different countries and provide practical insights into the key challenges being encountered in a variety of “at risk” locations.

The analysis assesses the key natural hazards and human-induced threats to the sites, an overview of the typical impacts to the tangible components of heritage and identifies the types of strategies being adopted to mitigate the risks, some of which could be transferred across cultural and geographical contexts.

The paper provides a wealth of useful information related to how challenges faced by CH sites might be addressed in the future.

The improper management of conventional systems for recording, diagnosing and analysing information appears to be a major problem in the maintenance of heritage buildings. This is because of a lack of detection of patent or latent defects, ineffective repair methods and inappropriate planning decisions, which increase the risks of failure throughout the lifetime of heritage buildings. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The concept of maintenance management practices, as well as techniques and tools from information and communication technology, was reviewed to identify suitable processes and construct an information database of maintenance and management techniques. A maintenance index framework was then formulated by analysing these concepts.

The initial findings identify the need for decision-making support in the diagnosis of heritage building maintenance based on robust data collection. This should include the selection of a durable replacement design and material or an appropriate rehabilitation method for managing quality and reducing associated defects.

Further research into the maintenance of heritage buildings should consider various aspects in terms of sustainability. The paper concludes that implementing a maintenance index framework can help improve the decision-making performance with regard to the design, construction and maintenance operations of heritage concrete buildings.