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Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh has a recorded history of over 400 years, dating back to the Mughal and pre-Mughal era. A large part of the city's rich cultural heritage; both tangible and intangible, lie in the historic core known as Old Dhaka. There are several traditional neighborhoods with close-knit communities that date back two to three centuries. The communities are rich in social capital gained over successive generations of close social network. Based on this strength, a heritage management system has been developed by informal community bodies in Old Dhaka. Old Dhaka's rich cultural heritage deserves to be conserved for the historical continuity of the city. Unfortunately, the top-down conservation efforts undertaken by the Government are highly bureaucratic and have not been effective in conserving the cultural heritage in most cases. This paper explores the importance of local participatory approach of heritage management in the context of Old Dhaka with a focus on the relationship between social capital and informal heritage management in traditional communities. It also explores the key features that generally make the informal heritage management system more effective than the formal approach. Finally, it recommends an appropriate conservation approach to save the cultural heritage of Old Dhaka where there is a balance between intervention by authorities and continuity of local community involvement.

The purpose of this paper is to present a community-led “informal heritage management” of the chini-tikri work of Kosaituli mosque, Old Dhaka, Bangladesh. It critically explores the interrelationship between the craft, existing social capital and informal heritage management.

This paper assesses the existing local policies, strategies and the top-down conservation efforts led by government and identifies the shortcomings. The study uses Kosaituli mosque as a case study as it displays some of the finest surviving examples of the chini-tikri work. Using observation, open-ended interview and focus group discussion as research tools, the study explores the challenges that the craft and craftsman faces, how existing social capital supports the informal heritage management process and the interrelationship between these critical elements.

The results shows two clear issues. First, the informal heritage management system has been continuing to protect and manage the local heritage while fighting several challenges. Second, though they require external support, they want to keep the “community ownership.” The study recommends how the craftsman can be revived through incentives and capacity building to facilitate the survival of the craft with a three-step process: identifying the rare craftsmen, providing them due recognition and transferring the traditional knowledge to the next generation.

No similar prior studies were carried out in Old Dhaka that focus on this subject. This paper can contribute in new policy formation not only for Bangladesh but also will potentially guide other cities that face similar challenges of disappearing craft and craftsman.

This paper aims to analyse the key Faro notions of “heritage community” and “democratic participation” as defined in the Faro Convention, and how they challenge core notions of authority and expertise in the discipline and professional practice of cultural heritage.

This paper examines notions of “heritage community” and “democratic participation” as they are framed in the Faro Convention, and it briefly introduces two cases (Finland and Marseille) to explore their application. It then focusses on the implications of these two notions for heritage administration (expertise) in terms of citizen agency, co-creation of knowledge and forms of decision-making processes.

The Faro Convention favours an innovative approach to social, politic and economic problems using cultural heritage. To accomplish this, it empowers citizens as actors in developing heritage-based approaches. This model transforms heritage into a means for achieving socioeconomic goals and attributes to the public the ability to undertake heritage initiatives, leaving the administration and expert bodies as mediators in this process. To bring about this shift, Faro institutes the notion of “heritage communities” and fosters participative governance. However, how heritage communities practise participation may follow different paths and result in different experiences due to local and national political circumstances.

The Faro Convention opens up a window by framing cultural heritage within the realm of social and democratic instrumentality, above and beyond the heritage per se. But it also poses some questions regarding the rationale of heritage management (authority in governability), at least as understood traditionally under official heritage management discourses.

Social capitals in a community are in the form of bonding, bridging and linking through social networks. This paper aims to determine the role of social capital in the recovery process of cultural heritage sites. It identifies the existing social capital and the role of community.

The paper is based on the existing literature reviews complemented by the questionnaire survey. Three disaster-affected cultural heritage sites in Kathmandu were selected for the study. The questionnaire survey and group discussion with 300 disaster survivors were conducted.

This paper discusses social capital and its limitations for recovery. It proposes a new model of disaster recovery based on social capital and community.

This research is based on the region with high social capital. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test in the low social capital community.

The approach of disaster recovery discussed in this paper can be implemented in the cultural heritage rebuilding after the disaster.

This paper is based on social capital and community involvement. This paper identifies the importance of community involvement in the recovery.

The paper identified that during the recovery, in addition to social capitals, the role of community participation is unavoidable. This paper demonstrated how recovery is complicated despite external resources without community participation.

This study presents an example of sustainable cultural heritage tourism. The heritage tourism at the site of the ship USAT Liberty in the small fishing village of Tulamben on the northeast coast of Bali Island plays a significant role in the lives of the local people who live nearby, who actively participate in the site's management.

This study assessed the management of the site by the local community by means of formal interviews with major stakeholders, informal conversations, and observations in the field.

Although it lacks any direct historical connection with the local community, the reuse of the shipwreck as a tourist asset has motivated the community to participate in the conservation of the site and sustain its values. This article argues that the case of the USAT Liberty demonstrates that the management of heritage sites can be effectively sustained using bottom-up approaches.

The USAT Liberty case study provides insights and practical recommendations that could be valuable for other cultural heritage sites in implementing management with a bottom-up approach. This paper enriches the knowledge of community-based management and promotes it as a pathway to sustainable cultural heritage tourism.

There are many threats to cultural heritage including armed conflict and natural disasters such as earthquakes, fire and flooding. It is understandable that these dramatic events frequently capture the world’s attention. However, a far more considerable danger is inadequate management a lack of financial resources to conduct continuous conservation and maintenance. The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of the current state of financial sustainability at a limited selection set of tangible immovable cultural heritage sites and investigate why this critical aspect is deficient. Case studies have been identified where management improved, and a level of financial sustainability is achieved.

To improve the conservation of tangible immovable cultural heritage sites, a specific definition of financial sustainability is required, which significantly differs from the management of for-profit activities and even other non-profit cultural institutions such as museums, and takes into account the special requirements for conservation and education, additional values, site access and the wide variety of places that range from archaeological sites to single structures. The methodology began with researching the definition of financial sustainability from non-profit institutions then refining through the application it to a defined and limited selection set of World Heritage properties. World Heritage properties were selected, given the wealth of data readily available. Following this larger selection, several evaluation case studies were selected for further investigation including an analysis of the management circumstances and how greater financial sustainability was achieved. The investigation initially relied on secondary sources including academic articles, thesis, management plans, nomination dossiers, reactive monitoring mission reports, newspaper articles, periodic reporting and required State of Conservation Reports. The case study investigation relied on primary sources including observational site visits and interviews using an informal questionnaire. Findings were later verified by follow up interviews.

The research led to a definition of financial sustainability specifically for tangible cultural heritage sites that included five components, namely, management planning, revenue identification, expenditure analysis, administration and strategic planning, and, most importantly, alignment and support of cultural, educational and conservation mission. A majority of World Heritage properties in this study fall short of this definition of financial sustainability and do not sufficiently address this issue. Research revealed that there is a need for more dialogue with informed data on the financial aspects of managing tangible cultural heritage sites as most locations studied are not able to efficiently manage funds or take full advantage of possible opportunities. However, a few sites have achieved greater financial sustainability. The research describes the identified five critical circumstances in further defining financial sustainability: a conducive and open planning environment, knowledge and education, positive perceptions concerning the importance of finance, managerial autonomy and public interest. These circumstances permitted better management of existing funding and an environment for innovation.

Research limitations during the initial study included a hesitation or unwillingness to discuss financial details, a general lack of statistics, a lack of knowledge related to finance, a prejudice against the topic and a concern over the commodification of cultural heritage. However, as the case studies identified achieved greater financial sustainability, this was less of a limitation. Additional limitations included the necessity to conduct interviews via telephone and in European languages, English, Spanish and Italian. The final limitation was that this study only focused on single tangible cultural heritage sites and excluded larger sites such as entire cities and intangible or movable cultural heritage.

The circumstances, which comprise the definition, identified during the research lead to a number of possibilities for improving the financial sustainability. The first is not to place emphasis on a management plan but in fostering an environment that encourages financial planning. The second circumstance is to improve the knowledge and education of finance for site managers. Third, a positive perception of finance, standard business practice and surplus generating activities must occur. Fourth, financial management must be devolved to individual sites. Finally, the public must be involved to ensure financial sustainability. There must be initiatives to frequently include the local community and encourage participation.

Most cultural heritage sites are financially dependent upon the state, and this will likely continue, but it is improbable to expect full financial support ad infinitum. Overdependence on highly variable top-down funding leaves cultural heritage vulnerable and open to uncertainty. While it is unrealistic to expect most sites to become financially self-sufficient or that managers will suddenly become entrepreneurs, it is reasonable to expect some improvement. The goal should not be to create a business from cultural heritage but to improve financial management for greater sustainability. Financially sustainability ensures that sites are conserved and maintained for future generations.

The need to preserve cultural heritage is widely recognized by many different segments of society. However, the availability of financial resources to sustain conservation is often deficient or overlooked. Without taking measures for continued financial support, tangible cultural heritage is at risk as preventive maintenance is ignored and essential personnel and their skills are lost. Commodification of cultural heritage is of great concern and, when used as a means of generating income, it can compromise other values. Thus, a critical balancing act must be achieved by those who care about the historic, aesthetic and scientific values.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers selected for the present special issue on planning and heritage. This paper aims at advancing knowledge about the variety of uses and meanings of planning tools and practices in the cultural heritage field, by bridging disciplines and by building on evidence from the studies composing the special issue.

After a review of the debate on planning in management studies, the paper briefly outlines the features of the five selected papers and it reconstructs a composite narrative on planning in cultural heritage, as it emerges from the collected papers taken together.

In the fields of both management and urban studies a similar trajectory of “rise and fall” of rationalistic views of planning has taken place. Today's discourse of planning in urban studies is strongly dominated by the issue of inclusiveness and participation. When looking at “who” really participates in these processes, it is clear that a vast array of public and private actors is involved, at least formally. When looking at “how” they are involved, a variety of possible approaches to participative planning are in use, from more formal, to more informal and emergent ones. Whether these participative forms of planning in cultural heritage actually “work” remains in part an open question.

Despite the increasing centrality of plans and planning in cultural heritage management, an investigation about the state-of-the-art of the debate on planning in this field and an exploration of how planning is done in practice are missing.

This study aims to formulate an index formula for mosque empowerment based on Maqashid Syariah as a measuring tool for the level of mosque empowerment.

This study uses a qualitative and quantitative approach (mixed method). Data collection techniques are carried out by in-depth interviews with experts consisting of academics, practitioners, scholars and regulators. The data analysis technique uses the Analytical Network Process (ANP) with Super Decision 2.10 software to construct the index model structure.

The results indicate that the mosque has a multi-field role, including in the fields of worship, social, education, politics, economy and culture. This study produces an index of mosque empowerment based on Maqashid Syariah, composed of sic criteria, namely, elements of Maqashid Syariah; protect religion, soul, mind, lineage, property and environment. The weighting results of the criteria indicate that maintaining religion is the main criterion with a weighted value of 0.209. Each of these criteria consists of five indicators. Of all indicators, environmental safety is the top priority, with a weighted value of 0.056.

This study is the first comprehensive study that discusses the mosque empowerment index by weighting the ANP method to produce an index of mosque empowerment based on Maqashid Syariah.

This paper seeks to provide an insight into the recruitment and selection of volunteers in the heritage sector, drawing comparisons between paid and unpaid workers to assess the implications of the findings for volunteer management.

A multi‐method research design was adopted involving qualitative interviews with managers and volunteers, in conjunction with a postal survey of volunteers across 12 study sites, which were all visitor attractions in the heritage sector.

The findings show that the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection process can be undermined by a lack of formality and supporting resources. This raises questions about the effectiveness of human resource management for volunteers, both specifically in the heritage sector and in the wider context of volunteer management.

The research was of an exploratory nature and so further investigation is needed to consider the impact of these findings on the effectiveness of volunteer recruitment and selection across a range of sectors.

The research highlights the existing practices in place for volunteer management in the heritage sector so raising issues for managers regarding the challenge of achieving a balance between formality and informality of human resource management practices.

The research takes a micro‐level approach to examining the recruitment and selection of volunteer workers. It provides a link in the literature between the management of volunteers and human resource management practices.