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The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the assets of a preventive conservation approach for historical timber roof structures, as a means to improve the quality and durability of maintenance and repair interventions.

The advantages of a preventive approach for historical structures were identified based on two analyses: a study of the structures’ behaviour and an investigation of existing approaches in current practice. The two main identified advantages of the approach, the cyclic process-approach and the potential of knowledge enhancement, were hereafter conceptually implemented in existing approaches.

Current practices focus on single curative interventions, and monitoring is often considered redundant. The importance of monitoring and knowledge enhancement is demonstrated based on the theory of complex adaptive systems (CAS). A preventive conservation approach for historic timber roof structures allows integrating these insights.

The analysis of current practice is a sample survey, and the proposed preventive conservation approach is presented at a conceptual level. Future research foresees a more elaborated study of current practice and detailed validation of the developed approach.

Three new contributions to the existing research on preventive conservation are: arguments for the implementation of a preventive approach, based on an analysis of the structures’ behaviour; the identification of limitations of current approaches that can be tackled in a preventive conservation approach; and the integration of the existing international guidelines and the principles of preventive conservation into a conceptual approach for the monitoring and management of these structures. Furthermore, the research paper demonstrates how timber structures can be understood as CAS, which is a novel viewpoint.

The effect of heritage on place attachment is assessed by understanding how people “value” their heritage environment. In addition, the purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of place attachment on residential and investment trends according to two different social groups: local inhabitants and foreign immigrants.

A single case study design for Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca including an open-ended survey, combined with Likert-scale analysis. The survey protocol and questions for the respondent groups were structured according to place identity, place dependency and sense of place.

The analysis bridges the gap between theory and practice and demonstrates interesting similarities as well as differences between both foreign and local respondent groups in terms of the attributes they consider as cultural heritage and their preferences in terms of residential or investment location choice. The research demonstrates that an increased understanding of place attachment as the link between place dependency and sense of place in a specific location can assist in defining effective built heritage policies in favour of local sustainability.

The analysis of place attachment in relation to the origin of respondents revealed different perceptions on the role that a heritage environment might play on attracting or influencing displacement of local inhabitants and foreign immigrants. Based on original empirical data collection in Cuenca, Ecuador, this study identified research lines and actions which should be prioritised for improving management of this World Heritage Site.

The purpose of this paper is to presents a conceptual framework for a value-based monitoring system that serves as the core element for heritage conservation planning of World Heritage Sites. It reports on the early stage of heritage management research within the PRECOM3OS framework, in collaboration with the University of Leuven in Belgium and the Universidad de Cuenca in Ecuador. A new management concept was developed throughout a five-year interdisciplinary and multi-actor growth process within an international setting.

The application of the preventive conservation approach to world heritage management places the concepts of authenticity and integrity at the core of the heritage monitoring system. Moreover, the monitoring system is converted into a decision support tool for intervention and maintenance planning, beyond the mere purpose of inventorying or generating alerts.

The regular update of information for condition, risks and value assessment strengths and support strategic heritage planning. The conceptual information system developed is based on an inventory system and updated through monitoring. Therefore, planners are supplied with a tool for alternative scenarios, potential prioritization of intervention, options for preventive conservation and multi-criteria support for strategic planning over time.

The monitoring system is not fully implemented in the World Heritage Site of Cuenca; however, a generic model is put forward, developed to generate a planning tool that can be applied for different heritage sites.

More specific, the integration of two concepts: the value assessment and monitoring from a preventive conservation perspective is considered an innovative contribution to the development of decision-making systems in the broader urban planning context of historic cities.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the application of documentation and recording techniques for World Heritage conservation using the case studies of the Petra Archeological Park (PAP) in Jordan and the Silk Roads Cultural Heritage Information System (CHRIS) in Central Asia. In the PAP case study, these techniques could aid in the assessment of risks faced by World Heritage properties and threats to the integrity of the Outstanding Universal Values (OUV). With respect to the Silk Roads CHRIS case study the Geospatial Content Management System (Geo‐CMS) proposed aims to improve information management and collaboration among all stakeholders.

Integrated surveying techniques and information management systems together with active stakeholder participation can be used as conservation and management tools. In the case of PAP, using a systematic documentation tool (MEGA‐J) to conduct site condition and risk assessment of cultural heritage and combining photographs, maps and GPS measurements within a GIS platform allows for identifying the location and intensity of risks, and the degree of vulnerability within the PAP boundaries and buffer zone. In the Silk Roads CHRIS project the Geo‐CMS brings together data from different fields, e.g. geography, geology, history, conservation, to allow for a holistic approach towards documentation, protection and management of a number of diverse sites to be combined in serial transnational World Heritage.

The study provides insight into how digital technologies can aid in heritage documentation and conservation, including stakeholder involvement and training. Moreover, by means of the two case studies it can be shown that a combination of digital technologies allows for an efficient mapping of buffer zones and risks and how a Geo‐CMS can form a common platform to manage large quantities of information of different origin and make it accessible to stakeholders in transnational projects.

This paper discusses the use of digital technology and the participation of stakeholders in heritage conservation and documentation when dealing with complex World Heritage properties, e.g. serial transnational and archaeological ensembles at high risk.

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 explore the conservation and contemporary management of three nineteenth‐century shopping passages: the Galleries Saint‐Hubert in Brussels, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan and the Passage in The Hague. The submission of the Galleries Saint‐Hubert to the World Heritage Tentative List in 2008, presents a unique opportunity for studying this typology in its contemporary environment.

The authors’ research questions are: what are the characteristics of passages? what are their authentic values? and how can the authenticity of these buildings be conserved by their contemporary management? The applied methodology is a cross‐case‐comparison, based on the definition of authenticity as presented in the Nara Document on Authenticity. The analysis is presented in the form of a matrix.

The findings show that the significant value of passages does not only include the architecture of the building but also the versatility of its program and its present urban role. It is only by conserving this combination that these buildings can be conserved in their full richness of authenticity.

Criteria for transnational inclusion in the World Heritage List of several nineteenth‐century passages are suggested as the matrix used for cross‐case‐comparison may be applied to analyse other case studies of passages, as well as for other types of heritage where authenticity of the site is threatened by uncontrolled retail development.

Although passages have been studied extensively within the field of architectural history, retail history and socio‐cultural studies, hardly any previous research had focused on the preservation and contemporary management of this building type.

In the present-day context of a sharp decrease in economic and ecological resources, planned conservation and community empowerment are key strategies for sustainable heritage management, because of their cost effectiveness, increased preservation of authenticity and socially development. However, there are still very few practical implementations, so the purpose of this paper is to present applied research to real case studies, as well as to demonstrate that preventive-planned conservation is increasingly successful when linked with the empowerment of local communities and users.

This paper proposes a methodology that focuses on two complementary aspects: planned conservation (material component) – undertaken directly on buildings, through inspection, monitoring, maintenance and repair activities; community empowerment (intangible component) – afforded indirectly to users, through participatory strategies and training in prevention, maintenance and use.

Based on an estimation of costs, this paper suggests that preventive-planned conservation strategies (pre-damage) can be one-third cheaper than the reactive and interventionist approach (post-damage). Moreover, this study also develops innovative ICT tools for the planned conservation of the built heritage, namely a specifically designed computer software/App (“MPlan”) that can be used to compile maintenance plans.

The case studies are among the first applications of preventive-planned conservation strategies to the built heritage in Portugal. Different types of case studies are provided to better illustrate the methodological approach adopted and the results obtained. Special attention is given to the Romanesque Route, a cultural itinerary with 58 monuments (monasteries, churches, bridges, towers and a castle). illustrated manuals contribute to the empowerment of local communities and users.