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Despite being the intellectual foundation on which the notion of heritage is built and a critical element in all programmes aimed at heritage protection, interpretation as a concept and practice is not well understood or used.

The paper explores the reasons for and consequences of heritage interpretation as a concept and practice not being well understood using case studies within the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) heritage arena in East Asia.

The paper shows how heritage interpretation impacts both positively and negatively on nation-building within states and the shaping of international relations between states. It identifies heritage interpretation approaches that might help to achieve reconciliation between peoples recently engaged in international conflicts. These concerns are not confined to East Asia but apply across the world.

The discussion draws together the three principal forms of heritage in UNESCO's global project: heritage places, protected under the World Heritage Convention; living or embodied heritage, safeguarded under the Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention and documentary heritage preserved under the Memory of the World Program. Suggestions are made as to how the organizations and agencies charged with heritage protection should and could modify their interpretation policies and procedures to help remediate existing negative impacts and avoid creating new tensions in future.

This paper aims to propose a research agenda towards a holistic, grounded and flexible approach to cultural heritage that can address social challenges and transformations in the context of place. It critiques the dominant/hegemonic cultural heritage narratives, deriving from juridification and calls for a grounded approach in the way cultural heritage is framed and experienced.

The paper is conceptual, focusing on the need to open a line of enquiry into the relationship between legal texts, cultural heritage narratives and social challenges and transformations. It follows the letter of the international conventions on cultural heritage against the worked example of the medieval town of Rhodes in Greece.

The paper sets the relevant research priorities for the investigation of the effective relationship between cultural heritage and social challenges in the context of place, and further stretches the need to evaluate the role of legal and regulatory texts to that effect.

The paper identifies new priorities for thinking about the effects of juridification/the law, cultural heritage and social challenges/transformations in a place-specific context. It seeks to open new avenues of scientific explorations and new interdisciplinary dialogues between a variety of disciplines that are relevant to the way a place engages and addresses social challenges and transformations.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to inform individuals that the looting and destruction of Iraq's cultural heritage was an attack on the rich culture of humanity itself.

Published works, both recent and ranging back to the middle of the twentieth century, such as articles, books, Congressional Bills/Parliamentary Acts, and United Nation reports were examined. By reviewing various pieces of literature and legislation, this paper reveals the long and difficult road to preserving a nation's cultural heritage.

In the wake of the USA's and coalition's invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iraq's National Library and Archives, National Museum, and other significant cultural heritage sites were pillaged by looters and thieves. This paper discusses the response by librarians and archivists to the destruction of Iraq's historical collections and the actions taken. The safeguards, which have, over time, developed to preserve a nation's cultural identity, were not enforced during or after the invasion of Iraq. This paper examines a few examples in the twentieth century of nations' repositories that were purposely destroyed.

This paper identifies key pieces of legislation and events that will allow individuals to comprehend to the fullest the danger to libraries and museums from modern warfare.

The purpose of this article is to give a perspective on the latest attempt, via a multinational agreement, to limit and control the international trade in cultural artifacts. The scope of the proposed UNIDROIT agreement goes well beyond the subject matter of the conference — ‘Art Theft and its Control’. This is not an international instrument whose primary focus relates to stolen objects. On this subject, there is a broad consensus, although civil law countries still provide greater deference to purchaser's rights over possessor's rights.

Along with the varied values of heritages which are rationale for their safeguarding, sustainable conservation and tourism development have become central agendas in the field of heritage management in contemporary world. This study attempts to elaborate such interconnected issues at Mandeba Monastery, emphasizing not only cultural heritages but also mutually reflecting on natural features which are integral part of the monastery.

Interviewing and systematic observation alongside secondary sources were used to generate data which were analyzed thematically.

Being a site for incredible collections, Mandeba maintained a tradition of not only heritage conservation and benevolent communal interaction but also of ecological sustainability. The rich collections together with its spectacular location on the shore of Lake Tana enable Mandeba to have highly noticeable tourism potentials. However, Mandeba encounters such challenges as inadequate museum, safety and security problems, lack of sufficient budget, professional, parasitic animal damages, weak promotion and lack of tourist facilities which hamper both conservation and tourism development on the site, which need to be tackled for the overall improvement of the monastery.

This research is original, presenting the ground knowledge and practice regarding the relationship between heritage conservation on the one hand, and local livelihood, environmental management and tourism sustainability on the other hand, with regard to the immovable cultural/religious heritage site of Mandeba Medahinealem Monastery.

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 purpose of this paper is to argue that the World Heritage Site (WHS) status as a label plays an important role in branding, creating awareness among the tourists and promoting a specific place – be it natural or cultural.

The study is based on qualitative research and utilised interviews and explanatory case study method, taking Maritime Greenwich WHS as a case.

It is found that the status of WHS motivates the tourists in general and heritage tourists in particular to visit the case study site. Also, the status helps in boosting the level of confidence of the tourists while selecting the site. Overall, it helps to reinforce the identity of a place. However, sustainability and conservation should not take a back seat when the very purpose of branding a site as WHS is this.

It is ideal to have a balance in managing the demand and supply side of place management and marketing making sure that the heritage value and trust is kept intact.

Through a project of cooperation between the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MHT) and Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), a team including faculty members, technicians and students from the SQU department of civil and architectural engineering (CAE), was involved in the project of documentation, survey and the development of management plans of four (4) Omani Vernacular settlements (Harat). Such an experience was meant to initiate students from different levels in undergraduate programs of civil and architectural engineering to the fieldwork and professional practice in the field of built heritage studies. The present research aims to explore the effect of such an experience on the learning process and skills acquired by the involved students.

The research was undertaken with students of CAE undergraduate programs at SQU. The documentation method has been implemented in 4 different settlements with the same students. A questionnaire has been administered to the participating students after their graduation to collect their feedback regarding the benefits of this experience on their education and skills development. The data was complemented by active observation and semi-directive interviews with some students randomly selected among the respondents to the questionnaire.

The outcome of each documentation campaign as well as the results of the questionnaires administered revealed that this experience has raised students' awareness about the importance of studying the built heritage and safeguarding it. The research has shown that important soft skills, such as team-working, leadership and communication, have been consolidated. It has also revealed that this experience was an opportunity for students to discover the variety of options within the profession of architecture and its intellectual and ethical responsibilities. Such aspects are hardly grasped when taught within a “classical” teaching/learning setting.

The main limitations of this research were the hard working conditions during the summer in Oman and the direct interaction of the students with the buildings. Even cautious, such interaction represents a risk for an already fragile heritage.

The paper includes a detailed description of the architectural documentation tools and methods used in the case studies. These tools and methods can easily be applicable, with slight adaptations, in other architectural documentation projects involving undergraduate students. The documentation methodology and the generated corpus of 3D digital models can be used in other documentation projects and further studies such as architectural typologies, bioclimatic properties, natural ventilation patterns, daylight performance, etc.

This paper reports on the outcomes of the first experience of its kind in Oman and the Gulf region, where undergraduate students (predominantly females) were involved in an interdisciplinary project for the documentation of important vernacular settlements and their buildings. The added value of this research is that its methodology can be a reference for professors of Architecture and related specialties aiming to integrate research and field work with education.