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Archaeological sites and monuments, by their nature, do not allow major interventions to their structure, in order to abolish the obstacles that make them inaccessible. Any interventions should be made sensitively and carefully, so as not to alter the monument’s character or damage it, either visually or structurally. The project “PROSPELASIS” focused on creating a methodology for facing monuments’ accessibility and perceptibility problems for people with disabilities and testing its application at Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The creation of the proposed methodology was based on both research in relevant bibliography and the application of a form of “Delphi method” among involved actors. In this process persons specialized in accessibility and disability issues, persons with disability themselves, as well as employees of the 9th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, archaeologists and experts in monuments’ restoration, participated.

The possible sites of interest for visitors with disabilities examined amount to 20 monuments which document the evolution of Byzantine architecture and are included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. In six major monuments (Acheiropoietos, Saint Demetrios, Saint Nicholaos Orphanos, Hagia Sofia, Rotunda, Heptapyrgion Fortress) significant accessibility improvements were realized in order to verify the methodology proposed.

A practical tool for improving monuments’ accessibility has been developed, open for use by any interested body.

The application of the methodology developed is beneficial for the promotion of the equality and non-discrimination principles.

The successful implementation of the proposed methodology and the importance that accessibility improvement of monumental sites has in the attraction of visitors with restricted mobility and perceptibility and the development of accessible tourism, constitute the results of this project not only pertinent to Thessaloniki or Greece, but worthy of a wider application.

Scholarly discourses regarding heritage values for sustainable heritage management abound in heritage literature but appear elitist as they tend to exclude the perspectives of the people at the lower echelons of society. The study explored the values ascribed to a global heritage monument by the people living around a global heritage site in Ghana and the implications of their perceptual values for sustainable heritage management.

This study used the qualitative design. It was guided by Costin’s heritage values, community attachment theory and values-based approach to heritage management. Data was gathered from the local people living close to the heritage site, and the staff of Museums and Monuments Board at the heritage site. Data were gathered through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews and analysed using the thematic approach and most significant stories.

The results revealed that the local people were aware of the economic, aesthetic, historic, symbolic and informational values of the heritage monument but showed little attachment to the monument. The main reasons for the low attachment were the limited opportunity for them to participate in the management of the monument, and the limited opportunity for direct economic benefits from the heritage asset.

A comprehensive understanding of heritage monument management that reflects the perspectives and values of the local people is imperative.

United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation and Ghana Museums and Monuments Board could consider a more community-inclusive heritage management framework that takes cognizance of local values and perspectives to ensure sustainable heritage management and development.

The values and perspectives of the local community matter in heritage management. The heritage authorities need to engage more with the community people and educate them on the best practices regarding the sustainable management of World Heritage Sites.

This paper argues that the management of global heritage sites should not be elitist in orientation and character. It should respect the principle of community participation for inclusive development.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the attitudes of Bulgarians towards country’s historical monuments, communist heritage, communist heritage tourism and their willingness to participate in communist heritage trips.

The sample includes 359 respondents recruited via an online survey. Mann-Whitney U-test is used to identify the differences in the respondents’ attitudes towards communist heritage tourism in Bulgaria on the basis of their age, gender, frequency of visit to historical monuments, attitudes towards country’s communist past, prior visit to, familiarity with and attitude towards communist monuments and identification of communist monuments with country’s heritage.

The respondents who visited historical monuments more frequently, had more positive attitudes towards communist past of the country and its communist monuments, those who had visited and were very familiar with the communist monuments were more supportive towards donating money for the restoration of communist monuments and their inclusion in tourism supply.

The paper reveals that domestic communist heritage tourism demand exists in Bulgaria and tour operators need to focus on including communist heritage in tourism supply.

Communist heritage is controversial and different social groups perceive it differently, depending on their attitudes towards communism as a political, economic and social system.

The paper compares the attitudes towards historical and communist monuments and revealed that communist monuments received less support for inclusion in tourism supply than historical monuments; the respondents were less inclined to participate in trips to them and to donate money for their restoration.

Access to culture is a fundamental right of people with disabilities and a significant aspect in the development of accessible tourism. A visit to a monument provides an authentic experience which cannot be substituted by any representation. However, any interventions to improve accessibility should be made carefully, so as not to alter the monument’s character, or damage it visually or structurally. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A theoretical approach model was defined in the PROSPELASIS project for the improvement of accessibility in monuments which was applied in Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki. This approach contains the following steps: evaluation of existing accessibility level; definition of alternative solutions; creation of final studies, approval by archaeological authorities and implementation of interventions.

In six major Byzantine monuments significant improvements were realized which include: installation of two lifts and creation of a new staircase at Acheiropoietos; creation of a metal bridge, a new staircase and installation of a lift at Rotunda; opening of the secondary gate and creation of a ramp at the Heptapyrgion fortress; creation of an accessible toilet at the Saint Demetrios church; installation in the six monuments of a WiFi system providing text and audible information as well as information in Greek and International Sign Language; creation of two tactile models; creation of a “cultural route” connecting three major Byzantine monuments.

For the first time, to the knowledge, a set of interventions has been realized in Byzantine monuments focusing on various categories of people with disabilities, i.e. motor, visual, hearing and cognitive.

We expand on the use of monuments and memorials in the social studies classroom, while further promoting a more inclusive curriculum that better represents women in the social studies. The way and frequency in which history textbooks and social studies classrooms represent women has improved over the decades; though, it still needs refining. The imbalance goes beyond the social studies classroom and includes the very resources we are advocating social studies teachers use, the United States’ historical monuments and memorials. We, therefore, offer social studies teachers a rationale, resources, and suggested activities for incorporating monuments and memorials commemorating the role of females in U.S. history. Considering less than eight percent of the United States’ cataloged, public outdoor statues honoring individuals are of women.

Cultural geography is a unique, diverse, contested, and at times, confusing branch of study in the geography curriculum. Much like many other sub-branches of the social sciences, there has been significant controversy and struggle over the place of cultural geography in the curriculum. This article encourages social studies teachers to consider new approaches to teaching cultural geography concepts, while also utilizing a variety of instructional methods to engage students in a meaningful and enriching exploration of cultures all over the world. A rationale is discussed for incorporating the use of monuments and memorials as an instructional tool to teach cultural geography. In addition, this article provides teachers with a classroom tested activity on how monuments and memorials can be used as instruments to study cultural geography and how this topic can be implemented into a secondary geography or history classroom.

The paper focuses on an aspect of disaster often overlooked by experts: that of disaster memory both as a prevention tool and one potentially contributing to the resilience of vulnerable communities in Japan. The objective is, more specifically, to explore one specific source of disaster memory in Japan, namely the disaster-related stone monuments scattered throughout the archipelago.

To achieve the goals, the authors have studied several types of materials. First, the authors have used the “Natural Disaster Monument” online database compiled by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GIS), data upon which the authors based the field research study, focused on water-related disaster in Otsu city (Shiga Prefecture). Simultaneously, the authors have systematically searched Japanese newspapers since the middle of the 19th century as well as the archives of Shiga prefecture in order to collect additional information on the statistical reality of these monuments, the context of their creation and in order to better estimate the severity of our case studies.

First, the findings show that stone monuments are indeed structuring elements of disaster memory in Japan. Not only are they present throughout the archipelago, but in addition, they are still for the most part visited by local communities. Second, the findings show how this material culture of disaster, as a vector of disaster memory, could be used as a tool to better understand and bring awareness to the occurrence of specific hazards, especially to future generations.

The authors promote an interdisciplinary approach by associating anthropology and history. The study offers a new and original character about an object of study relating to both the cultural and historical fields but still often neglected as a tool and object of research in DDR. The authors provide a method and suggest ways to integrate these stone monuments into DDR policies. Finally, the authors propose to better integrate these monuments into the overall reflection on disaster awareness and disaster mitigation.

The purpose of this paper is to present a critical review of a criterion of risk, created to assess the flood risk of the international heritage building. In order to evaluate this criterion, it was applied to a sample of Portuguese building heritage.

This effort will start with the definition of the most important historical buildings in Portugal, its location and a full study about its constitution considering not only the materials they are made to but also the layers and the influence of the porosity/porometry for the drying process. Then it will also crucial the classification of the flood risk occurrence having in mind the previous information. A mapping will be made with the classification here developed.

This work presents a critical review of the main information related with the Portuguese monuments classified as “National Monuments”. A new empirical model was proposed takes into account all of the factors defined as the most influent in flood risk determination. A risk map was created on the basis classification developed. It will be possible to observe that a significant amount of Portuguese monuments are classified as medium to high risk of flooding.

This paper presents a new methodology to analyse the flood risk of international heritage building. The main benefit of the work is that it discusses the importance architectural heritage and justifies the need to safeguard it from extreme climatic phenomena such as floods.

The paper deals with battlefield tourism and war monuments in the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Poland. The care of these monuments and their use in tourism today takes place separately and it is interesting to see how the same potential can be used in different ways. One of the aims of the paper is to draw attention to this fact and at the same time to present the possibilities of how to improve the use of this heritage by mutual cooperation.

It is based on field research of the care of military-historical monuments. At the same time, it presents, in the form of retrospective studies, basic experiences from abroad – specifically the construction of thematic trails in Slovakia, Slovenia (The Walk of the Peace) and Poland (The First World War's Eastern Front Trail).

The paper points out aspects such as the care of battlefield tourism sites, cross-border cooperation in the creation of tourism products, the creation of a strategic conceptual framework for the protection of World War I monuments, their presentation to tourists, cooperation between the state, local government and the third sector.

There was no systematic research in this area in Central and Eastern Europe.

The purpose of this paper is to show and critically discuss the motivations, conflicting narratives, practices and effects around the marketisation of cultural heritage. The work focusses on the exemplar case study of the ancient temple of the Athenian Parthenon, as a proto-brand, to explore ancient, medieval and modern marketing forces and practices through which various stakeholders have promoted, gifted, commercially traded, exchanged, acquired and illegally removed national cultural artefacts and historical monuments.

The study is based on a structured historical periodisation that covers three main eras – classical age, late antiquity and modern period – that triggered the marketisation of the ancient temple in diverse ways. First, historical research was conducted through the use of a range of secondary sources and archives. Second, observation techniques were used to study heritage marketisation practices at the New Acropolis Museum and the Parthenon in Athens and the British Museum in London. Third, visual material further facilitated the analysis.

This paper identifies multifarious institutional forces, political interests, technologies and sociocultural events that shape the commodification of history and marketisation of heritage offering a broader discussion on the evolution of early marketing practices and brands used to promote particular values, cultures and places, as well as the emergence and growth of illicit arts and antiquities markets.

Considering the lack of marketing research on the commercialisation of heritage, the work discloses novel insights around the use of cultural proto-brands and the formation of illegal markets and questionable arts trade practices. It, therefore, questions the ethical, socio-political, economic and aesthetic implications of the extensive marketisation of history and raises issues around the legitimate ownership, promotion and consumption of heritage.