Comparative Hertitage Management

Management systems are as varied as the types and contexts of heritage places where they are used. They include a combination of institutional arrangements, legislative and regulatory frameworks, and conservation processes that, together, ensure the effective safeguarding of places.

This course aims to provide knowledge and skills for the design of heritage management systems that are culturally adequate, respectful of a multiplicity of values, and that contribute to sustainable development. Students will also become familiar with a variety of management tools and approaches, placing a particular emphasis on addressing issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in heritage management to strengthen communities of practice and to promote change in the field.

1. The course is structured around the following themes:
   
2. From conservation planning to management systems: development of the field
3. How to? Approaches and design process
4. Managing heritage places: from governance and policy to decision-making and implementation
5. Working in multistakeholder and rightsholders contexts: participation and inclusion.
6. Management tools: heritage impact assessments, sustainable tourism, public use, etc.
7. Streamlining sustainable development into heritage management and conservation.

Students will explore and apply management approaches and tools by working on their own case study. These cases will provide a rich context for discussion by exposing issues faced in the heritage field and will allow for the analysis of pressures and challenges in real scenarios.

The main objectives of the course are to: • Examine the range of management systems and planning models for various types of heritage places and critically examine how these have perpetuated (or not) systemic racism, inequity, and exclusion. • Explore methodologies/ approaches and improve student skills in the design of management systems that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. • Contribute to efforts to strengthen communities of practice and promote change in the field of heritage management. • Provide skills to be able to engage in a significant dialogue with diverse interest groups, associated with heritage, to develop heritage management systems that are culturally adequate, respectful of a multiplicity of values, and that contribute to sustainable development (in all its dimensions).