The 1994 Nara Document played an important role in building bridges between tangible and intangible heritage and supporting a shift towards a broader values-based approach to the stewardship of the historic environment. Nara +20 marks a second stage in this process, and places the discussion in the context of the present day in the prevalent discourse of globalisation as well as the more nuanced concerns for sustainability and resilience. In identifying five prioritised action areas it calls for the development of new processes and methodologies that recognise heritage values as evolving more than ever before and that decision-making in the conservation field is a complex process dependent on effective negotiation at a time when threats to cultural heritage are also on the increase. Through an emphasis on stakeholder involvement through communities of interest Nara +20 implicitly signals the diminishing role being played by the State in the heritage field and by extension that of the expert and the scientific discourse from which modern conservation evolved.
Orbasli, A
Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment\School of Architecture
Year of publication: 2016Date of RADAR deposit: 2016-09-27