PurposeThere are many threats to cultural heritage including armed conflict and natural disasters such as earthquakes, fire and flooding. It is understandable that these dramatic events frequently capture the world’s attention. However, a far more considerable danger is inadequate management a lack of financial resources to conduct continuous conservation and maintenance. The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of the current state of financial sustainability at a limited selection set of tangible immovable cultural heritage sites and investigate why this critical aspect is deficient. Case studies have been identified where management improved, and a level of financial sustainability is achieved.Design/methodology/approachTo improve the conservation of tangible immovable cultural heritage sites, a specific definition of financial sustainability is required, which significantly differs from the management of for-profit activities and even other non-profit cultural institutions such as museums, and takes into account the special requirements for conservation and education, additional values, site access and the wide variety of places that range from archaeological sites to single structures. The methodology began with researching the definition of financial sustainability from non-profit institutions then refining through the application it to a defined and limited selection set of World Heritage properties. World Heritage properties were selected, given the wealth of data readily available. Following this larger selection, several evaluation case studies were selected for further investigation including an analysis of the management circumstances and how greater financial sustainability was achieved. The investigation initially relied on secondary sources including academic articles, thesis, management plans, nomination dossiers, reactive monitoring mission reports, newspaper articles, periodic reporting and required State of Conservation Reports. The case study investigation relied on primary sources including observational site visits and interviews using an informal questionnaire. Findings were later verified by follow up interviews.FindingsThe research led to a definition of financial sustainability specifically for tangible cultural heritage sites that included five components, namely, management planning, revenue identification, expenditure analysis, administration and strategic planning, and, most importantly, alignment and support of cultural, educational and conservation mission. A majority of World Heritage properties in this study fall short of this definition of financial sustainability and do not sufficiently address this issue. Research revealed that there is a need for more dialogue with informed data on the financial aspects of managing tangible cultural heritage sites as most locations studied are not able to efficiently manage funds or take full advantage of possible opportunities. However, a few sites have achieved greater financial sustainability. The research describes the identified five critical circumstances in further defining financial sustainability: a conducive and open planning environment, knowledge and education, positive perceptions concerning the importance of finance, managerial autonomy and public interest. These circumstances permitted better management of existing funding and an environment for innovation.Research limitations/implicationsResearch limitations during the initial study included a hesitation or unwillingness to discuss financial details, a general lack of statistics, a lack of knowledge related to finance, a prejudice against the topic and a concern over the commodification of cultural heritage. However, as the case studies identified achieved greater financial sustainability, this was less of a limitation. Additional limitations included the necessity to conduct interviews via telephone and in European languages, English, Spanish and Italian. The final limitation was that this study only focused on single tangible cultural heritage sites and excluded larger sites such as entire cities and intangible or movable cultural heritage.Practical implicationsThe circumstances, which comprise the definition, identified during the research lead to a number of possibilities for improving the financial sustainability. The first is not to place emphasis on a management plan but in fostering an environment that encourages financial planning. The second circumstance is to improve the knowledge and education of finance for site managers. Third, a positive perception of finance, standard business practice and surplus generating activities must occur. Fourth, financial management must be devolved to individual sites. Finally, the public must be involved to ensure financial sustainability. There must be initiatives to frequently include the local community and encourage participation.Social implicationsMost cultural heritage sites are financially dependent upon the state, and this will likely continue, but it is improbable to expect full financial support ad infinitum. Overdependence on highly variable top-down funding leaves cultural heritage vulnerable and open to uncertainty. While it is unrealistic to expect most sites to become financially self-sufficient or that managers will suddenly become entrepreneurs, it is reasonable to expect some improvement. The goal should not be to create a business from cultural heritage but to improve financial management for greater sustainability. Financially sustainability ensures that sites are conserved and maintained for future generations.Originality/valueThe need to preserve cultural heritage is widely recognized by many different segments of society. However, the availability of financial resources to sustain conservation is often deficient or overlooked. Without taking measures for continued financial support, tangible cultural heritage is at risk as preventive maintenance is ignored and essential personnel and their skills are lost. Commodification of cultural heritage is of great concern and, when used as a means of generating income, it can compromise other values. Thus, a critical balancing act must be achieved by those who care about the historic, aesthetic and scientific values.
ABSTRACT:Documentation for cultural heritage places usually refers to describing the physical attributes, surrounding context, condition or environment; most of the time with images, graphics, maps or digital 3D models in their various forms with supporting textural information. Just as important as this type of information is the documentation of managerial attributes. How do managers of cultural heritage places collect information related to financial or economic well-being? How are data collected over time measured, and what are significant indicators for improvement? What quality of indicator is good enough?Good management of cultural heritage places is essential for conservation longevity, preservation of values and enjoyment by the public. But how is management documented? The paper will describe the research methodology, selection and description of attributes or indicators related to good management practice. It will describe the criteria for indicator selection and why they are important, how and when they are collected, by whom, and the difficulties in obtaining this information. As importantly it will describe how this type of documentation directly contributes to improving conservation practice. Good practice summaries will be presented that highlight this type of documentation including Pamplona and Ávila, Spain and Valletta, Malta. Conclusions are drawn with preliminary recommendations for improvement of this important aspect of documentation. Documentation of this nature is not typical and presents a unique challenge to collect, measure and communicate easily. However, it is an essential category that is often ignored yet absolutely essential in order to conserve cultural heritage places.
City fortifications are a defining feature of many cities and their communities in the Mediterranean. They clearly delineate boundaries, provide circulations paths and encourage visitation. However, they are expensive to conserve and maintain. A visitor or user fee is one available option that can simultaneously generate revenue for conservation while restricting access to vulnerable areas. Willingness to Pay is a term reflecting of the maximum amount that a visitor thinks an entry fee is worth. When combined with an Optimal Pricing Policy and Price Discrimination to segment visitors into those willing to pay more, profits can be maximized. Obtaining the optimal price and thus maximum profit is especially important for extensive, expensive and difficult to conserve cultural heritage sites such as city wall fortifications. Wall fortifications cannot usually be adapted to other selfsustainable financial (or even semi-sustainable) uses beyond visitation; thus funding options to offset costs for maintenance, conservation and management are limited. However, this is a sensitive subject given the cultural, scientific and educational values of such places. Fortifications belong to the public and should be easily available for their enjoyment, recreation and educational understanding of history. Given this contradiction it is extremely difficult to achieve a balance between seeking maximum profit while providing access. Therefore this paper explores an alternative -encouraging a Willingness to Contribute. Visitors are often willing to contribute or pay more especially if they know a percentage of their fee funds upkeep. The paper describes research into access prices and strategies (or lack thereof) to extract willing contributions at fortified cities throughout the Mediterranean including Famagusta,
RESUMEN:Acercamiento personal a la historia de la arquitectura de la sal, a través del estudio y documentación de ejemplos españoles. Empleamos el término arquitectura definido por William Morris (1881), en una concepción territorial incorporada en las contemporáneas definiciones patrimoniales: Paisaje Cultural (Carta de Cracovia, 2000), como el resultado y reflejo de una interacción prolongada a través de diferentes sociedades entre el hombre, la naturaleza y el medio ambiente físico. Los primeros contactos con salinas mediterráneas, como las de Cabo de Gata, la masiva presencia de fábricas de salazón romanas, como la de Sexi con origen fenicio. Salinas de mar modernas que emplean la amplitud de la marea, como Las Puntas en la isla canaria de El Hierro. Las salinas de interior, con utilización desde el neolítico y de gran importancia desde época medieval, como Poza de la Sal, Imón o Belinchón, vinculadas a trabajos de Inventario del patrimonio arquitectónico y declaraciones de BIC de los años 70 y 80 y otras investigaciones del patrimonio rural español. Su relación con la ganadería y la Mesta, su transporte histórico apoyado en la Cabaña Real de Carreteros, para detenernos en ejemplos de alfolíes y almacenes, presentes en salinas y núcleos de población. ABSTRACT:Personal approach to the history of salt architecture, supported by studies and research of Spanish examples. We use the term of Architecture used by William Morris (1881), with a territorial concept incorporated in modern heritage definitions: Cultural Landscape (Krakow Charter of 2000) First contacts with Mediterraneam salt pans, such as Cabo de Gata, the massive presence of Roman salting factories, such as Sexi with Phoenician origen. Modern sea salt pans that uses the breadth ot the tide, such as Las Puntas on the Canary island of El Hierro. Interior salt pans were used since the Neolithic and they had great importance since medieval times, such as Poza de la Sal, Imón or Belinchón. These salt pans are linked to inventory works of architectural heritage and BIC statements of the 70s and 80s and other research on Spanish rural heritage. Its relationship with livestock and the Mesta; its historical transport supported by the Cabaña Real de Carreteros. And finally stop at architecture of salt stores in salt pans and towns.
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