Exploring Heritage

World Heritage

Research Methods

World Heritage Management in Practice

Presentation & Interpretation

Critical Issues in World Heritage

Tourism  Research Project    

Unit Descriptions 

• Exploring Heritage

The unit provides a broad but critical understanding of the theoretical ideas surrounding heritage, itself interpreted broadly, to include natural heritage, and cultural heritage, from sites and buildings to landscapes, collections and the intangible heritage. At the end of the unit you should have a clear picture of the task that the heritage manager faces.

After an examination of how the theory of heritage has evolved, the unit adopts a schema whereby there are envisaged as four main ways in which heritage can be studied. The many different phenomena that are classed as heritage can be shown to adopt similar concepts and procedures, including a move to the vernacular and to broader contexts. Secondly, there is need to understand ‘who heritage is for’ and the variety of actors and stakeholders who have very varied expectations and values that they expect management to include. The third approach is via the various levels of identity with which heritage is expected to resonate, from the global to the local, with the national having so far been much the most significant. Although heritage professionals will largely be working with the public, and ‘visitable’ heritage, they also need an understanding of the significance of the private heritage. Finally, heritage can be envisaged as a process of from discovery to protection, and every stage is disputed. Certain key issues are involved at every stage, including the nature of space, place and landscape; the concepts of culture and nature, including biodiversity and cultural diversity; public and private heritage.  

• World Heritage

The focus of this unit is on the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, approached both from the collective international perspective and the role and responsibilities of an individual State Party, with particular focus on the United Kingdom . The adoption of the 1972 Convention by 185 states (2007) now makes it the most widely recognized conservation instrument in the world, and its great success has been to mobilize a global movement for the protection of the world's most outstanding cultural and natural heritage. The unit will investigate the role of the Convention, and its associations with other international conventions and legal frameworks, in protecting the very best of the world's heritage resources. It will also review the process by which any country that is signatory to the Convention may nominate a heritage site for inscription on the World Heritage List. The unit will take a critical approach in its analysis of the political framework within which the Convention is managed, the process of nominating candidate world heritage sites, and the effectiveness of inscription as a tool for lasting protection. In so doing it will examine the role of UNESCO's World Heritage Centre in coordinating this work, the support provided by its advisory bodies, and the various initiatives the Centre and advisory bodies have introduced aimed at raising standards and enhancing the delivery and status of the Convention.

• World Heritage Management in Practice

This unit examines heritage management issues and methods at both the resource and site level.  It includes the survey, documentation and inventory of heritage resources in order to understand their scale, content and value as a basis for delimiting the heritage estate. Such documentation is an important first step in making informed and rational judgments about priorities for conservation, scientific value, level of protection, cultural environment and public accessibility. This part of the unit logically bolts on to the earlier unit Exploring Heritage, taxonomically exploring the diversity and classification of resources from such differing viewpoints as scale (from artefacts to sites and properties), theme (cultural, natural, mixed), environment (rural and urban) and accessibility (physical and intellectual access of both tangible and intangible heritage resources). 

At a larger spatial scale, this unit will consider the role and methods of spatial planning and the scientific management of critical cultural and environmental capital at world heritage sites . A particular focus will be the preparation of management plans and their role in maintaining Outstanding Universal Value and in meeting the Conditions of Integrity in existing world heritage sites. Consideration will also be given to stakeholder inputs - including those of scientists, politicians, managers, community and recreational user - in the management planning process and achievement of goals such as consensus management and sustainable development. Underlying these approaches are the legal aspects of heritage resource management, particularly implications relating to ownership, designation, protective management, display and possible repatriation of sites or artefacts.

The approach taken throughout will be a critical one, informed by good practice and international case studies, using the many examples of national, regional and local spatial and thematic heritage registers or listings and existing site management plans. 

• Presentation & Interpretation

This unit enables you to gain critical mastery of the traditional sources of information you are likely to use as a background for interpreting and presenting materials in a museum or other heritage context and to become an expert user of the latest methods of accessing and managing such information. You will acquire detailed knowledge, critical understanding and practical skills in the design, execution and evaluation of a variety of different display methods and techniques, both traditional and innovative, including the use of new technologies. This unit stresses the importance of understanding the need for museum and heritage displays to be accessible for a range of different audiences, appreciating the need to evaluate how well interpretive exhibits meet the needs of different visitors.

• Critical Issues in World Heritage Tourism

This unit critically examines how World Heritage Management operates in practice, with particular reference to tourism. The UNESCO World Heritage designation adds value to tourist attractions. The significance of the designation is such that it will act as magnet and the majority of the visitors to these sites are, predictably, motivated by an interest in heritage and culture although this motivation may not be matched by any prior knowledge of the site concerned. World Heritage Sites offer several practical advantages to the tourism industry as they posses many of the features that create a successful tourism attraction, and may well explain their relative popularity. For this reason, several countries nominate potential properties for inclusion in World Heritage List making this aspect as one of the major themes of study.

This unit outlines the role of tourism in World Heritage Sites and evaluates its actual benefits and challenges besides analyzing the relevant tourism concepts such as visitor management, destination management, marketing and strategies. Besides generating more visitors, World Heritage Sites constitute extreme examples of global-local interactions and stakeholder involvements. Examples envisaging the role of World Heritage designation in increasing or controlling tourism visits, effective visitor management, added conservation measures and community development can be noticed in several countries that have signed the World Heritage convention but still there is a need to review them in terms of future markets, global problems and sudden events. Despite the facts that the World Heritage designation attracts visitors, increase the potential for development and may enhance conservation, the impacts depend of course on local circumstances and how the principles of sustainable development and conservation measures are effectively implemented. Therefore, this unit also analyzes key stakeholders and their accountabilities for the preservation and conservation of World Heritage Sites and how far the World Heritage status could contribute to fill-in the gap between the demand for conservation and sustainability and practical achievements.

• Research Methods

The ability to conduct research effectively is an essential skill in the context of postgraduate study and this unit provides an important underpinning to all taught Masters pathways within the School of Conservation Sciences. The unit introduces you to a range of academic research methodologies and the research environment. It provides an opportunity to gain experience in using generic research tools as well as subject specific analytical tools and practical techniques relevant to your specialist academic discipline. 

• Research Project

The research project has a crucial role in the pathway allowing you to develop your expertise in research methods, data collection, analysis, interpretation and synthesis,linking them with taught elements of the pathway. You will be able to demonstrate advanced communication skills by producing an extensive dissertation or report on your research.

This research project enables you to explore in detail core aspects of your subject area, with a view to generating new practical or theoretical insights through a dissertation. It will also develop methodological, research and presentation skills. Within a framework of tutorial support it emphasizes the development of independent student learning and self-management.