HERITAGE: CONSERVATION Vs DEVELOPMENT
Challenging Our Attitudes
Moses Wafula Mapesa
15th ICNT
Entebbe, Uganda
Sept 30, 2013
THE PRESENTATION
•INTRODUCTION
•UNDERLYING CONCEPTS
•CHALLENGING OUR LEADERS
•CHALLENGING OUR ATITUDES
•CASE STUDIES
•CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
• KEY WORDS: Heritage, Conservation,
Development, Leadership, Culture
• UNDERSTANDING THE KEY WORDS
• Is Conservation in contest with
Development? I say NO!
HERITAGE
• Heritage is:
What we inherit – Birthright, Tradition, Custom
• Broadly Heritage is
– “Something passing from generation to
generation
• There are 2 distinct categories:
– Natural Heritage
– Cultural Heritage
Natural Heritage
Is the Inheritance of: animals,
plants, water, land,
landforms.
It is the Natural Inheritance
Cultural Heritage
• Is the legacy of physical artifacts &
intangible attributes passed on from
generation to generation
• Includes: buildings, monuments, books, art,
dance, traditions, folklore, language,
landscapes, religion, knowledge
Cultural Heritage
• Food Heritage is part of cultural heritage
• Food Heritage is about:
– Places of origin of plants and animals
domesticated for food
– Includes: farms, mills, dairies, orchards,
breweries, restaurants, markets
Cultural Heritage
• Industrial Heritage is also part of Cultural
Heritage
• Refers to physical remains of Technology &
Industry
– Examples in Africa include: pyramids in Egypt,
the Great Zimbabwe , Timbuktu in Mali, Kasubi
Tombs in Uganda
CONSERVATION
• Is an ethic of resource use, allocation and
protection.
• Prevention of injury, decay, loss or waste
of natural and cultural heritage.
• Careful utilization or “wise use” of our
heritage – for livelihoods & development
• Based on planning, control, cooperation
and monitoring to spur development .
• Avoiding destruction, depletion, extinction,
loss.
DEVELOPMENT
• Is a process: Of Social & economic
transformation of a society based on
cultural and environmental factors.
• Development may also be understood as:
– The systematic use of natural laws (science) and
cultural knowledge to meet society needs
• Heritage therefore drives development
• Put simply, it is the socio-economic
transformation of society using its
inheritance.
UNDERLYING
CONCEPTS
• The Concept of Sustainable Development
– Improving the quality of human life without
compromising the needs of future generations
– Economic growth, Environmental protection &
Social equality
– Often priority is on economic growth at the
expense of environmental protection & social
equality.
– Note: Environment + Social ethics = Heritage
Underlying Concepts
• The Concept of Public Trusteeship
– Also referred to as Public Trust Doctrine
– Is about collective ownership, protection & use of
heritage
– Often backed by national and international laws
– Sometimes abused, leading to conflicts
– National Heritage
– World Heritage – World Heritage List
•Outstanding Universal Value
Underlying concepts
• The Concept of Common Property Rights
– Embedded in traditional heritage management
practices
– Community collective ownership, protection & use
– Based on societal (cultural) norms
– Worked for hundreds of years for many
agricultural, livestock and fishing communities
globally
– However, many societies have been dispossessed
of their heritage – leading to conflicts
CHALLENGING OUR
LEADERS
Challenging our
Leaders (i)
• Different leaders for Heritage, Conservation and
Development.
• The natural environment is changing quite fast
• Demands are increasing – food, water, energy
infrastructure.
• How do we pass on our inheritance to the next
generation amidst these demands?
• Scharmer, 2011, argues there is a void in the
leadership to address crises like climate change,
housing, food and water shortage
Challenging our
Leaders (ii)
• Need for cross-sector and cross – cultural
entrepreneurial leadership? Scharmer, 2011
• Need cooperation among sectors and collective
action? Dent, 2012
• Leaders need to engage more using current
communication technology e.g cyber
conversation.
• Leaders must understand the complexity of socioecological systems
• The community level is critically important
because of varied cultural settings. Pollard , 2008
CHALLENGING OUT
ATTITUDES
Challenging our
Attitudes
• We believe we know all about heritage,
conservation and development
• We know the underlying concepts and
principles (the precautionary principle,
equity, prior informed consent)
• Do we practice what we know?
• Are we willing to learn (from local
communities, indigenous people,
foreigners)?
COMMON
ATTITUDES (i)
• Heritage is Culture – Not really
– Culture is a component of heritage
• Heritage Conservation is anti-development
– Not at all.
– Conservation is about wise use and right
choices for development
COMMON
ATTITUDES (ii)
• Culture is Static – No
– Cultures does change, gradually though
• Heritage is not a driver for development –
Wrong
– Heritage is a powerful driver for development
but there has to be a balancing act
COMMON
ATTITUDES (iii)
• Culture is not important for development Wrong
– Former US Senator, Patrick Moynihan,
observed: “The … truth is that it is culture not
politics which determines the success of society.
… Politics can change culture and save it from
itself”.
– Several scholars confirm the assertion above
– Trust, hard work, respect for others, control of
one’s destiny are key cultural values for de’vpt
CASE STUDIES
• Case studies abound on linkages between
heritage, conservation and development
• But the question why some countries develop
faster than others still remains.
• Why is Africa lagging behind?
• Why is Latin America seemingly slow?
• Why did Japan and China stagnate then leap?
• Why do some ethnic groups (Chinese, Indians,
Lebanese, Jews, Croats) do better than others
wherever they go?
• How did UK, USA and other develop?
CONCLUSION
• A team of economic scholars (Khan et al,
2010) concluded that:
– The cultural values of: self determination, ,
honesty, cooperation, trust, mutual respect,
self-improvement and freedom of thought;
which depend on individual attitudes, and are
based on a set of beliefs and norms are the
key to development of any society.
• The link between heritage, conservation
and development is strong and positive –
there is no gap and there is no contest.
Thank You (Asante Sana)