Community,Connection and Conservation: Intangible Cultural Values in Natural Heritage—the Case of Shirakami‐sanchi World Heritage Area

Intangible cultural heritage, according to a UNESCO definition, is ‘the practices, representations, expressions as well as the knowledge and skills that communities, groups and in some cases individuals recognise as part of their cultural heritage’. Using a case study of Shirakami‐sanchi World Heritage Area, this paper illustrates how the local community's conservation commitment was formed through their long‐term everyday interactions with nature. Such connectivity is vital to maintaining the authentic integrity of a place that does not exclude humans. An examination of the formation of the community's conservation commitment for Shirakami reveals that it is the community's spiritual connection and place‐based identity that have supported conservation, leading to the World Heritage nomination, and it is argued that the recognition of such intangible cultural heritage is vital in conservation. The challenge, then, is how to communicate such spiritual heritage today. Forms of community involvement are discussed in an attempt to answer this question.     

Transport Infrastructure in the Mountains: Why and How to Protect Landscape with Human Activity as Part of its Heritage

In mountain areas without permanent settlements, human activity is entirely dependent on spatial interaction. For centuries, local and regional traffic has followed livestock trails and footpaths. Mainly during the 20th century, new public and private roads changed this situation significantly in large parts of Norway. While mountain summer farming decreased, hydropower development and leisure use became dominant. Protected areas have been established to preserve possibilities for outdoor recreation and ‘wilderness’. However, seasonal farming activity is still an important upholder of cultural heritage. In the investigated area in western Norway, parallels between accessibility and human activity on mountain summer farmsteads have been identified with the abandonment of dairy production between ca 1905 and 1973, recent use by landowners and hikers’ use of publicly accessible tourist cabins. Increased differences in accessibility and protection status have resulted in diversification of human activity in different locations. Custom and tradition represent different principles according to which cultural landscape can be maintained—with emphasis on dynamics or invariance, respectively. Recent landscape protection focuses primarily on tradition. The necessity of easy access to maintain the living cultural heritage in addition to ‘wilderness’ areas, however, requires taking both concepts into account, most probably treated as geographically separate.     

Viewing Urban Development from the Evolution of the Social Environment

Although place-marketing and image-enhancement are increasingly common elements of Western urban policy, when applied to specific locales, these abstract theories have to negotiate local conditions and contexts. This paper discusses the ways attempts to place-market the city of Hull, England, prompted debates surrounding questions of place, memory and heritage. Despite being Britain's leading fishing port in the 20th century, Hull's place-marketing strategy elided this past in favour of a sanitised vision of a modern, post-industrial city. These debates crystallised around a 1999 planning inquiry over the proposed redevelopment of the erstwhile fishing dock. While the proposals contained some reference to the dock's role as a site of place-memory, this was deemed insufficient by local protest groups and politicians who argued for a more appropriate memorial to Hull's fishing community. Eventually, the redevelopment proposals were accepted, but not before attendant debates exposed both the depth of local sentiments over place-memories and fishing heritage, and also the difficulties of negotiating inclusive and plural heritage landscapes.     

Cultural Landscapes of Britain

'Britain' and 'cultural landscape' as used here are defined. The World Heritage categorisation provides the basis for a brief review of the range of such landscapes in Britain, with specific examples being named and briefly characterised. Relict landscapes are particularly noted. 'Threats to cultural landscapes are identified as of both development and decrepitude. A short discussion of the purpose and viability of cultural landscapes in Britain, for national and global purposes, concludes by noting a number of British cultural landscapes recognisable in World Heritage terms and potentially relevant to the European Landscape Convention 2000.     

The politics of area conservation in Cairo

The historic core of the Arab‐Islamic city has always played an integral role in the formation of the identity of the contemporary Arab city. It serves as the reference for the city’s character. This is especially so in Cairo, where historic quarters still act as the city’s most influential social and cultural source of inspiration. Today, many forces of neglect and deterioration have diminished this role. While attempts have been launched to confront this situation, they have focused mainly on restoring the historic city of Cairo, itself a World Heritage Site. This paper probes the actual reasons for the deterioration of the historic core of Cairo, as well as those that dominate the current efforts for revitalisation. In these processes it is the political dimension that is the most influential in the decision‐making affecting the proposed urban changes in historic Cairo.1 The present inquiry was supported by a workshop organised by the author to examine the attitude of the professionals representing different organisations involved in conservation in historic Cairo. This workshop was held on 12 and 13 September 2001 at the Italian Archaeological Centre in Cairo as part of the empirical work of the author’s PhD research.      

向海自然保护区生态旅游地可持续发展

随着旅游形式的改变,生态旅游地逐渐成为旅游活动主体的聚集点。吉林省向海国家级自然保护区是我国东北地区重要生态旅游地,自然地理环境独特,旅游资源丰富多样,旅游业已初具规模。由于其可持续发展对当地经济发展和生态环境保护具有双重战略意义,因此本文在简要分析旅游业发展潜力及开发中存在的问题的基础上,重点探讨了如何在区域系统理论的指导下,以协调人地关系为主旨的区域可持续发展的对策,提出了解决湿地水源、加强区域文化建设与生态敏感区管理、拓展旅游客源市场、科技兴旅、积极发展旅游服务业等建设性方案。     

“紫檀木边点翠金质山水图围屏”屏心的研究与修复

为了解故宫博物院藏文物“紫檀木边点翠金质山水图围屏”屏心的制作工艺,使用X射线荧光光谱仪、拉曼光谱仪、红外光谱仪及数码显微镜对文物进行检测,明确了屏风所用材质:满铺“卍”字纹点翠为基底,大面积山体使用纯金打造,细节装饰配件则用金银合金、金银铜合金和银等金属材料制成,金质嵌件用金属丝拴结的方式与点翠基底相连接。笔者以科学技术分析为依托,确定了屏风的制作工艺为:制作木板底纹—点翠—制作金属嵌件—金属部件组装固定。针对点翠脱落严重、灰尘堆积严重、金属部件脱落、点翠基底开裂等伤况,对文物进行了点翠加固、除尘、金属部件加固、基底修复四个步骤完成修复。此修复研究为了解清代宫廷大型屏风的制作工艺提供了实践依据,并为后期同类文物的修复提供经验支持。     

故宫博物院藏宋代铜凤凰的修复保护与研究

文物修复保护及研究是一项涵盖多学科、多因素的系统性工作,不同文物中所包含的历史信息、文化价值和病害情况等都有其独特性。对文物的观察和研究,既能够发现、研究其中有价值的问题,又能够决定如何具体开展文物修复保护工作。本文以故宫博物院藏的一件宋代铜凤凰修复保护及研究工作为例,以时间发展和问题递进两个方面为顺序,对铜凤凰进行了信息调查、元素成分、形态结构、制作工艺等方面的综合研究,科学地、具体地、整体地分析在此项工作过程中所遇到的问题,根据实际情况提出与之相适应的解决方案并加以实施,对问题的发现过程与形成因素给出尽可能详细的解释,直观呈现对这件文物完整的修复保护及研究。在整个工作的过程中,思考使用问题导向思维作为文物修复保护中开展工作的底层逻辑,使所做工作都尽可能做到知其然也知其所以然。     

海洋出水木质文物保护中的硫铁化合物问题

海洋出水的木质文物中通常会沉积硫铁化合物。打捞出水后,硫铁化合物遇到空气和水分后会发生氧化,生成硫酸以及各种硫酸盐,并引起有机质的降解。近年来,硫铁化合物对海洋出水木质文物的危害已引起广泛关注。为此,本工作阐述了硫铁化合物相关问题的研究现状,就硫铁化合物的产生原因、危害以及目前控制方法的研究进展进行了总结,同时评述了针对硫铁化合物的处理方法。     

A Comparative Review of Policy for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe

This paper is a comparative study of the policies for the protection of the architectural heritage currently in place in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Georgia, Ireland, The Netherlands, Spain and the UK. These countries are a representative sample of thirty-two countries that have brought the provisions of the Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe (Granada, 1985) into force. Set against the articles of the Convention the paper examines the different approaches that are in operation. Bearing in mind that the Convention called for subsequent monitoring of provisions adopted by countries, which has not yet taken place, this paper provides a current overview of the extent of implementation and the different procedures and policies utilised.