ABSTRACT

The importance of cultural heritage as an enabler of sustainable development is widely acknowledged. However, its role has remained marginalised in past and current international development agendas. This paper provides an original interdisciplinary study interrogating the potential of harnessing cultural heritage (both tangible and intangible) for sustainable development. It also reflects on how international policies and narratives on cultural heritage for development have been implemented on the ground. In particular, it critically examines the contribution of cultural heritage to worldwide developmental issues, with an approach that traverses the three sustainable development dimensions. It investigates how cultural heritage has been used to tackle global challenges, such as poverty alleviation in marginalised groups (economic dimension); gender equality and the empowerment of women (social dimension); and environmental sustainability (environmental dimension). The analysis focuses on three heritage for development projects funded through the ‘Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund’, jointly implemented by UNESCO in partnership with other United Nations organisations and local partners in the Middle East and North Africa between 2008 and 2013. The article sheds light on multifaceted aspects of cultural heritage for sustainable development by discussing key achievements and common pitfalls.

摘要

文化遗产作为可持续发展推动力的重要性已得到广泛认可。然而，它的作用在过去和当前的国际发展议程中仍然被边缘化。本文提供了一项原创的跨学科研究，探讨了利用文化遗产（有形和无形）促进可持续发展的潜力。它还反映了有关文化遗产促进发展的国际政策和叙述是如何在实地实施的。特别是，它批判性地研究了文化遗产对全球发展问题的贡献，并采用了一种跨越三个可持续发展维度的方法。它调查了文化遗产如何被用来应对全球挑战，例如边缘化群体的减贫（经济层面）；性别平等和赋予妇女权力（社会层面）；和环境可持续性（环境维度）。该分析侧重于由“千年发展目标成就基金”资助的三个遗产促进发展项目，该基金由教科文组织与其他联合国组织以及中东和北非的当地合作伙伴在 2008 年至 2013 年间共同实施。通过讨论关键成就和常见缺陷，探讨文化遗产促进可持续发展的多方面问题。