Chapter 10 - Decentralised management strategies for heritage in rural areas

Abstract

Beyond the different conceptualisations that can be made of heritage or heritage resources, there is a widespread idea of its value in development strategies. This value is even more important, at least in relative terms, when the analysis focuses on rural spaces. This is due to the difficulties in setting up positive dynamics for socio-economic development and in the notion of territorial heritage, as this increases its value due to scarcity and social valuation (Ortega, 1998). However, as shall be seen in this chapter, there is a distance between the theoretical meaning of heritage resources in local development strategies and the practical application. This is basically due to the existing complications in the management of the said resources in the rural setting. Thus, first of all, this work considers the problems that are habitually encountered in heritage enhancement processes in rural settings, with concrete examples from the autonomous region of Castile & Leon. On the basis of this analysis, some of the measures that have been carried out through public intervention to enhance the said heritage resources will be considered, stressing the possibilities that arise with regard to the theoretical and practical definitions of the territorial systems of heritage value, a notion that appears in the Plan PAHIS 2020, but which is also found, with slight differences, in other heritage valuation strategies in Spain. Finally, a pilot initiative is evaluated that has been set up in Castile & Leon, within the framework of the Plan PAHIS 2020, called the Plan Mudejar, to value the Mudejar heritage over a wide area of the autonomous region. This plan take steps towards a more decentralised management, in which greater weight is given to the local actors in the design and execution of the heritage valuation initiatives. On the basis of a cursory diagnosis of the value of the Mudejar in the area under study, the objectives of the Plan Mudejar are evaluated and its potential and limitations in valuing these resources in their rural sphere of reference are explained.