Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Tourism for Local Economic Development - “What, Who and How? Enhancing Economic Benefits of Archaeological World Heritage Sites”

BBL co-sponsored by the Cultural Heritage and and Sustainable Tourism Thematic Group and the Local Economic Development Thematic Group at the Urban Development Anchor

Monday, September 28, 2009
12:30 - 2:00 pm
World Bank's Main Complex, Floor 8, Room 100

Speaker
Prof. Brent Lane, University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School
What, Who and How? Enhancing Economic Benefits of Archaelogical World Heritage Sites   PDF 410 KB 

Chair
Stephen Karam, Lead Urban Economist, Urban Development Unit, World Bank

Since October 2008 Professor Brent Lane of the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School has been working with the International Scientific Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management (ICAHM) on ways to better measure and enhance local economic impacts of World Heritage Sites (WHS). The outcome of this work will be applications of sustainable tourism and economic development practices that enhance the local economic potential of archaeological World Heritage Sites in targeted developing countries.

ICAHM is a scientific advisory committee that advises the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the management of archaeological World Heritage Sites. World Heritage Sites are cultural or natural heritage locations designated or “listed” by UNESCO to encourage their protection and preservation.  There are currently 890 World Heritage Sites around the world, a majority of which are cultural sites that encompass archaeological heritage resources.

While the World Heritage program is principally concerned with preservation, the listing of a site is commonly expected to also yield economic benefits through increased tourism and associated activity. But increased tourism can create challenges for heritage conservation without necessarily achieving significant local economic participation. The record of indigenous economic benefits is especially uneven in rural locations and developing countries. As a result there is a concern among ICAHM members that the absence of clear local economic benefits may deter the listing of additional World Heritage Sites from less developed areas.

Professor Lane’s on-going research with ICAHM is therefore particularly concerned with demonstrating how recent and potential World Heritage sites in developing countries achieve their heritage management goals while maximizing sustainable local economic benefits. The first phase of the project drew from prior research to conduct on-site consultations with local officials that examined heritage management/economic development practices at World Heritage Sites in Bolivia, China, Japan, Scotland, Morocco and New Zealand. With the completion of an initial “best practices” investigational phase this research is being expanded to numerous recently listed or tentative sites globally.

Professor Lane presented findings of this research phase and described examples of best practices with a focus on sustainable tourism practices that emphasize indigenous poverty amelioration. He also described plans for expanding the research and solicited suggestions from the audience for additional exemplars and prospective locations for future inclusion in this work.