EHD Heritage Communities

According to the Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society, Faro 2005, a heritage community is composed by individuals who value and wish to pass on specific aspects of cultural heritage.
It can result in a group identity which proves to be more than just the sum of the individuals. They do not require action, nor be attached to any tangible asset to be considered HC, but some develop into a consolidated group with a stable cultural activity and committed to a territory or certain cultural goods.
Their activity runs in a “bottom up” or “middle way” dynamic, which distinguishes itself from the traditional heritage management of the Public Institutions, which flows in a “top down” manner.
The heritage they value and preserve is more connected to the people than to power

Industrial Heritage can be a subject for Heritage Communities:

• It is linked to the people that worked and lived in those environments
• it holds many identity issues
• It promotes social activism
• It has strong European links (technology, know how, work organization…) To include Heritage Communities involved in Industrial Heritage may enhance cultural cohesion and European Dimension, enriched by local diversity.

These heritage communities can and should represent the “Bottom up” management for the conservation, interpretation and opening to the public of our common (industrial) heritage - also when preparing and running the European Heritage Days