Introducing Sustainability in Cultural Heritage Management

The chapter discusses in theoretic and practical perspectives the approach to the sustainability issue in tourism, which requires a careful analysis of the profiles of the societies and communities involved in the construction tourism experience, their multiple potentials and their contradictory instances. The sustainability issue appears as a necessary step forward to overtake the divergent visions and perceptions adopted by stakeholders and local communities on the relevant economic social and impacts induced by the onset and increase of tourism. A complex network of actors, interests, visions and capabilities are here integrated in a joint natural+cultural perspective, which may contribute to redesign the concept of cultural heritage in the direction of a deep interdependence between natural and cultural values. After setting the theoretical premises, the COMPACT model of intervention developed by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre is presented and discussed, providing a concrete example of particularly virtuous and successful engagement of local community.