Highlighting Heritage
Heritage as a Catalyst for Public Engagement in Prairie Landscapes: Insights from Museum-based Community Research in Saskatchewan, Canada
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Glenn C. Sutter, Tobias Sperlich
Urban centres and smaller communities on the Canadian prairies have been experiencing a range of environmental, socio-cultural, and economic changes, from droughts, floods, and poor water quality, to high rates of out-migration, rising pluralism, and chaotic periods of financial boom and bust. Using document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and other qualitative methods, this project examines how initiatives undertaken by community-engaged museums can foster creative change and adaptations that enhance personal and collective well-being through sustainable community development. While each community faced a unique set of circumstances, our findings point to a number of thematic similarities, including the need for alternative funding models and easier access to grants that would supplement what is currently available. Another common theme was around available human resources, specifically in regards to volunteers and the ability to attract new or younger community members to assist in organizing and participating in heritage projects. A third theme was access to public services such as health care, grocery stores, or education. These were seen as vital for sustainability since they are required to maintain the local population and attract new members. The final theme was memory, with each community expressing a desire to capture both the historical knowledge and local memories in ways that are meaningful to community members and showcase what makes the town unique. As a result of this project, one community has gained profile for its public engagement activities, including with local Indigenous communities, and ecomuseums are now being set up in two other locations.
Museo Ruta de Plata and the Revitalization of El Triunfo, Mexico: A Case Study
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Carlos Mauricio Rodriguez
There’s change afoot in Mexico’s small colonial town of El Triunfo. After nearly a century of decline, the sleepy community—at one point the largest settlement in the Baja California peninsula—is now abuzz with hundreds of tourists each weekend. How was El Triunfo transformed from mining ghost town to Baja’s new “it” spot? At the center of El Triunfo’s renaissance is the Ruta de Plata complex, a 200 square meter regional interpretive center designed to: 1) Reinvigorate the local economy; 2) Pay tribute to the rich history of the region’s minerals and mining industry; 3) Become a prominent destination for historians and history buffs, artists, students, educators and tourists. This study unpacks the two-year process that brought together historians, designers, artists, investors, business planners, and the local community to create a sustainable, world-class cultural destination.
Local or Global? : Whose Heritage Is It?
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Amy Van Allen
Local is critical to heritage, and often subsumed or ignored by the global, creating a tension between the two. Policy is made and resources assigned at the national and international levels, where governments or international organizations adopt heritage practices for the benefit of the people. Yet the practice of heritage--including its dynamism and creativity--is a local one. What happens when the practitioners are removed from the decision-making about heritage preservation? In an age of diaspora, what do local and global mean? Why are Indigenous communities disproportionately affected? I look at geographies of heritage and what it is about the local that we as academics still misunderstand, to answer the question, "Whose heritage is it?"
Creating Sustainable Community and Heritage through Ecomuseum: Trial Discussion on Strengthening Local People’s Attachment and Social Capital through Museological Actions in Community
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kazuoki Ohara
We consider the results of surveys conducted in two regions (Chigasaki city ecomuseum in Kanagawa prefecture and Achi village in Nagano prefecture) in Japan on residents who participate in ecomuseum activities and those who do not. These two areas have each small local museums and ecomuseums activities by local peoples. Those who participate in ecomuseum activities have strong place attachment to the region and community and positive images of the daily living. In addition, there is a strong desire to convey regional values to the next generation, which is known as a “generativity” , and also have strong social capital in the community. It is not clear whether these activities are the result of ecomuseum or whether people with these tendencies are leading actively participation in ecomuseum. However, it can be pointed out that the relationship between the two is strong, that is, the activities of the ecomuseum are effective for maintaining the sustainability of the region, which wants to connect the value and heritage of the region to the next generation.
