Opportunities and limitations of resilience as a framework for cultural heritage

Citation

Arora V & Weise K (2025) Opportunities and limitations of resilience as a framework for cultural heritage. Historic Environment, 35 (3), pp. 10-22, Art. No.: 1.

Abstract
This paper considers how the meanings of resilience in the context of cultural heritage have proliferated in the past two decades and examines the opportunities and limitations of deploying resilience as a framework for cultural heritage. Drawing from a range of perspectives presented at the 2023 ICOMOS General Assembly and Scientific Symposium in Sydney, we focus on three major themes: i) local and Indigenous approaches to resilience; ii) planning and management of historic places for resilience; and iii) recovery, reconstruction, and resilience. In the context of heritage sites and places, the multiple domains within which resilience is deployed—ecological, structural (physical), socio-cultural, economic, psychological, and spiritual—are interrelated, and it is these relationships that we focus our attention on. We consider how international institutions such as ICOMOS have approached resilience in the context of heritage and what possibilities exist beyond institutional approaches through a series of reflections that follow on from the Symposium as well as from our own experiences as heritage practitioners and researchers. We conclude with a brief speculation on how in moving forward, international policy and frameworks might productively engage with the concept of resilience.

Notes
10 Photo: Participant discussions on the theme of Resilience at the ICOMOS 2023 General Assembly and Scientific Symposium. Photo credit: Kai Weise

Journal
Historic Environment: Volume 35, Issue 3