Bringing the Community Back: A Case Study of the Post-Earthquake Heritage Restoration in Kathmandu Valley

Stelios Lekakis, Shobhit Shakya and Vasilis Kostakis
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Stelios Lekakis: McCord Centre-School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Armstrong Building-2.44, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Vasilis Kostakis: Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology, Akadeemia tee 3, 12618 Tallinn, Estonia

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 8, 1-17

Abstract: Heritage preservation is a resource-intensive activity nested among other processes in the public administration, related to identity building and touristic product enhancement. Strategies and schemata associated with heritage preservation sprang in the western world after WWII and they have been adapted, in the form of ‘heritage management’, in various contexts with questionable effectiveness regarding sustainability. Our paper discusses the case of the post-earthquake cultural, social and political landscape of the World Heritage Site of Kathmandu valley in Nepal. By reviewing the bibliography and drawing upon various case studies of post-earthquake heritage restoration, we focus on the traditional ways of managing human and cultural resources in the area as related to the modern national heritage management mechanism. We also examine how traditional practices, re-interpreted into a modern context, can point towards inclusive and sustainable forms of collaboration based on the commons. We shed light on the elements of an emerging management system that could protect the vulnerable monuments through community participation, adapted to the challenging realities of the Nepalese heritage and its stakeholders.

Keywords: heritage management; commons; restoration; Gorkha earthquake; living heritage; traditional knowledge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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