Council of Europe

• Council of Europe
• Democracy
• Culture, Heritage and Diversity

European Rural Heritage Observation Guide

endorsed by the ministers responsible for regional planning during the 13th session of the European Conference of Ministers Responsible for Regional Planning (CEMAT) in Ljubljana, on 17 September 2003

Preface by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe

With both material and immaterial aspects, the rural world is a treasure trove of the cultural, natural and landscape heritage. In search of authenticity, the modern man draws on his rural roots, seeking an identity in the rural world. This heritage is also an engine of development. Its preservation is fundamental and gives meaning to the development of our societies. It is our responsibility to recognise the value of the past, and to protect and promote this heritage, an essential factor in economic, social and cultural development.

Adopted in Hanover in September 2000 by the ministers responsible for the regional planning of the Council of Europe’s member states and endorsed in Recommendation (2002)1 of the Committee of Ministers, the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Spatial Development of the European Continent detail a series of measures to foster development of rural areas as life settings for both economic and recreational activity and as natural environments.

This European Rural Heritage Observation Guide – CEMAT contributes to the implementation of the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers: helping to restore the town–countryside balance and seeking to promote the rural world’s resources as a development factor. It is indeed essential to put these principles into effect so as to promote sustainable rural planning combining economic growth and protection of the heritage assets inherent in both natural and cultural landscapes.

Moreover, this Guide contributes to the implementation of the provisions of the Guiding Principles devoted to “broadly-based participation of society in the spatial planning process”, which emphasises the importance of active public participation in the spatial planning process, in local, regional and supra-regional projects.

I hope that this Guide will be developed in later editions taking into account the Council of Europe’s various member states’ specificities and the richness of their rural world’s heritage.

Walter Schwimmer
Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Preface by the Chair of the Committee of Senior Officials

Realised and adopted by the CEMAT Committee of Senior Officials in view of its presentation at the 13th session of the Council of Europe’s European Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional Planning (Ljubljana, 16-17 September 2003), the European Rural Heritage Observation Guide – CEMAT implements the provisions of Recommendation Rec(2002)1 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Spatial Development of the European Continent.

It therefore contributes towards achieving independent development of rural zones as areas for living and carrying on economic and recreational activities, and as physical regions, and to setting out guidelines for the management of this heritage linked to regional/spatial planning.

The European continent is rich in rural heritage, shaped over the years by human activity and made up of an exceptional variety of land types, reliefs, climates and crops. The Guide invites all those who feel concerned by their territories’ future to be able to meet together, through national and local committees, for the purpose of listing and describing the rural heritage, and thinking about how best to promote this rural heritage.

Reconnecting with – sometimes even just discovering – this rural heritage, acknowledging its contemporary potential and not imprisoning it in the past, appreciating and recognising the different types of cultural, natural and landscape heritage as components of identity, are challenges we currently face.

There is no justification for preserving heritage, which links the past and the present, unless it can be given a guaranteed future and handed on to future generations, which is why it is essential to stir the key players into action. It has a potential richness and can become a valuable resource, not necessarily in commercial terms but for those carrying out projects and for the locality concerned. It accordingly becomes part of a sustainable development approach as it becomes a product, factor or source of development.

We are satisfied that the work is done in the framework of the activities of the CEMAT, which brings together representatives of the Council’s 45 member states, united in their pursuit of a common objective: sustainable spatial development of the European continent.

Margarita Jancic
Chair of the Committee of Senior Officials of the European
Conference of Ministers responsible for Regional/Spatial Planning

What is rural heritage?

The landscapes carved out over centuries by people who lived off the land and, more generally, through the exploitation of natural resources,

The buildings that make up what is referred to as rural architecture, whether or not they are clustered together (villages, hamlets, isolated houses and buildings),

The local products, adapted to local conditions and the needs of those who developed them,

The techniques, tools and know-how that have made creative activity possible and which remain essential for maintaining, restoring, changing and modernising its results, in accordance with the design logic and aesthetic of the buildings/environment/landscape as a whole. These techniques extend to symbols and cultural meanings in the widest sense.

However, we cannot discuss rural cultural heritage without referring to two obvious facts. The people who use the countryside, who live there and who have often played a decisive role in ensuring that these assets have survived, are increasingly aware that it belongs to them and are becoming more vocal on this issue. At the same time, the countryside, and the heritage that it represents and contains, is considered the property of every individual, including those from towns as well as from the countryside.

Isac Chiva
Une politique pour le patrimoine culturel rural
(Report to the French Culture Ministry, 1994)

Contents of the European Rural Heritage Observation Guide

I. Challenges and Objectives
1. Definition: what is heritage?
2. Approach: how can one take action in the field of heritage?
3. Project: what is the meaning of the project?
4. Implementation: how are projects to be implemented?

II. Methodology of observation
1. Clarifying the project
2. Selecting a locality
3. Identifying rural heritage
4. Classifying and describing heritage elements
5. Understanding relationships and change
6. Heritage and development
7. Evaluating heritage

III. Heritage’s component parts
1. Reading a landscape
2. Buildings
3. Private space
4. Agriculture and fishing
5. Food
6. Crafts and industries
7. Community life

IV. Rural heritage, a key factor in sustainable development
1. Means of action
2. Management methods
3. Means of support, particularly financial

I. Challenges and objectives

1. Definition: what is heritage?

Until very recently, rural heritage was defined in very narrow terms. It was considered to consist of buildings associated with agricultural activity, and particularly with “minor rural heritage” such as wash-houses, mills or chapels. Planners now assign a wider definition to heritage, which is considered to include all tangible or intangible elements that show the particular relationship that a human community has established with a territory over time.

1.1. Tangible heritage

This, the most easily identifiable part of heritage, consists of various elements:

– landscapes, since they result from centuries of human activity on the environment;
– property: this includes buildings for agricultural use and those related to crafts or industry, holiday homes or public buildings that are evidence of specific activities or simply of an architectural style;
– moveable property: this includes objects for domestic use (furniture in regional styles), religious purposes (furnishings in churches and chapels) or festive events (carnival floats, village or corporation emblems);
– products that result from adaptation to local conditions and to cultivation, rearing, processing and culinary traditions. These include plant varieties (plants, fruit, vegetables, etc.) and local animal species, as well as more “elaborate” produce (wine, cheese, pork products, etc.).

1.2. Intangible heritage

This part of heritage is made up of a series of intangible assets that are inseparable from tangible heritage:

– the techniques and skills that have enabled landscapes to be created, houses and furniture to be built and local products to be developed;
– the local dialects, music and oral literature that have emerged from non-written traditions. These means of expression are evidence of a community’s particular influence on its territory and, more generally, of a specific way of living together. This includes stories and legends describing individuals or sites that played a part in local history, as well as place names (toponyms), which reflect particular uses or representations;
– ways of organising social life and specific forms of social organisation, such as certain customs and festivals (seasonal, agricultural, etc.).

All these elements make up a living heritage. By identifying and laying claim to these elements, the various parties involved in the rural world invest them with meaning, both for the community and in terms of their heritage value.

2. Approach: how can one take action in the field of heritage?

Taking action in the field of heritage means, firstly, identifying its social, cultural and economic value. In so doing, it is essential to know it – and have it recognised – as a heritage item. Secondly, it has to be ensured that it is safeguarded and, possibly, to assign it a new use as part of a project. Finally, it means ensuring that it is handed down to future generations.

2.1. Enhancing one’s heritage

Enhancing means adding value. This value depends on how one views heritage: many heritage items have long been considered in purely functional terms, and the issue of how to conserve them after use never arose. Fascination with scientific, artistic or technological “progress” led to old objects being replaced by new ones, which were thought to be more effective or more in tune with an era’s tastes.

Enhancement is described as direct when it focuses mainly on the item itself, and indirect when it focuses primarily on the item’s surroundings. In each case, one aspect reinforces the other. Similar houses may have different values (economic, social, cultural, in terms of quality of life, etc.) depending on whether they are located in a prestigious area or near a public rubbish tip.

2.2. Thinking about heritage in a new way

Attitudes towards heritage have changed. Things that were previously valued only as tools are now appreciated for their historical value. Equally, they assume a potential cultural, social or economic value, beyond the functional reasons justifying their existence.

It is impossible, and probably not desirable, to conserve everything, since such conservation is often expensive. Consequently, it is logical to seek to make the most of the heritage’s potential by integrating it into development projects.

2.3. Knowing one’s heritage

The history and background of the most remarkable heritage items are usually the best known. Other items may, seem at first glance to have no particular intrinsic value. Nonetheless, they bear witness too, and are sometimes the only indication, trace or remnant of a wider system that awaits reconstitution. For example, a corner tree indicates how land was divided up, a mound of earth might point to a former medieval castrum, and vine stock grown wild or a place name might indicate previous cultivation practices.

Research in county or municipal archives, documentation centres (museums, libraries, etc.) and interviews with older people will give these heritage items a “voice”, and enable us to understand their origins and purpose.

Questions might also be asked about the rarity of certain objects: although wash-houses are frequently found across a national territory, certain styles are typical of certain regions, but isolated examples may occur among other dominant and more spectacular styles. This only serves to make them even more interesting.

2.4. Obtaining recognition for one’s heritage

Obtaining recognition means drawing everyone’s attention to the heritage value of the item concerned. By explaining their origins, history, function and context, such items will assume their heritage status and volunteers can be mobilised to preserve them.

Obtaining recognition for heritage primarily means assigning it meaning. Even the most humble item may tell us about history, lifestyles, spatial organisation or social relationships. As such, and regardless of its aesthetic or dramatic nature, it merits interest. This may explain the current enthusiasm for industrial tourism, memorial sites, communal ovens, and other objects and places that are not monuments and were never intended for display.

The choice between aesthetic and historical value may sometimes be difficult: for example, should one ensure that all the shutters on a façade are the same colour, so as to ensure uniformity, although their diversity is proof of joint individual ownership?

2.5. Restoring one’s heritage

Restoring means repairing an item and returning it to its original condition. This is the ultimate goal, and concessions should not be made to personal interpretation or taste. Intervening work that does not conform to this spirit should be removed.

There are now “fashions” in restoration, and it is appropriate to appreciate their full impact. Many façades were originally designed to be coated, but have been left with exposed stone for aesthetic reasons; this is no longer genuine restoration.

Restoration also implies a return to technical efficiency and useable condition: a mill should be able to grind, an oven to cook bread. Where certain parts of heritage must be replaced, only traditional materials, techniques and procedures are legitimate.

2.6. Re-assigning one’s heritage

Re-assigning means allotting a new use. Many heritage items, like fortified castles or hay-cutters, no longer serve their traditional function. Finding a new use often seems the best way of ensuring their conservation, which depends on the type of heritage concerned.

Small heritage items may be preserved in museums or collections as evidence of the past. They can be appreciated for their simple aesthetic value (philosophers have referred to “artialisation”, making things into art) and end up as decorative objects.

Some heritage items are not easily transportable (buildings, landscapes) and the cost of preserving them may thus threaten their survival.

Among existing solutions, the most commonly used involve: conversion of heritage into visitors’ sites, for example, a writer’s home or blacksmith’s forge; conversion of former farmhouses into second homes; conversion of buildings into holiday accommodation, social housing, exhibition areas, municipal halls, community centres or new industrial areas.

2.7. Renovating and rehabilitating one’s heritage

These two ways of modifying heritage scarcely help to enhance it and are therefore not recommended, but must be mentioned as they often interfere with restoration or re-assignment.

Renovating means making a building or item that is considered dilapidated look like new. It may require the complete destruction and rebuilding of an item, with no concern for restoration. This solution is almost always the least expensive and results in traditional farms being converted into standard villas or simple deserted for a new building, usually on the outskirts of a village.

Rehabilitating consists in bringing modern comforts and health and safety standards to houses that are considered too old for modern requirements. However, the strict application of urban planning regulations, which were intended for new buildings, often threatens the integrity of traditional buildings, for instance the raising of floor levels or disproportionate openings in old walls.

2.8. Handing down one’s heritage

Heritage is often defined as a set of assets inherited from one’s parents. In this respect, it is appropriate to consider what we will leave to our own descendants. Revitalising heritage means ensuring that it is handed down in good condition.

However, handing down one’s heritage also means sharing a community-based culture, an identity and a sense of belonging. Consequently, heritage may make for exclusion of those who have not known their ancestors. It should be remembered that heritage is the common property and responsibility of everyone: it is not only those who are born in a particular country who have a stake in its heritage, but all those who share, in one capacity or another, a number of communal values.

Accordingly, heritage should contribute to building an identity that respects diversity and also binds together all the users within a territory.

2.9. Handing down practices, skills and know-how

Heritage items are inseparable from the practices, skills and know-how that are connected with them, that gave rise to them and that invest them with meaning. Handing down heritage should thus focus on these elements as much as on the items themselves. One might even ask which is more important: preserving a swing plough, whose origin, method of construction and use are unknown, or preserving the skills and know-how that will enable an exact copy to be made and used? One should aim to preserve both.

Understanding skills and techniques should be extended to entire fields: knowing how to construct a dry-stone wall also means knowing how to select the right stones, knowing the locality, and knowing the methods and criteria for extracting stone.

Collecting information, its detailed description and its dissemination are preconditions for handing down skills successfully. However, nothing can replace practice in the context of training courses or demonstration workshops, which are the only ways of ensuring faithful restoration or, where necessary, exact reproduction, without being unfaithful to the original design.

3. Project: what is the meaning of the project?

Before taking any action involving heritage, it is important to define what one wishes to achieve, why and for whom. When drawing up projects, one must take into account existing general policies and the public, on whose behalf one wishes to act. It is essential that such projects mobilise a great number of partners and that local residents be involved through a participative approach.

3.1. Putting policies in place

All forms of heritage are characterised by a relationship with time and space. In terms of time, heritage ensures, at a given moment, a link between the past, which it represents, and the future, which is connected to how one plans to use it. As a spatial marker, it is linked to a given territory, itself identified by all the heritage elements that make it up and which have certain features in common.

Accordingly, enhancing this heritage presupposes a two-way analysis:

1. analysis of the components of the spatial and temporal relationships,
2. analysis of the “good use” of the heritage concerned, in terms of territorial development prospects.

The concept of a project arises at this stage. It is advisable to construct projects to enhance elements of a given heritage in the local context.

Sustainable development of a territory results from an appropriate balance between the meaning assigned to their heritage (in the widest sense) by local populations and their partners, and society’s expectations (i.e., partners from outside the region). The participative approach should take this requirement into account. The prospective uses put forward for heritage items (an essential step) should be developed from this perspective, which allows greater light to be shed on the choices regarding different types of use, whether social, cultural or economic.

At the same time, any proposed action must take into account a number of constraints. Apart from those relating to procedures linked to the very nature of heritage, the approach must seek to define what specific measures will be used to implement the enhancement project. The financing and action methods, outlined elsewhere, are factors that will affect the direction and content of the project itself.

The participative approach implies that each legal entity or individual potentially concerned by “good use” of some heritage element takes part in the enhancement process.

3.2. Who are the partners in a participative approach?

Implementing a policy to enhance heritage usually results from a specific private or public initiative started by one of four groups: individuals, organisations, professionals, elected representatives. The methods used to mobilise resources will depend on how these groups are represented.

The first concern of these initiators should be to identify all the interested partners who have: interest or even passion for its nature or function; a relationship of proximity; specific knowledge or related skills; decision-making powers regarding its use or the process of preserving and enhancing it. When these partners come together, a forum for dialogue and co-operation is created. Depending on the situation, one or the other type of partner may play a dominant role.

Experience suggests that a fifth category of partner should be able to intervene, namely professional communicators, who have professional training for such a role, knowledge of the heritage field concerned and experience in public communication.

3.3. What are the various steps in the participative approach?

The first step involves becoming aware of and recognising the nature of heritage. Here, an inventory is the key element. It should not be drawn up by specialists alone but prepared with the participation of residents and associations.

The next step is the presentation of heritage. This is most frequently done through on-site visits and exhibitions. This should preferably be accompanied by genuine items for the promotion of heritage and the themes that they symbolise.

Next come discussion and audit. These can be done through a debate forum, since it determines the nature and form of the consultation on potential use, through public discussion or consultation through oral and written surveys.

The next steps concern the implementation of the project and its inclusion in the development process. Participation is required, both in developing the decision-making process and in constructing partnerships for action. These two steps often overlap, since various partners are involved in decision-making, though this is most frequently the responsibility of an “elected” partner, for funding reasons. Nevertheless, in analysing the components of the participative approach, it is essential to distinguish the various steps.

An important element of the process lies in defining who will direct the project. Obviously, once a project reaches a certain size, it is essential to put in place a steering committee. Even within such a body, the task of publicising the project is essential.

3.4. Projects must be integrated into more general approaches

Heritage is the result of various activities on a territory. As such, it is part of the natural, economic, social, human and other potential activities that the audit should bring out. Any action should thus be planned in the context of the overall policy and major guidelines for the area under consideration.

There are various ways of working. Work on heritage may sometimes move away from the above policy (e.g., urgent archaeological digs when marking out a motorway) and may also contribute to policy implementation.

3.5. Projects are targeted towards particular groups

How is heritage to be discussed?

Heritage can be discussed in its own right, but also in terms of environment, economic and/or tourism development or regional planning.

What public will be targeted in particular?

It is advisable to target particular groups for any heritage project. “Everyone” or “the general public” is not a good definition of a group. It is absolutely vital to identify an audience to prioritise, which does not however mean that there is no need to consider possible overlaps between different groups’ various expectations.

3.6. Projects must mobilise all players

Every person and practice affects, or may affect, heritage to some extent or another, whether in terms of creation, maintenance, management or enhancement. Projects are therefore the responsibility of all, and cannot be the prerogative of specialists alone.

All partners (residents, elected representatives, authorities, etc.) need to collaborate and be involved from the outset in preparing a long-term activity. Even more than awareness-raising, mobilising these various partners around a common project is a crucial step in the operation’s success.

3.7. Projects are drawn up along with local residents

Public authorities cannot do everything because they do not have enough resources and they have only a limited capacity to intervene in the private sector. Maintaining and enhancing a territory’s overall heritage thus rests largely with the residents themselves.

Steps should be taken to convince the public of the value of a freely accepted collective project that unites the public and private sectors and that is based largely on citizenship and personal initiative.

Accordingly, particular attention should be paid to the question of what motivates residents to become involved. It will then be easier to launch new projects on heritage elements that are less consensual but which require urgent or priority action.

3.8. Heritage policies concern all the elements of heritage

Heritage is defined by all of its elements.

Prestigious monuments and sites should be given prominence in line with their status.

More modest examples of a territory’s heritage deserve equally consistent attention.

Assigning varying degrees of value to these heritage elements is only justified to the extent that this makes it possible to consider action adapted to each particular case, in a search for complementarity.

3.9. Today’s creations are tomorrow’s heritage

Heritage that is now so appreciated is no more than yesterday’s creative activity. While its preservation is a legitimate concern, this should not disguise the need for reflection on the quality of current and future constructions.

Various activities, including economic activities, are not necessarily opposed to heritage: if well thought out, they can be mutually enriching.

Shopping centres, farm buildings, factories or housing, built with a view to quality, contribute to a territory’s image and represent tomorrow’s heritage.

4. Implementation: how are projects to be implemented?

Implementation of heritage projects involves various phases. Setting up a committee to enhance items of heritage makes it possible to obtain better recognition, clarifies the wish to take action, and involves the parties concerned from the outset. Preparation of the preliminary project covers the selection of a contractor, looking for partners and drawing up specifications. Formalisation of a project leads to funding applications and the project becomes the “property” of the territory’s other users.

4.1. Bringing projects to life

Creating an “enhancement” committee

This first committee has the task of obtaining recognition for an item of heritage beyond its immediate circle, so that regional partners grasp the idea that action can be taken. At this stage, the issue is not so much one of identifying enhancement tools, but of attracting attention. The committee could also be referred to as a “support” or “defence” committee. Such committees can be set up by associations not directly involved with heritage or even by individuals whose opinions can be followed up by the voluntary sector.

Membership of the “enhancement” committee

The follow-up committee could be composed of legal entities or individuals involved in the territory. Proximity often helps to unite people around a project. In order to have the widest membership possible, restrictions should not be imposed on the areas of interest of those contacted, and the group should seek support beyond the local community.

This initial committee should gain the widest possible support from the parties concerned, throughout the territory and among the public. With this in mind, public meetings can be organised, the issue publicised in the local press, and contacts sought with the voluntary sector. It is not essential that elected representatives be involved in the initial stages, since the idea of necessary enhancement is better promoted outside the framework of political issues. Securing the services of at least one expert will also help with recognition.

One way of avoiding pitfalls is to clarify, from the outset, each person’s position, stressing the committee’s consultative role, and to clearly highlight the innovative role that this body wishes to maintain, although it will necessarily change as the project develops.

Integrating the enhancement project into a collective approach

In order to integrate the enhancement project into a collective approach, attempts should be made to involve all parties in the territory concerned:

– the local population (which will encourage elected representatives to take an interest);
– representatives of associations (an essential network at regional level and a focus for skills);
– professional representatives (e.g., farming unions if the heritage involves farming trades). By involving professions, the project will reflect social and economic challenges more accurately;
– experts (from local scholars to tourism specialists: scientific competence can help give the project legitimacy in the eyes of institutional bodies).

What can be done to improve projects?

The “enhancement” committee must be able to change, especially by seeking ideas from partners in similar projects. It is important to break out of the format of formal meetings and advisable to hold extra, on-site meetings, so that space and environment can be taken into account. Also, at this stage of the project, first-person accounts need to be sought, rather than expert opinions.

The need for structure

United by the first enhancement activities, those involved in the project now try to define the status of their group, which will act as interlocutor with institutions and local authorities.

Three scenarios are possible:

1. the committee may be “hosted” by an existing association;
2. an ad hoc organisation may be set up;
3. where a project has been launched by an individual, this person may maintain his or her autonomy.

Associative status should not be sought just for the sake of having a letterhead, but should reflect a genuine commitment by its members.

Drawing up an inventory of cultural and tourist potential

When drawing up the draft project, it is advisable to look for information and technical advice about similar projects, available budget headings and so on. However, it is also necessary to step back from the project to analyse the potential of the environment, by evaluating the territory from the perspectives of tourism, culture and social questions.

This first list will highlight certain areas of potential in the project, without however shaping it completely. For example, a project aimed at enhancing a small heritage aspect should demonstrate how it could be used to develop tourism or cultural activities, or its key role in regional planning. The requirements of this inventory mean that a formal study should be carried out.

4.2. Drawing up the pre-project

Once the first document has been drawn up, identifying the general ideas in the heritage enhancement project, a more formal phase begins. In this phase, scientific collaboration can be sought, and financial partnerships envisaged. It is at this stage that the project’s scale and feasibility are determined.

The project’s scale will determine the challenges ahead.

Selecting a contractor

If the project is not directed by a body (such as a union of local authorities) that is de facto the contractor, the steering committee will select one. The contractor should be able to supply estimates of costs for funding applications.

The contractor may be a private individual (e.g., the owner of a manor, a farmer), an association (with sufficient financial resources for the project) or a local or regional authority (municipality, inter-municipal body).

The choice of contractor is made on the basis of various technical criteria (ability to mobilise expertise), financial (for example, a religious heritage trail across a small region is frequently beyond a municipality’s resources) and political criteria. With regard to the last factor, it is advisable to take into account political contexts and strategies, even at a local level (for example, ensuring that implementation of the project will not be impeded by elections).

Setting up a steering committee

It is the project initiator’s task to suggest to the follow-up committee that a steering committee be set up. This body will have several functions:

– approving or appointing the contractor (the steering committee having chosen the best contractor);
– appointing a head of project, who will have a leadership role; the steering committee could legitimise the initiator by appointing him/her head of project, or look for new skills that match the project’s development needs. However, care should be taken to avoid the aberration of taking the project away from its initiator; he or she should be found an honourable role, in order to maintain a link between the project’s birth and its future;
– associating all the parties concerned is of major importance for the project’s future. The steering committee will be the forum at which the various partners can express themselves and explain how the project fits into their policies;
– choosing the service providers. The project leader will use the steering committee as a jury for selecting architects, consultancy firms and other experts;
– approving the outcome of proposals, whether those of the head of project or of the experts and consultancy firms contacted; accordingly, the steering committee should meet regularly throughout the project’s implementation; the minutes of its meetings will be distributed to committee members and will help in decision-making about project development;
– approving the final project. The final project should be viewed as the tool which will allow the activity to take shape; it is the result of summaries and guidelines prepared on the basis of proposals from all the contributors (experts, architects, the project initiator, head of project, elected representatives, etc.) and discussions within the steering committee.

Bringing in experts

It is important to clearly identify the reasons for bringing in experts. It is also essential to define the questions they are to be asked. Also, when working with consultancy firms on heritage enhancement or tourism development, it is vital to treat their contribution in terms of objectives to be attained. There are certain consultancy firms that can look after a project from start to finish, but in such cases it is often much more difficult to make it “belong” to local partners.

Establishing time and quality requirements

The steering committee’s very first meetings should be used to discuss deadlines for future activities and the quality of the desired results. A good schedule of work will enable the partners to monitor the project’s progress; in turn, it becomes a framework, facilitating dialogue between the various partners. This qualitative framework of action on the project can be guaranteed by drawing up technical specifications, where an expert is involved, or through the work of a special committee.

4.3. Formalising the project

In this phase, the main partner could call on a technical adviser, who would be recruited for a given period, or on a consultancy firm. These two options have their respective advantages: for example, a technical adviser could quickly obtain a high profile among those involved in the territory and thus help with publicising the project, whilst a consultancy firm would bring useful external benchmarks for specific activities such as the evaluation of target groups.

Funding applications and preparing documents

The main partner, assisted by various experts, will monitor the tourism and cultural aspects of the project in a coherent and appealing way and put together the financial aspects of the operation.

The financial arrangements are prepared on a provisional basis, and it is recommended that they be spread over three years. However, the file should be brought up to date as new partners make commitments. There should be a proportion of self-funding, which will be linked to development of the project’s core activity.

Opportunities for sponsorship should not be neglected, and businesses should be contacted. Each funding request will take a particular angle, in line with the interests of the party being solicited.

Winning over people and regional partners to the project

Publicising a project is not easy: at what stage should this type of activity be undertaken, and what aspects of the project should be presented? Here too, the scale of the project will determine the practical communication arrangements. The local and regional press remain a key information channel. Public meetings are another method. For example, when rehabilitating an aspect of the built heritage, information should be disseminated well before the application for building permission is lodged, and certainly well before work actually begins. Equally, when tracing a landscape discovery trail, a public meeting will allow the views of other users to be sought; those who define themselves as traditional users should be able to express their views.

II. Methodology of observation

The methodology (a series of methods and techniques that allow for a coherent and effective approach) proposed in this guide should enable anyone to learn to observe rural heritage in greater or lesser depth, depending on the situation and the objectives, by following the approach set out in the box headed “The approach”.

1. Clarifying the project

Local populations are at the heart of rural cultural heritage. They identify it and assign it an identity-based value. It is they who can make it come alive day by day and can be enlisted to assign it a role in local development.

Initiating an enhancement project

If you wish to launch a project to enhance and develop rural cultural heritage, you have to ask which intermediaries you should contact and which population groups they can help you mobilise.

Leaders of associations (members of youth clubs, senior citizens’ clubs, rural life and heritage clubs); local elected representatives (members of municipal committees, the public in the municipalities and areas concerned); teachers, adults receiving training, those in adult education; agricultural advisers (farmers); those responsible for tourism (those working in this sector).

Determining the appropriate methods

What are the most appropriate methods for involving them? This can be done through meetings, exhibitions, audiovisual programmes, articles in municipal and trade journals, training activities, guided visits and “fun” visits.

What activities should be proposed?

What activities can you offer your supporters in order to develop your project steadily? Exploration, locating items, drawing up an inventory, research, preservation and upkeep, enhancement, a conservation or development project, new use.

2. Selecting a locality

Heritage elements assume meaning and value within a specific territory. In return, they assume that territory’s identity and strengthen it.

You should opt for a locality that allows for identity-based references and that corresponds to the target audiences, communication strategy and objectives that you have identified.

You must select a locality:

– that allows for a comprehensive approach
You can choose a locality that allowas for a comprehensive social, cultural or economic approach, such as a municipality, which is the most convenient research unit, since it corresponds to long-standing human communities;
– with biogeographical unity
You can choose a territory with biogeographical, climatic or soil unity, such as a valley, plateau or terrain;
– that is made up of several local authorities
You can choose a territory that is made up of several local authorities with similar architectural, economic and cultural features, or which share a common project (regional nature parks, districts, cantons, territories …).

3. Identifying rural heritage

The use of varied and gradual techniques to identify the elements of heritage should be accompanied by debate among the representatives of all parties involved. This will facilitate the emergence of the identity-based references that invest such elements with cultural value.

Depending on the target audiences and objectives you have set, it is advisable to identify rural heritage using suitable tools that will allow for observation and analysis, moving from a responsive approach to analysis, from locating items to an inventory as appropriate.

Rural heritage should be identified:

–On the ground

The techniques are: a responsive and sensory approach on the ground; specific methodical observations (interpretation of a landscape, analysis of a built element, thematic route, etc.); comprehensive identification of relevant items in a territory by travelling around it; reading the official 1/25,000 map; sketches, photographs, drawings; classification and systematic summaries; comparative cartography, comparison of old and new land registers.

– At documentary level

The techniques are: inventory (consultation of existing databases, organisations, bibliographies); research in old and recent photography collections (post cards, local photographers’ archives, family archives); consultation of local archives (municipal, parish administrative and private); interviews and oral enquiries (collection of residents’ and farmers’ memories).

– By simply locating the elements

Prior to any classification work, the ideal scenario is to launch a stage of simply locating the elements.

You will suggest approaches using landscapes, buildings, regional products, craft skills, social practices (life and work), symbolic representations, etc.

There should be a phase in which the partners familiarise themselves with local heritage. This completes the identification through identity-based benchmarks. It is carried out:

– by contrasting various portrayals: the value assigned to the elements in their own right, as common property, from emotional, aesthetic, identity-based perspectives, etc.
– by comparing opinions: owners, mayors, farmers, residents, visitors, ecologists ….
– by defining heritage concepts: cultural and historical, of common property.

4. Classifying and describing heritage elements

Classification is only meaningful if it allows for better knowledge of all the elements in heritage, from the most visible to those that are less well known, hidden in our daily use, pushed from our memory or abandoned because they are no longer useable.

You can classify and categorise heritage elements for the purpose of drawing up an inventory that is as exhaustive as possible, considering rural cultural heritage in all its dimensions. Here are some examples.

– Thematic classification

Water: wash-houses, fountains, watering places, ponds, canals, locks;
Religion: chapels, oratories, crosses;
Work: craftwork, agriculture, small traditional industries;
Travel: trails, paths and roads, railways;
Crossings: fords, bridges, aqueducts.

– Classification by location

Locations: historic sites, areas for residence or work, public places and areas for social life, private and domestic contexts, far out in the countryside.

– Classification by function

Functions and uses: residence, farming, agricultural, herding, forestry, social or symbolic functions (beliefs, tales and legends).

– Gradual classification

Going from groupings (landscapes, villages) to isolated elements.

– Categorising the elements

Assets may be tangible (buildings), intangible (know-how, portrayals) or fungible (animal and vegetable species, regional products).

– From the most visible to the most secluded

From the most visible to the most hidden, from protected to threatened, from the exceptional to the everyday: “obvious” heritage is recognised (tourist publications, press articles, magazines, routes), listed (or could be) and often imposing; the “everyday” heritage is assigned a range of uses, and people are not always aware of its heritage values: recognition is therefore necessary. This concerns the majority of the built heritage that is still inhabited and the agrarian landscape, but may also be true of a line of trees, irrigation networks or a culinary tradition.

– From the operational to the obsolete

From working heritage to heritage that has been abandoned or is obsolete: the second category has no current use and is threatened by slow deterioration or disappearance (destruction, neglect); this could include olive terraces that have been left untended, a hay-barn in ruins or a craft skill that is not handed down.

5. Understanding relationships and change

No heritage element can be understood in isolation. It must be reconstructed as part of a wider whole, in which uses, social and agrarian practices and imagination infuse it with life and connect it to other elements of heritage. Oral and historical research are essential in achieving this objective.

For a clearer understanding of the relationships between one heritage element and another, and its role in a wider context or group, focus on relationships in a geographical framework (mountains, the coast) associated with a specific culture or in the context of a complex group of elements, such as a landscape or architectural entity (functional and aesthetic relationships).

By collecting people’s memories and using chronological observation, historical research can trace changes in uses, techniques and know-how.

– Historical development

Taking historical development into account (using archival documents, library holdings); dating; by analysing the contexts in which heritage elements were created.

– Landscape development

Taking account of changes in landscapes, buildings and agricultural practices: through comparative analysis of cartography, land registers, iconographs and photographs.

– Changes in use

Taking account of changes in the use of buildings and land parcels, in the light of economic, technical, social and cultural conditions: by gathering first-person accounts.

6. Heritage and development

Rural cultural heritage has become a modern asset. Far from being a nostalgic trip back in time, it is a springboard for development projects and can mobilise a region’s business community.

It is advisable to:

– Encourage dialogue
You can encourage dialogue on regional planning issues, new uses of farming and sustainable development.
– Identify enhancement activities
You can evaluate rural heritage’s integration into development projects by identifying potential enhancement activities:
– traditional skills in their economic and cultural context (exhibitions, demonstrations, interpretation centres, traditional houses, events, etc.);
– re-assigning traditional buildings to public use (such as cultural premises);
– cultural activities and events;
– developing tourism (facilities, circuits, itineraries, welcome services);
– marketing good-quality local products (markets, on-farm sale, etc.);
– agricultural landscapes and practices (heritage management as part of agricultural and environmental measures, “sustainable development plans”, “land use contracts”, etc.).
– Identify inter-municipal projects
You can take account of inter-municipal projects (regional nature parks, territories, districts, etc.)

7. Evaluating heritage

Rural cultural heritage can be evaluated within a civic approach. Since it is much more than a matter for experts alone, all the partners should be concerned by collective recognition of its public interest, via increased vigilance in conservation and the wish to enhance it.

– Evaluating changes
Each element of heritage can be evaluated: its development, state of preservation or the indicators of change.
– Development: stability, neglect, “natural” deterioration, rehabilitation, enhancement;
– State of preservation: very deteriorated, would lend itself to restoration, well-preserved;
– Signs of change: different uses (land parcels, buildings, etc.), disfigurement, the risk of destruction connected with building work.
– Assessing the positive and negative aspects

You can carry out an environmental-type evaluation:

– By assessing positive and negative environmental aspects, based on an approach that is: sensory (smells, noise); visual (electricity cables, water towers, industrial buildings, materials, architecture); ecological (proximity of waste dumps, stockpiles, warehouses).
– By identifying abandoned areas (lack of maintenance, threat of deterioration, especially as regards the built heritage).
– Exchanging and discussing

You can debate the value of heritage:

– By discussing the value of the elements of heritage in their own right, for others and for the community: emotional, aesthetic, identity value (recognition, social link, citizenship).
– By discussing certain elements’ vitality (through their current strong economic, social or symbolic function) and, conversely, “extinguished” or totally abandoned heritage.
– By discussing the value of existing facilities and their integration: improving what is there, reallocation, tourism or cultural facilities.
– By discussing the relevance of tourism development projects in relation to community identity.
– Discussions about backward-looking and superficially picturesque visions of heritage, the danger of a ghetto mentality, the search for a “bolthole” or, conversely, modernity and its appropriateness in local development, the need to be open to multiculturalism.

III. Heritage’s component parts

1. Reading a landscape

Compiling a list of the items of rural heritage in your region or territory begins by reading the landscape in front of you. So you should identify the various elements that make it up, locate and date them, so you can then examine them using the various sheets in this section. Make a point of describing the relationships between them, and consider how they were (and are) structured as part of a coherent whole: how, for example, can the co-existence of crops and animals on a single plot of land be reconciled? This approach should make your audit easier and help to identify possible activities for safeguarding and highlighting heritage.

1.1. Spatial organisation

This is the broad view of a landscape. Various activities are distributed over the land on the basis of environmental (relief, climate, soil type) and cultural constraints: identical constraints do not always result in identical responses. Some old and recent landscapes have a homogeneous appearance. Others are in flux, and a single area will have visible traces of traditional activities juxtaposed with new uses of the countryside.

a. Assessment criteria

– Cultivated land
How is it composed (open fields, hedgerow, terraces)? How are the parcels of land arranged (in strips, pie-shaped wedges)? Are the fields enclosed, and, if so, how? How are the land parcels reached?

– Land for animal husbandry
What areas are used for animal husbandry (meadows, trails)? Are there several distinct areas? Do these vary according to the season? How are these areas marked out? Do they include permanent structures (mountain farms, shepherds’ lodges)?

– Forestry land
Where and how is wooded land divided up? What types of afforestation are seen (forests, woods, copses); what are the dominant species? How are the wooded areas arranged (high forest, coppice, coppice with standards) and who manages them (private forests, state forests)? Do the residents enjoy particular rights (right to gather wood)?

– Aquatic areas
Where is water present (rivers, lakes, ponds)? Have these expanses been created or laid out by man? How and why?

– The built area
What form has the built area assumed (village, hamlets, scattered habitat), where and why? How does this compare with the past, and how buildings were laid out then (see the old land register)?

b. Evaluation
– Positive aspects
Study the landscape’s coherence, the relationships between its various elements, the permanent features and transitory features: try to identify to what extent it can still serve as a setting for future conversions and transformations.

– Negative aspects
Lack of control over the area (pockmarked development, chaotic urban planning, “dotted” areas of woodland, fallow land), particularly unsightly areas (no harmony between buildings in terms of their scale, rubbish dumps). Try to predict possible long-term development on the basis of identified trends.

1.2. Agrarian landscapes

a. Assessment criteria
– Open fields
Are they characteristic of the regional landscape? What types of crops are they intended for? How are the edges of fields and land parcels marked? Have some paths disappeared, been restored, or created? Why?

– Hedgerows
What do they look like (relief, size of parcels, “meshing”, proportion of crops and meadows)? How are the hedges constructed (pollards, shrubs)? How has land consolidation affected hedgerow landscapes?

– Marshes
Are there several specific areas (dry marsh, wet marsh, temporary meadows)? Are they still used? By the community?

– Terraces
Why were they laid out? When? For which crops? What are their features (construction, slope of the beds, are they irrigated and/or drained)?

– Vineyards
What is their role in the countryside? Since when? What forms of vegetation are found alongside them (rose bushes, willows)? What are they used for?

– Mountain landscape
How have the various buildings been erected, in terms of natural risks? What are the characteristics of mountain flora and fauna, both natural and domestic? What types of problem does this pose?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
The elements that form part of agrarian landscapes, and contribute to diversity in all its forms (bio-diversity, cultural and landscape diversity), as well as the people who maintain them (farmers).

– Negative aspects
Look at old practices that are now out of date, and new uses of the countryside. Study the reasons for abandoning agrarian landscapes and the possibility of finding a new use for them, as well as the respective contributions of farmers and new users to maintaining these areas.

1.3. Communication channels

a. Assessment criteria
– Roads and paths
How is the local network of roads and paths organised, and on what hierarchical basis (national or county roads, by-roads, access to land parcels)? Is this network as dense as in the past? Why? Do they have any special features (sunken lanes, cliff roads, drove roads)? What are they lined by (embankment, trees, fencing)? Are there any noteworthy roads (Roman road, paved road)? What is their history? What is their current condition? Are they covered by any particular protection measures?

– Navigation routes
Is the river navigable? Developed (have the banks been reinforced, are there any works of architectural value)? Are the banks used, and for what purposes? When was the canal built, and for what purpose? Has it been developed (locks, port, bridges)? Is it still used, by whom and why? What condition is the towpath in?

– Railways
Are there structures of architectural merit or historic buildings alongside the tracks (tunnels, bridges, viaducts, stations, level-crossing houses)? When do these date from? Who built them? Are there old tracks that are no longer used? Old tools? What has happened to them? Why did they fall into disuse?

b. Evaluation
– Positive aspects
Regular maintenance, a wish to integrate these elements into the landscape. Old paths may now be used for new purposes: tourism and leisure activities.

– Negative aspects
Standardised and badly-integrated equipment, pointless signs (advertising). Paths that go nowhere (access paths to former land parcels), circular paths (walks) and communication paths. Investigate why they have been abandoned and the potential for rehabilitating them.

1.4. Local constructions

a. Assessment criteria
– Signs and landmarks
What are the reference points (milestones, landmarks, steeples, silos)? What methods were used to mark farm boundaries, the intersection of roads and paths, ownership or land parcel boundaries? Which trees are characteristically found in cemeteries, around important houses and alongside roads?

– Water supply
Where does the community’s water supply (for feeding or watering) come from? Are there structures linked to water conveyance or distribution (aqueducts, water towers, furrows, sluice gates)? What springs, fountains or wells still exist on the territory? What condition are they in?

– Religious constructions
What small religious monuments exist ? Where are they located? Where is the cemetery? Are there isolated tombs? Why? Why were roadside crucifixes and crosses erected (expressions of gratitude, mission cross)?

– Commemorative items
What structures exist (statues, monuments to the dead, thanksgiving plaques, graffiti)? What important events have shaped the community’s history?

– Natural risks
How did the community organise protection against natural risks: watches, mandatory work, isolated buildings (attics, barns). What equipment was – and is – specifically designed as protection against such risks?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
Some items of equipment have distinct regional features. However, their old or modern use is not always properly understood, especially by visitors. Nonetheless, they could be used for display or particular explanations.

– Negative aspects
Lack of maintenance, standardisation that ignores specific local features and trivialises the landscape. Do modern amenities, often considered as eyesores, have the potential to become works of art?

2. Buildings

A building is defined as a permanent structure with walls and a roof. In the rural world, castles, houses, farms, barns, stables, factories, places of worship fall into this category. Their form often depends on their purpose, the technical skills available when they were built, local materials, site restrictions, tradition, regional architectural styles and local ways of life. Construction techniques are constantly developing and contribute valuable historical points of reference. Built heritage is not limited to buildings per se. It also includes fountains, wash-houses, food markets, archaeological sites, ruins and walls – everything that, in one way or another, helps to structure space.

2.1. Historical buildings

a. Assessment criteria

– Castles
Is it a castle, manor, small castle, fortified house, fort or family mansion? What is its role in the community? For nearby settlements? What was its social and political importance at various dates? Who lived there? Is it still inhabited? Is it architecturally noteworthy? Is there an identifiable style (medieval, baroque, Renaissance)? Can its architectural development be reconstituted?

– Abbeys
What is the political and social significance of its location? What was its role in structuring the surrounding agrarian and industrial landscape? Which monastic order built it? Does the same order still live there? What comparison can be made between its past and current influence? What is it now used for (spiritual, cultural, artistic or economic activity)? What is its architectural style (Roman, Gothic, other)?

– Archaeological sites, ruins
What traces have they left on the countryside (ruins, burial mounds, embankments)? Have objects been found (coins, flints, ceramics)? Is it known what the site was used for (living area, Roman hill-fort, necropolis, industrial site)? What stories are linked to it? Do we know when it was occupied?

– Walls, keeps, towers
Are they remnants of old buildings or boundaries? What was their previous function? Do they have a value in terms of identity?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
Study the features that make the site attractive, the quality of various restoration work, the existing or potential tourism development, the current social use, the way in which the surroundings have been laid out.

– Negative aspects
Note any failure to maintain edifices, any pollution (environmental, visual, noise, aesthetic) preventing normal enjoyment of the site, or any downgrading of the site following recent/past conversion, following a change in activity.

2.2. Farms and residential houses

a. Assessment criteria

– General questions
What are their architectural features? Do they belong to several periods? If yes, is it possible to retrace their architectural development? Do the architectural features have a practical role, a social or religious significance or are they merely for appearance? Have they changed over time? Are they still used today? If not, why (new, more efficient or economic techniques)? Is the farm or residential house typical of the region? What materials have been used? Are they traditional? Where have they come from? Are they well preserved? What comments can be made about their location?

– Farmhouses
Are they single buildings or built around a courtyard? Are these courtyards open or closed? Is the farm still in use? If not, what has it become (residence, holiday home, other)? Has it been abandoned? If so, what condition is it in?

– Village houses
How are they designed? What form do they take? Are they grouped together? Are there fortified houses? Ask why: aesthetic, functional, economic, social or other? Who lived there? What was their main purpose? What about today?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
Note the activities still carried out in houses and farms, the preservation of traditional architecture, existence of skills in local architecture, environmental preservation of sites, the local population’s investment in this preservation.

– Negative aspects
Study why regional building styles have been abandoned, and the lack of reference to them in new buildings, the lack of interest on the part of local people, the neglect of specific skills, environmental dangers.

2.3. Farm buildings

a. Assessment criteria

– General questions
What are their architectural features? Do they belong to several periods? If yes, is it possible to retrace their architectural development? Do the architectural features have a practical role, a social or religious significance or are they merely for appearance? Have they changed over time? Are they still used today? If not, why (new, more efficient or economic techniques)? Is the farm or house typical of the region? What materials have been used? Are they traditional? Where have they come from? Are they well preserved? What comments can be made about their location?

– Barns
Do they belong to a farm or to the wider community?

– Livestock buildings
What animals do they house? Are the structures typical of this kind of building? Were they built specially or have they been taken over for use as livestock buildings?

– Dovecotes
Where are they located? In castles or on farms? In the middle of the countryside? Why? What are they used for today? What role did they play? Are they still used for collecting pigeon droppings? What is this used for? What shape are they (round, square, octagonal, porches)?

– Temporary buildings
Are they still standing?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
Study the condition of the buildings and environmental features, the extent to which they fit in with the regional style, their current function, renovation or rehabilitation, the quality of any such work.

– Negative aspects
Architectural features and any deterioration in the buildings should be taken into account, as well as their poor architectural quality or lack of style (e.g. prefabricated buildings), the juxtaposition of ill-assorted buildings, the visual pollution that this causes, abandonment or lack of upkeep.

2.4. Crafts and industrial buildings

a. Assessment criteria

– General questions
When was the building constructed? What does that correspond to in terms of economic development (national, regional, local)? What products were originally manufactured? Are the same products made today, and if, not, why? Are they local products? What was their social and economic importance? What about today? Have these activities disappeared? Are the same products still manufactured in the region? On an industrial scale? Is the architecture noteworthy? How have they been preserved? Have they been converted, and what are they currently used for (commerce, tourism, socio-cultural use)?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
First of all, study the existing economic activity and trade, its impact on keeping the local population in the area, the architectural qualities of such buildings, the measures adopted to safeguard them and initiatives to ensure that specific activities are continued.

– Negative aspects
Evaluate the impact of closure of these production sites on the population and on regional decline, the failure to preserve such buildings, environmental dangers (including those that could be a consequence of past activity).

2.5. Public buildings

a. Assessment criteria

– General questions
Is the building’s architecture remarkable in terms of regional style? Are the buildings still in use? If yes, for what? Has this changed over time? Where in the village is the building located? Why? What materials have been used? Are they traditional for the region or territory? Where do they come from?

– Religious buildings
Have these buildings always been used for religious purposes? Have they been converted from their original use? Are churches in identifiable styles (Roman, Gothic, etc.)? When do they date from? Are they now out of proportion with the village’s size? Are there other buildings or architectural elements of a religious nature?

– Official buildings
Are they in a recognisable style? Why? Do they house several activities (town hall, post-office, school, etc.)?

– Commercial buildings (food markets)
When do they date from? What were they used for? What was their socio-economic importance? Have they been conserved? Have they been rehabilitated or renovated? Are they free-standing or next to other buildings?

– Community edifices (fountains, wash-houses, etc.)
What was their community role? What is their history?

– Sports facilities
Are sports still practised here? If yes, which? Do they have an identity value? Is the sport practised part of the regional or local culture?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
The features that enhance a site are architectural quality and the quality of any restoration work, development for tourism, current social and economic usefulness, work carried out to landscape the surroundings.

– Negative aspects
Negative aspects include a lack of maintenance, various forms of pollution (environmental, visual, noise) that prevent normal enjoyment of the site, the site’s deterioration following recent or past conversion arising from a new activity affecting its value.

3. Private space

The concept of private space covers private life (family life and how it is organised) and social life (the relationships between the family unit or individual and the persons living in the vicinity, for example, neighbours).

3.1. Private life

a. Assessment criteria

– Family life
What is each person’s role in the family? Who lives under the same roof? Is this connected with regional or local traditions? How are tasks distributed within a family? Has this changed? What are the key moments in family life? Who takes part in them (daily, weekly, annually)? Do family rituals have long-standing roots? How have they developed?

– Family memories
What are the key moments in family memories? What are the rituals, traditions and celebrations surrounding the birth, marriage or death of a family member? What objects embody family memories (furniture, clothes, curios, photographs, assorted documents)? How are family memories handed down?

– Private space
Are there places or moments for meeting (such as mealtimes) that must not be missed? Are parts of the house specifically allocated to men, women or children? Which room is preferred for gatherings? Has allocation of the rooms changed to adapt to current lifestyles? Are relatives or employees part of family life?

– Gardens
What is their purpose (pleasure garden, vegetable garden, a combination of the two)? Who looks after them? Who looked after them in the past? Who eats the garden produce (family, extended family, neighbours)?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
Account should be taken of the vitality of family life, the importance of memory and whether it is handed down within a family, family conviviality at home, use of the garden as a communal area.

– Negative aspects
In assessing negative aspects, study the absence or disintegration of family ties, whether the family history is handed down or neglected.

3.2. Social life

a. Assessment criteria

– The extended family
Do members of the extended family live in the same settlement (brothers, sisters, grandparents, cousins)? Is this choice, tradition or the result of legacies? Do they help each other as a matter of priority?

– Neighbours
Do people enjoy special links with their close neighbours? Do they help each other out professionally? Do the children form a group?

– Meetings
How do people meet each other? Are there specific local forms of greeting? Are invitations extended mainly to family, friends and neighbours? Are traditional festivals a particular opportunity for entertaining?

– Hunting and fishing
Are hunting and/or fishing still practised? Why? Who takes part in these activities? Why? Is there a strong link to local identity? Why? Do they contribute to upkeep the agrarian landscape? In what way? Do they contribute to preserving the local population by reinforcing community ties? Are there protests about them by some of the local population? Why?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
The vitality of the bonds connecting the various levels of relationships, internally and externally, the duration of these bonds over time and their significance may be viewed as positive aspects.

– Negative aspects
The absence or gradual disappearance of community ties between the various circles of contact, their impact on social life and on the isolation experienced by families, single persons and/or the elderly, are the distinctive marks of low levels of social life.

4. Agriculture and fishing

In terms of rural heritage, agriculture and fishing are two essential activities which serve as the focus for many others.

4.1. Crops

a. Assessment criteria

– General questions
How long have they been in existence? Why have some been abandoned, and since when? What is/was the dominant crop?

– Cereal and fodder crops
What fodder and cereal crops were cultivated in the past? What were they used for? What is the current situation? How much land is sown? Is there land lying fallow? In what proportion? Why?

– Industrial crops
For example, sugar beets, hops, sunflowers, sugar cane, hemp, linen. What is their relative importance in the local agricultural economy? What processing will they undergo?

– Vegetables, fruits and flowers
Is market gardening practised in open fields or greenhouses? Which old varieties of cultivated fruits have disappeared, and why? What use is made of cultivated flowers (essential oils, cut flowers)?

– Vines
If vines are not cultivated in your region, were they in the past? What is the role of vine products in local production? How do soil types and the direction of slopes influence where various types of vine are planted?

– Forestry
What species are cultivated? Since when? What forestry products are there (resin, cork)? What is timber used for? What was it used for in the past? Is there selective or complete felling? How is the wood felled and hauled?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
Diversification of crops or a dominant monoculture based on traditional agricultural practices.

– Negative aspects
The slow decline in agricultural activity with consequent neglect of fields and the disappearance of certain typical crops.

4.2. Cultivation practices

a. Assessment criteria

– Animal traction
Has animal traction been reintroduced? For what particular tasks are animals used? What animals were used in the past? For which activities? What equipment was required in using them (yoke, collar)? What trades were associated with animal use (blacksmith, saddler)?

– Equipment and tools
When was the tractor introduced? What large-scale equipment is used (harvester, binder, threshing machine)? What was used in the past (plough, harrow, seeder)? What has happened to this old equipment? Are specific tools used for particular crops (e.g. vines)? Which?

– Cultivation techniques
How does the climate influence cultivation practices? Are there specific soil preparation methods corresponding to particular soil types? Is the soil irrigated or watered? What harvesting methods are used? Where is produce stored (silos, drying sheds)?

– Organisation
Is work carried out individually or as a group? How is work distributed among the working members of a farm (husband, wife, employee)? When is it carried out collectively, and how are such working teams composed? How does collective work influence community life (e.g. celebrations at the end of work)? What happened in the past?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
Positive aspects will be evaluated by considering the modernity of cultivation practices, the extent to which they correspond to traditional practices and environmental needs, their impact on agricultural development.

– Negative aspects
Technological backwardness in cultivation practices, damaging rejection of traditional practices and the harmful environmental effects of certain practices may be among the main negative aspects.
4.3. Animal husbandry

a. Assessment criteria

– Animals
What are the traditional breeds, and what breeds have been reintroduced? Why and since when? Which animal is typical of your region? Are there particular types of animal husbandry? Are animals bred to maintain uncultivated land?

– Breeding techniques
What reproduction techniques are used? Are they selective? Have some breeds been genetically improved? What is the purpose and outcome of these improvements? How do births take place? Are the young raised with their mothers? Are the animals moved about? How is this organised? Does it take place on a daily or seasonal basis? Do the animals have distinctive signs (bells, etc.)? Are there competitions and agricultural shows? For all these aspects, what has changed in comparison with the past?

– Feed
What animal feed is used? Where does it come from? How frequently is it distributed? How does this feed affect product quality? What are the differences with the past?

– Production
What are the direct products of animal husbandry (meat, milk, eggs)? What marketing methods exist for farm products? Are some products processed on site (butter, cheese)? If so, by whom, how, and using what equipment?

b. Evaluation
– Positive aspects
Study the work being carried out to preserve the specific characteristics of local breeds and develop new, more productive, breeds, allowing for high-quality husbandry and their introduction in the region.

– Negative aspects
Abandonment of local species and breeds, unorganised introduction of species and breeds that could lead to degeneration of livestock quality, and certain intensive practices that could have a harmful effect on quality.

4.4. Fresh-water fishing

a. Assessment criteria

– Fish
Where are they found (rivers, ponds)? Are they specially bred young fish that have been released? What is the most common species? Have some species disappeared? Since when, and why? Have new species acclimatised in the region’s waters? Are there crayfish? If not, why have they disappeared?

– Practices
What permanent facilities exist for fishing (landing stages, huts, trails)? How long have they existed? What is the most common type of fishing? When does collective fishing occur? What is its purpose? Are competitions held? Have fishing records been established (quantity, size of fish)?

– Techniques
What tools are used (lines, nets, drop-nets)? Is (was) their use linked to a professional activity? What snares are used (worms, insects, lures)? Is there a particular fishing technique? Is fishing done from boats? If yes, does this take a particular form?

– Fish farming
Are there fish-breeding centres? How long have they existed? Where are they located? Why? What species are bred? What is the purpose of breeding (restocking, food)?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
Study fishing practices that respect the ecosystem and the environment, the quality of farms and their impact on dietary and other habits.

– Negative aspects
Study out-of-date practices that could have detrimental effects on the aquatic environment.

4.5. Coastal fishing

a. Assessment criteria

– Fish, shellfish and crustaceans
What fish species are commonly present in the coastal waters? Is their presence seasonal or permanent? What kinds of shellfish are found (winkles, razor-shells, mussels)? What kinds of crustaceans (prawns, velvet swimming crabs)? Have certain species become rare?

– Types of fishing
Which species are fished or gathered (fish, shellfish, crustaceans)? What is the purpose of this activity (leisure, food, trade)? What happened in the past? Are there particular times in the year when fishing occurs? Are sea plants collected (algae, kelp)? Why?

– Tools
What tools are used for fishing (lines, nets)? Are there fixed amenities? What type of fishing do they correspond to? What equipment is used for collecting catches? What was done in the past?

– Fish farming
What fish species are bred (bass, sea bream, turbot)? What form do these farms take (ponds, sea-cages)? What difficulties are connected with their upkeep? Is shellfish farming practised? Since when? What are the main species of shellfish bred (oysters, clams, mussels)? Where are the beds located? For what reasons? Are there crustacean farms (e.g., lobsters)?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
Examine how the traditions and practices of fishing and fish-farming fit with economic realities, and how they might even contribute to collective memory.

– Negative aspects
The gradual abandonment of fishing activity in the region should be examined, together with the reasons behind it and the direct and indirect consequences.

5. Food

Food covers eating habits, as well as regional and local products that are commercialised and/or contribute to the reputation of the area under study.

5.1. The region’s food

a. Assessment criteria

– General questions
Note the word used to designate the variety, species or breed. Is the product unique to the region? Is it typical of the population’s diet? How is it eaten? Daily, regularly, rarely, only on particular occasions (which)? Why? Is it used in traditional recipes? Are there any stories linked to the product?

– Meat
Is the animal raised only in the region? Is the species or breed found only in the region? Was it introduced at a particular period? Why?

– Fruit and vegetables
Are they cultivated only in the region? Since when have they been grown? Were they introduced at a particular period? Why?

– Drink
Is it manufactured industrially or non-industrially? Does it have a history? What is it? Are there particular techniques or skills?

– Bread and confectionery
Are they prepared by craft workers?

– Fish and shellfish
How are they fished or farmed?

– Gathered products
Where and how are they gathered?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
These products can easily be found, their price is affordable, and their quality and the efforts made to improve it are particularly praiseworthy.

– Negative aspects
The gradual decline in their consumption. The reasons why the population is rejecting them should be studied.

5.2. Emblematic foods

a. Assessment criteria

– General questions
How well-known are these products in the region where they are produced? And elsewhere?

– “Endangered” products
Why are they disappearing (different lifestyle, higher living standards, change in the public’s tastes, death of the majority of producers)? Who still makes them? Are these people traditional producers or enthusiastic newcomers? Are they made in the same way as in the past, or have they been adapted to suit modern tastes? Where and how are they marketed? Have measures been taken to protect or relaunch them?

– Commercialised products
Who manufactures them? Is it a local industry or major group, or even a multinational agro-food company? Are they found only in the region? Have their ingredients changed over time? If yes, why? Does their emblematic nature make them expensive?

– Home-produced foods
Where are they still prepared? Within families or by craft workers from the food trades (confectioners, pork butchers/delicatessen dealers)? Are there still links with a tradition? If yes, which? Are they eaten mainly for their taste or to follow a tradition? Have their ingredients changed over time? If yes, why?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
Study the scope of the culinary practices incorporating these emblematic products, the extent to which the populations concerned are attached to them, the existence of dynamic local producers.

– Negative aspects
Most of the negative aspects boil down to lack of support for local producers, as well as the tiny number of such individuals, which makes it impossible to continue market-scale production.

5.3. Traditional recipes

a. Assessment criteria

– Recipes
Are they regional or local? Are they variants of recipes adapted from another region? Are they still prepared? By whom? Are they written or handed down orally? Are they identical everywhere or do they vary according to the locality? Are they well known to all, or known only to a small group of people and professionals? Have they changed over time? Why did any such changes occur? Are they also prepared by the agro-food industry?

– The ingredients
Do these come from the region? Are they still cultivated, farmed or gathered in the area? Is this done especially for this recipe? Have they been changed over the years? Are they rare? Why? Does this add value to the recipe?

– Preparation techniques
Are these still widely practised or only by part of the population (the elderly) or professionals? Are they the same as in the past, or have they developed? If so, why? Are they mainly used in restaurants or within family circles? Has the agro-food industry adapted them for mass production?

– The occasions
Are they special family meals? Local, regional, national or other celebrations? Are they occasional or daily? Is there a historical connection? Are they established traditions or a result of marketing or tourist ventures or attempts to highlight heritage? Are they the main reason for preparing the dish?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
Take account of how the selected area or community’s culinary traditions are highlighted, the extent to which they are currently embedded, how the relevant occasions are given prominence, and local production of the ingredients.

– Negative aspects
Study the ways in which culinary traditions are forgotten, how they are rediscovered for commercial or cultural reasons, the use of products which were not included in the original recipes, whether the populations concerned have forgotten the reasons for preparing them.

5.4. Traditional food

a. Assessment criteria

– Foods
Are they typical of the region? Are they commercialised everywhere or only in certain localities? Why are they eaten (sustenance, festive occasions, other)? Have they changed over time?

– Ways of eating these products
Are these foods eaten on their own or accompanied by condiments, spices, sauces, or mixed with other products? Have the ways of eating these foods changed over time? During which meal(s) are they eaten? Why? Has this always been the case? Are there particular eating rituals? If yes, what are they? Is there a habitual way of distributing the various portions?

– Eating customs
What objects are used during ordinary meals or during celebratory meals? Are there typical regional or local objects? Which room is used for eating in everyday life or during celebrations? How has this changed in comparison with the past? How is the table decorated and laid out (think about everyday and celebratory meals)? Who takes part in everyday or celebratory meals? What is the role of children, that of extended family and guests? How has this changed compared with the past?

– Medicinal plants
Are they cultivated or gathered in the region? Who cultivates or collects them, who markets them? Are they still used? Why? By whom? Are they associated with a traditional practice in the region?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
Study how traditions have been preserved as living practices, their relevance, how they fit into modern life, and how they are used for cultural, tourist, economic and community purposes.

– Negative aspects
Record the absence of distinctive regional food that has resulted from voluntary or involuntary neglect of this aspect of their heritage by local populations. Analyse the superficiality of so-called traditional practices which have only a commercial basis.

6. Crafts and industries

Whereas farming is evidently a part of rural life, this is less clearly the case for craft and industrial trades. Nonetheless, they have always co-existed. Craftsmen made items that farmers used. Later, the need for large quantities of particular items led to the creation of large workshops, that is, manufacturing plants or factories.

6.1. Traditional trades and skills

a. Assessment criteria

– General questions on trades
What is the origin of the trades being studied? Where are/were they practised? Are they seasonal? Which trades produce goods and which repair and maintain goods? Have the specific tools of each trade been preserved?

– General questions on skills
What are the traditional skills? What name was given to those who practised them? Have some been abandoned? Were these skills practised full-time?

– Building trades
Does the preparation of materials for roofing, carpentry and so on, require particular skills depending on the material (slates, roofing stones, shingles, thatch)? Was this true in the past? Are there specific practices associated with the beginning and/or end of work?

– Clothing trades
Is the work individual or collective (lace, weaving, spinning)? What use is made of the goods produced? Are clogs decorated?

– Tool trades
How is/was the forge organised? What woods are used by coopers (oak, chestnut)? Do baskets have distinctive styles depending on their use and/or the region?

– Skills linked to animal husbandry
Are pigs and sheep killed at home? What is done with goose feathers? Is wool processed in the locality?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
Analyse the quality of the region’s industrial and craft infrastructure, the production of typical regional products, the reputation enjoyed by such products and their economic impact.

– Negative aspects
Analyse how the inadequacy of industrial and craft infrastructure, or the rejection of traditional production and skills, adversely affects regional identity.

6.2. Local industries

a. Assessment criteria

– General questions
What types of local production exist, or existed in the past? Is local production dominated by one particular industry? Do these goods enjoy a regional or national reputation? When were they first produced? Are they functional or decorative? Where are they sold? How is the workforce trained?

– Wood
Depending on the objects produced, what woods are used (briar roots, boxwood, oak, resins)? Why?

– Glass and metal
Does glass-working produce specific objects (such as bell-glasses for chrysanthemums)? Is the glass blown with a blowing-iron, or cast? Are metal objects cast or hammered?

– Cloth and leather
Which animals provide the leather prepared in tanneries? Are tanning extracts made of oak-bark or chestnut-bark? Is cloth decorated with motifs?

– Stoneware, earthenware, brick
Does the clay come from the area under consideration? What firing methods and temperatures are used? What are the main decorative symbols? Do they refer to a specific story? Is it possible to identify when they were first used?

– Complex production
What materials and skills are used in producing these objects?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
In assessing the positive aspects, consider the presence of typical craft and industrial production, product quality, the actual circumstances in which the activity is conducted, incentives for development and the positive consequences for the region.

– Negative aspects
In assessing the negative aspects, consider the gradual or total abandonment of typical craft and industrial production, the local population’s lack of interest in such production, the poor quality of products and neglect of traditional manufacturing methods.

7. Community life

Celebrations, fairs, markets, language and dance are among the important elements of rural community life, allowing people to join in a shared culture.

7.1. Celebrations

a. Assessment criteria

– General questions
What are the local celebrations? On what date or occasion do they occur? How long do they last? How long have they existed? How well known are they beyond the immediate locality? Are they opportunities for preparing and eating specific dishes, for wearing traditional costumes? For all these questions, what happened in the past?

– Village fêtes
How is the annual village fête organised? How long does it last? What activities are organised? Are floats made? If yes, what is used to decorate them? Is there a dance? Where is it held?

– Religious festivals
What form do they take (processions, pilgrimage)? To what saint or locality are they dedicated? What is the purpose of these processions? Are they still practised? Are they restricted to parishioners? Do several denominations or religions have festivals? If so, which?

– Trade celebrations
Which trades are organised in guilds? Do the guilds have a banner? Do guild members wear a sign or distinctive clothing? Which celebrations occur when work is completed (harvest time, vintage season)?

– School-leaving celebrations
What school-leaving celebrations take place? What happened in the past? What kinds of behaviour do they give rise to? Are roles distributed according to gender?

b. Evaluation
– Positive aspects
Study how various celebrations are established in the region, their current popularity, whether some have been revived, the support they receive, local people’s participation, their value for developing tourism in the region.

– Negative aspects
Study whether celebrations have genuine roots, their gradual disappearance, neglect of traditions by the local population, their superficial nature.

7.2. Markets, fairs and itinerant trades

a. Assessment criteria

– General questions
Since when have the markets and fairs existed? What is their history? Are they now better known than in the past? Why? Are they known locally, regionally, nationally or internationally? How often are they held?

– Trade markets
What trade(s) do they target?

– Fairs
Which products or animals are presented?

– Markets for specific products
Which products are sold? Are they local products or regional specialities? Who makes them?

– Itinerant trade
Does it still exist? If yes, who practises it? Which sector is concerned? What has changed? Why? Is it typical in the region? If it has died out, why?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
Take account of the positive impact of fairs and markets on public (economic, social, cultural, community) life, and whether itinerant trade is still practised.

– Negative aspects
The disappearance of fairs and markets, and the adverse effect that this has had on community life and the region’s economic development; the disappearance of itinerant trade, which has created supply problems for some individuals (isolated and/or elderly farmers).

7.3. Community culture

a. Assessment criteria

– Oral literature
Is there a repertory of traditional songs? What are their themes? Are they related to the area under consideration? Do stories involve localities or residents? Who tells these stories (family members, storytellers)? When are they told (evening gatherings, public performances)? What proverbs are used? Do they refer to natural elements in the area studied? If yes, which? Which language is preferred for oral literature?

– Music and dance
What are the main musical instruments? Is music played individually or in groups? If played in groups, how many musicians are involved? Which dances are practised? When? Are they danced in groups or couples? Are they co-ordinated by someone? What happened in the past?

– Costumes
What specific costumes or articles of clothing exist? What about accessories (necklaces, belts, jewels)? When are these objects worn? By whom?

– Games and sports
Which game is most popular? What are the rules? Are they specific to the area? What are the objectives? Are there two opposing teams? Do they require special clothing? Are they played on particular occasions?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
How deeply the various elements of community culture are rooted in the region, their current vigour and whether some have been revitalised.

– Negative aspects
Negative aspects are seen in the lack of any genuine support for the various aspects of popular culture, their gradual disappearance and neglect of these traditions by local populations.

7.4. Languages and place names

a. Assessment criteria

– Languages
What are (were) the characteristics of local dialects, compared with other forms spoken in the region? Who still uses these languages? In which circumstances? Are they still handed down, and in what way? Are there words, expressions or forms of pronunciation that distinguish your village or area from others? Are these specific features influenced by the former language spoken? Are there words, expressions or forms of pronunciation in the local dialect that are specific to certain trades?

– Place names
Are place names in the area still easily understandable? Which are not immediately understood? What are the proportions? Do they come from languages that are still spoken, and which, or from old languages? Are there place names in your region that refer to your community’s history? Of the place names listed in the land register (micro-toponyms), which are connected with geography or with former activities or ways of life? Have some places changed their names over the centuries, and why? Who knows the place names of your area well, and are there variations in the names?

b. Evaluation

– Positive aspects
The practice and transmission of local languages; they reflect a way of looking at the area, naming and classifying it. Words used to describe the landscape are almost always much more numerous and specific in local dialects.

– Negative aspects
Failure to practise and hand down the local language. When languages and place names disappear, an entire system of in-depth local knowledge – popular geography – is lost.

IV. Rural heritage, a key factor in sustainable development

– This Guide is intended as an instrument to contribute to the preservation and enhancement of rural heritage. For it to be used effectively in development matters, decision-makers must first of all implement policies that will act as incentives.

– Political and social bodies must draw up appropriate means of action, and define management, support and funding measures.

1. Means of action

Means of action are aimed at incorporating rural heritage within a sustainable development process, drawing on its role in forming development players and its role as a development factor and catalyst for development.

1.1. Its value in forming development players

Although essential, an interest in or passion for heritage (or a heritage item) is not in itself enough.

Heritage education will nurture recognition of the value of heritage. The moment of recognition is crucial for the implementation of a process. There must therefore be concerted deliberation on the type of action to be carried out and on where such education should be dispensed.

Beginning at school, activities, practices and instruction should be aimed at nurturing awareness of a heritage approach. Heritage education should not be viewed in isolation but should be integrated into mainstream education.

In the life of citizens, the majority of heritage-orientated activities are found in associations and are often heavily dependent on the voluntary sector.

Civil society’s receptiveness to heritage depends on the approach adopted. The participatory approach, which has been portrayed as a key factor in the successful implementation of projects, presupposes the existence of training institutions and approaches available to all.

It is essential for there to be premises for meetings and public debate. These could be public, private, voluntary-sector, cultural, social or sports facilities. The most important thing is that they should be at neighbourhood level to ensure they are accessible to, and become part of the life of, residents.

Heritage is not normally considered in rural areas as a common approach. Accordingly, if action is to be taken, there must first be appropriate means of training. Experience has shown that the efforts made, particularly in the context of adult education, play a very important role in influencing the relationship with heritage and culture in general. Nonetheless, such training must be based on technical skills in the areas concerned.

Technical skills in the field of heritage relate to:

– the way heritage is dealt with in the relevant disciplinary fields, and,
– traditional vocational, agricultural or craft-working skills, the disappearance of which would compromise the very existence of certain heritage items.

To facilitate the acquisition and transmission of such skills, the decision-making bodies must first of all make clear training choices.

To promote the transmission of skills, an emphasis must be placed on (i) labour force qualifications and (ii) efforts to adapt traditional skills to modern techniques without any loss of quality; this would be one way of compensating for the shortage of skilled labour, which is getting more acute as an increasing number of craftworkers retire.

Those who monitor heritage initiatives should look for a pyramid effect among the various partners: skills and knowledge need to cascade down, hence the need to train trainers, especially among certain key players:

– decision-makers and operators, including elected representatives, generally required to take action at one or more stages of the initiative,
– those running the relevant associations or organisations, who would then be responsible for cascading the training received,
– administrative players who have the means to promote rural heritage initiatives, but need to learn to decompartmentalise the way they are implemented,
– specialists in vocational and personal skills,
– representatives of the media, often inclined to deal with local rural heritage in an anecdotal and “quaint” way,
– mediators, who have a key role in setting up projects and can come from any of the above categories, particularly development agents.

This list of key players shows the complexity of heritage initiatives and points to the need for a consensus-based approach in putting operations together.

This aim of seeking consensus in society fits in with the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Spatial Development of the European Continent – Recommendation Rec(2002)1 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, namely the participation of society in regional/spatial development.

1.2. Its role as a development factor

There is no justification for preserving heritage, which links past and present, unless it can be given a guaranteed future and handed on to future generations, which is why it is essential to stir the key players into action.

Rural heritage has a potential richness and can become a valuable resource, not necessarily in commercial terms, for those carrying out projects and for the locality. It then becomes part of a sustainable development approach as it becomes a product, factor and/or source of development without – by definition, as it is heritage – being destroyed or adversely modified.

Its continuation as heritage thus presupposes consideration being given to the use made of it: such an approach is the result of genuine cultural change.

Insofar as the meaning given by local players to their heritage and the purpose assigned to it correspond to society’s expectations, it becomes a virtual vector for cultural and economic development.

First of all, it is for people in rural environments to define the optimal use of heritage – for society as a whole and for themselves – which will generate products. Such products are not necessarily commercial in nature, even though economic enhancement should be pursued via the creation of activities, and therefore jobs.

Experience has shown that traditional production methods – “traditional skills” – may appear retrograde, but they can offer alternative solutions to mass production because they can be adapted to give high-quality products.

Heritage can be enhanced by tourism, craft, local and cultural products. It is unnecessary to enumerate all the possible avenues to be explored.

An analysis should be made of all the potential, by seeking out the values that rural heritage can help rediscover, such as the aesthetic value of nature, cultural heritage and landscapes. Authenticity and quality are often closely bound up in the manufacture of products, lifestyles and the togetherness promoted by the social bond (festivities and cultural events which are part of the region’s traditions, including oral traditions).

However, this search for potential, though it should be conducted by local players, needs to be supported or indeed initiated and encouraged by public authorities at national, regional and local levels, and by professional structures.

Obviously, the level of intervention from public authorities will vary significantly in line with individual circumstances. But some choices are distinctly political.

In countries where rural life and activities still play a significant role, consideration must be given to how exactly to approach development on the basis of a transformation of existing activities and know-how.

The choice is between rural exodus towards urban centres and the development of local activities building on the largely heritage potential of rural areas, local skills which have been adapted and the complementarity between market towns and the countryside.

This second focus of regional/spatial development and planning – which, in relation to free enterprise, can only be promoted but under no circumstances imposed – presupposes the availability of support measures and an attempt to find technical innovations, in order to strike a new balance between town and country. As such it corresponds to the guiding principle in Recommendation Rec(2002)1 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe aimed at bringing about a new partnership between town and country, and enhancement of cultural heritage as a factor of development.

1.3. Its role as a catalyst for development

The involvement of country people in projects to enhance their heritage is likely to give the regions concerned a positive, renewed image and to boost a marked trend of bringing new populations into the countryside.

From this standpoint of attractiveness, heritage comes across as life heritage. It renders the relationship with one’s area more dynamic. As a result of the gradual attraction it exerts on the population, and the mobilising effect it has, it helps give new meaning to rural regions.

However, for this life heritage to operate to the full, it must be supported by institutions and the authorities, in particular by meeting the expectations of rural populations in terms of local services. There should be an attempt to identify the specific nature of the needs to which appropriate use of heritage items can contribute. This too corresponds with the Guiding Principles set out in Recommendation Rec(2002)1 of the Committee of Ministers to member states of the Council of Europe in the part dealing with rural areas.

In a development process, it is essential for the population not to be given the impression of being left in the dark or of living in a neglected locality. Anything that can bring a place alive is highly motivating.

Enhancement of heritage helps make inhabitants once again feel proud. By its very nature, heritage is linked not only to time but also to an area and society.

In modern society, the consequences of the societal relationship have not been sufficiently analysed for rural heritage, whose reference values, perceived as unchanging, seem out of step with a world in perpetual motion.

The disjointed relationship between society and rural heritage can be reconciled through the action taken, insofar as the enhancement initiative:

– incorporates both references to the past and prospects for the future,
– compares its own reference values with those of other groups residing in the territory, seeking out the points of convergence.

By way of example, the majority of immigrant populations come directly from the countryside and, accordingly, have a number of references comparable to those of country folk in the host country. As, more often than not, they live in an urban environment, they do not have the opportunity to express them.

The relational dimension of heritage is not always obvious, and yet social dialogue, so necessary for the cultural construction of development, can be built on this. Failing that, an interest in heritage can lead to introspection, as is the case of certain traditionalists promoting a quaint vision of the countryside.

In themselves, society’s links with heritage are potentially a factor in social cohesion. The debate on the uses of heritage avoids isolationism. This makes it easier to take on board the conditions in which the rural environment is evolving:

– the successful settlement of a “neo-rural” population,
– overcoming the supposed antagonism between town and country.

For those marginalised from society, heritage initiatives can be a factor in integration because they result in greater involvement. But integration exercises, particularly site activities, presuppose a full understanding of the process.

This human dimension is too often forgotten in the heritage initiatives undertaken, in that greater emphasis is placed on the object than on the role.

A heritage initiative is an opportunity for society. The diversity and wealth of heritage is a potential antidote to standardisation and the excesses of globalisation. With regard to rural heritage specifically, the discredit in which it has been so long held justifies the view that country people, thanks to their heritage capital, can be the key players in development of their area, in the interests of themselves and society as a whole. But society must define the management methods and appropriate forms of support, particularly financial.

2. Management methods

Because of the diversity and complexity of initiatives in rural heritage, there is a wide variety of processes to be implemented. The multiplicity of types and levels of action presuppose the use of adaptable forms of co-operation.

It is obvious that the general rules of law apply, with responsibilities shared between supranational, national and infra-national authorities.

If the key heritage players are to have all the necessary information – and this is highly desirable – each country must publicise the relevant national rules in a specific guide, and local and regional authorities should draw up a summary document setting out their own provisions.

This guide attempts to do some sort of classification in order to inform operators about the very nature of management methods.

Relevant texts

The first level of management concerns obligation that is reflected in regulations and formal rules. Binding provisions concern chiefly the identification and protection of heritage items and heritage-related products, primarily in the form of quality markers.

Protection is enforced either by legal provisions (formally prohibiting or authorising) or by a combination of mandatory instructions and safeguards. It takes the form of management arrangements related to the characteristics of the heritage item, the risks to it (threats to the site, species, etc.) or the disciplines concerned (town planning regulations, etc.). For architectural or natural heritage, the approach often adopted is zoning.

In addition to legislation, regulations and local implementation of directives, at national or supranational level, a process of negotiation may lead to enforcement measures in the form of ratified charters or conventions.

The latter is one of the prime means of action of the Council of Europe. However, not all the components of heritage, and particularly rural heritage, are covered by the Council of Europe’s conventions.

Similarly, UNESCO has drawn up rules in the field of heritage protection, but the binding measures are specifically related to “world heritage”. In contrast, UNESCO refers specifically to rural heritage items in its principles of action.

The four principles of action of UNESCO
– local, national but universal value, comprising preservation of monumental and natural heritage, and vernacular and rural architecture, that constitutes an exceptional example of a traditional way of life,
– the drawing up of a universal ethical reference framework, termed cultural diversity,
– promotion of a comprehensive vision of cultural heritage, taking into account the importance of the environment and the link between cultural site, natural site and all types of items associated with a cultural skill,
– promotion of ecotourism as a factor in economic revival and cultural enhancement for the development of regions and turning rural heritage to account.

The UNESCO principles are part of a less binding level of management, namely the drawing up of principles and recommendations. All the same, it should serve as an inspiration for more formal provisions.

The Guiding Principles for Sustainable Spatial Development of the European Continent – Council of Europe Recommendation Rec(2002)1 – have been referred to in various sections of this document.

Article 7 of the UNESCO Declaration on the Responsibilities of Present Generations towards Future Generations, adopted by the General Conference on 12 November 1997, stipulates that “present generations have the responsibility to identify, protect and safeguard the tangible and intangible cultural heritage and to transmit this common heritage to future generations.”

In general terms, Article 22 of the Rio de Janeiro Declaration on the Environment and Development, adopted by UNCED (the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development), provides for the involvement of communities and the public in the decision-making process and spells out arrangements for implementation.

It emerges from the texts in force that:

– rural heritage items, in view of their specific nature, are not recognised as such in law; in all probability it is their diversity which precludes this;
– the “right to heritage” has not been established as a human right, namely an individual’s right to defend a heritage item, not to mention a “right of heritage intervention”.

Accordingly, above and beyond a binding formal approach, management involving co-operation and consultation should be promoted.

In view of all the considerations on carrying out heritage activities, it is clearly necessary to adopt a consensus-based approach:

– in acknowledgement by key players of the heritage nature of an item or skill,
– in the definition of “good use” and the carrying out of enhancement operations.

Advice on methods and instruments corresponding to these requirements has been provided. How to put them into practice is not always obvious. This requires, on the part of decision-makers, recourse to a consultative style of management which is more difficult to implement than the simple application of regulations. It must take account of the existence of the institutional and legal framework, and at the same time seek out all the players potentially involved and, above all, allow them freedom of expression and action.

Such a process requires readiness and freedom of expression, which the players do not always have, and time, often limited by procedural constraints. In such conditions, consultative management is a means of regulation but also a social innovation, requiring genuine political will and involvement.

Such a management approach must have – like heritage itself – its roots in rural society.

Community practices, usages, local solidarities and community management in the fight against certain natural elements or in the upkeep of the territory are part of country civilisation.

In the renewed forms of common management, the institutional bodies must:

– help explain this type of management,
– open it up to players who have not traditionally been involved (ecologists, tourists, ramblers and other users of rural resources) – in other words, facilitate and possibly legitimise their presence,
– provide expertise,
– ensure exchanges are carried out with the requisite degree of transparency and fairness.

The public authorities should also demonstrate to society the advantages of such an approach, which makes the common interest prevail over the sum of individual interests. But it may prove necessary to put it on an institutional footing. Even where such a means of management is imposed, experience has shown that there is always room for tailoring it to local situations.

In the field of rural heritage, the local territorial framework is particularly suited to common management, which, because of the natural participation of the voluntary sector, will make for good governance of territories. This provides scope for the proper discussion of the relational dimension and adaptation to the realities on the ground.

The logical conclusion of consulting a variety of players is the creation of contractual links. As this normally has a financial dimension, it is only logical to include this in the means of support for heritage policies.

3. Means of support, particularly financial

In presenting the methods of action, an emphasis has been placed on the need for institutional support for initiatives to promote heritage.

This support may be in various forms. It is the public authorities’ role to support heritage:

– indirectly, as part of wider sectoral policies, or
– directly in the shape of targeted action.

3.1. Indirect support through sectoral policies

It is not possible to look in detail at the arrangements here. However, this list, though not exhaustive, could help with the drafting of national guides by providing a number of reference points.

– As heritage education has a key role to play, this aspect should be taken into account in education and training, social policies, the measures taken for various social groups (young people, women, the elderly) and the voluntary sector.

– Information on the action being taken presupposes that it is incorporated into communication policies; in particular, steps taken to develop new technologies in the countryside; support for heritage-related events (for example, Heritage Days, particularly with regard to local or regional heritage) and networking of players create a powerful leverage effect.

– Steps taken to build up infrastructure, adapt services to the rural environment, develop community facilities and meeting places in villages and improve living conditions are essential when embarking on development based on heritage enhancement.
– In a spirit of innovation, one of the dimensions of research and technical development policies should relate to adapting more traditional skills and using them for product improvement.
– Cultural policies, quite apart from their direct contribution to heritage initiatives, should include a dimension relating to the development of sites and heritage practices.
– Inter-institutional co-operation can help promote exchanges of experiences. International co-operation, particularly in a form geared to field action (as in decentralised co-operation) provides greater scope.
– Lastly, the indirect support of authorities may take an innovative form; in the view of certain players in the voluntary sector, this is particularly well suited to the very nature of heritage with its economic, financial and social aspects. This affects recourse to forms of social economy.

Lastly, the indirect support of authorities may take an innovative form, which in the view of certain players in the voluntary sector, is particularly well suited to the very nature of heritage with its economic, financial and social aspects. This concerns recourse to forms of social economy.

Experience has shown that investment in rural heritage, even though it might generate activities, is often seen as not being profitable enough to interest the traditional private sector, particularly the financial sector.

In contrast, because of the motivation it creates, it can marshal energy and finance, particularly at community level through the collection of local funding, making it possible to undertake connected activities.

The forms and level of development of the social economy vary from one country and one situation to another. There is unequal involvement of public structures. But this approach to development deserves particular attention. Certain enhancement programmes have been built on this basis.

3.2. Direct support for heritage initiatives

Direct support can be:

– by special financing for certain types of initiative (protection, conservation, rehabilitation). It generally takes the form of subsidised loans at special rates or tax concessions for the heritage owner. It is found particularly in initiatives in the housing sector.
– through programmes (preservation, enhancement) that are part of development and planning policies.

It then takes the form of public participation in the funding of a programme. Alternatively, special funding conditions might be made available (these may also include grants) to offset any difficulties specific to the rural environment. These are examples of structural aid.

In the European Union, the majority of these facilities are Community in nature. One of them (the LEADER Plus programme) is more specifically aimed at enhancing natural and cultural heritage in the countryside, in view of its field of application.

Direct support may be given at various levels of heritage initiative: pre-implementation studies, the initiatives themselves, the functioning of a heritage facility, or the related investment. Only national guides can give more detailed information on this aspect.

Virtually all heritage-related initiatives have one thing in common; they are typically undertaken by several partners. The approach adopted in the heritage sector has clearly demonstrated this plural dimension. This facilitates the theoretical aspects of funding and complicates practical implementation.

Seeking out possible funding often requires some imagination. Depending on traditions, interest-free funding may be a possibility. Sponsorship and charitable foundations play a role which varies considerably from one country to another. Here again, national guides should give useful information.

Whatever the nature of the partners, it is essential that the conditions for collaboration are clearly worked out and contracts are drawn up. These should apply to the relationships:

– between the various levels of public funding
– between the various authorities or entities which in theory have an interest in having a contract to reconcile their objectives and policies,
– between all the players within the same programme or project.

One key feature of the contracting process is negotiation (the consultation-based management approach referred to above) in drawing up a timetable of implementation, defining each player’s contribution and formalising a binding text on the subject matter itself. The contracting process can play a key role in the whole heritage programme, from protection to enhancement.

Negotiation makes it possible to reconcile the rigidity of principles and the constraints of protection intervention plans with the flexibility of implementation of action, and in particular enhancement. It introduces into this flexibility an aspect of regulation which encourages:

– adaptation to the local situation, in which it fits entirely into European territorial strategies,
– co-ordination of action,
– the broad involvement of players, particularly those seeking a guarantee, such as sponsors or private investors, who often hesitate to join an initiative that is not clearly defined.

However, as with any process, its worth – like heritage itself – lies solely in the use made of it and it makes for open dialogue only if it is acknowledged that:

– heritage has a value in itself,
– society has an interest in preserving and enhancing it for the benefit of people generally, but especially those living in the countryside.