ABSTRACT
Heritage is viewed in this paper as a result-in-the making of an ongoing social process between actors living in different socio-economic conditions with different ways of making sense of their environment. When people identify with heritage, it stimulates them to take care of their environment, of the others and of themselves. This is an opportunity for society. As governments are not able to resolve on their own the complex and value laden questions related with heritage, collaborative governance is necessary. This concepts refers here to the capacity to steer the broad domain of heritage with the active participation of private, community and academic actors. It draws the attention to the importance of dialogue and trusting relationships between actors with diverse legitimate interests. This implies new roles and responsibilities of these actors towards heritage. Shared value creation, community empowerment and transdisciplinary knowledge co-creation are presented as necessary complements for collaborative governance.
