The concept of sustainable development has already been embraced more than three decades ago since the publication of the Brundtland Report by World Commission on Environment and Development. This...Show moreThe concept of sustainable development has already been embraced more than three decades ago since the publication of the Brundtland Report by World Commission on Environment and Development. This report stated that development is not synonymous with economic growth alone, but also includes a social and environmental aspect. In 2015, the United Nations (UN) announced the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which has the purpose to eliminate poverty, fight inequality and justice, and to combat climate change. The state members of the UN have to adopt the SDGs agenda as a framework for their political policies and national development agenda until 2030. The SDGs agenda has also affected the heritage management, because heritage with its value of identity and as a repository of cultural, historical, and social memory forms a vital aspect of the development process. Cultural heritage tourism is one of the methods that can bridge cultural heritage to development. However, in many cases the benefits of cultural heritage tourism do not directly flow to the local communities who in fact are the core element of the SDGs and heritage management. Moreover, in developing countries like Indonesia, the local communities have been excluded from the heritage development planning. Heritage practitioners seems to be not familiar with the implementation of the sustainable development concept. However, the heritage tourism at the USAT Liberty site play an important role in the lives of the local people who live nearby, they even actively participate in the management of the site. Many scholars appreciate the local people’s attempts to protect the USAT Liberty site and to help create sustainable heritage tourism. The USAT Liberty provides valuable data on how cultural heritage can be successfully sustained. Thus, by using the USAT Liberty site as case study, this thesis aims to provide suggestion how to achieve sustainable cultural heritage tourism in accordance with the SDGs principles.Show less
The present study deals with one of the most important monuments of Middle Byzantine art and architecture, the monastery of Hosios Loukas, which is on the western slope of mount Helikonas, in...Show moreThe present study deals with one of the most important monuments of Middle Byzantine art and architecture, the monastery of Hosios Loukas, which is on the western slope of mount Helikonas, in Voiotia. The main object of this research was to study the cultural components of this site, because it is the most important monument of the Middle Byzantine period in Greece and it has a rich historical, religious and cultural background. The main topic I examine is the financial impact of the monument on the local community and how managing a religious site can contribute to the continuing vitality of the religion itself, as well as culture, tradition and local economy. Moreover, it is interesting to investigate how the public perceives monastic and religious culture and what kind of strategies should be followed, so as to enhance the public awareness for religious monuments in order to improve the local economy. For these reasons, a questionnaire was designed which was conducted in January 2015 at the entrance of Hosios Loukas monastery in Steiri (Voiotia, Greece) and handed out to visitors to the monastery. Furthermore, through an interview with one of the monastery’s representatives, I gathered information for my research. Unfortunately, there is no a similar survey in order to compare my data with, but I hope that my paper will be useful for further studies in the future and will be used as comparative material. The monks intend to create a museum with the monastery’s manuscripts and relics, which will be under their own authority. This could be of great importance for the monastery’s sustainability. It is necessary to emphasize the site’s management for its financial support, but for the local community’s support as well. Cultural and educational activities in the Monastery could be effective to this purpose.Show less
The aim of this research is to define how oral history can be used as a source of information for archaeological research, and how it can be complementary to an approach in which the local...Show moreThe aim of this research is to define how oral history can be used as a source of information for archaeological research, and how it can be complementary to an approach in which the local community is included. By using the information for practical as well as ethical research engagements through an extensive analysis of the local perspective by looking at historicity and multivocality, it is shown that much more can be achieved with oral history research when the local perspective is thoroughly understood and precisely described. Therefore, Oral history as part of archaeological research is placed in between archaeological ethnography and community archaeology. Analysis of oral history data supports knowledge of the local display of historicization and thus helps to understand the information as deriving from a local perspective, which improves its usefulness for archaeological research. By looking at the presentation of historicity through specific characteristics of oral history storylines, a new framework of reference is presented for further research on combining oral history and archaeology. When the perspective of the local community is understood, information from oral history interviews can be included in the archaeological research as part of a multivocal interpretation of the past. Including voices of the local community and therefore adjusting archaeological research to their perspective and valuation of heritage promotes the active involvement and inclusion of the local community.Show less
