Photo credit: Siavash Laghai, Makli World Heritage Site

NOTES on UNESCO World Heritage Centre Inter-regional workshop World Heritage and Sustainable Development: The Role of Local Communities

23-24 November 2017 Karachi-Pakistan

By Siavash Laghai

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Photo credit: Siavash Laghai, Makli

International Institute on Territorial and Environmental Dynamics

INDEX

i. Presentation sessions of the workshop (Session I & II) 3

ii. Brainstorming session of the workshop (session III) 6

iv. Brief summary of the study visit 11

iii. Conclusion including analysis on issues related to local community engagement in heritage 11

II.TED 2017 2 i. Presentation sessions of the workshop (Session I & II) 23 November 2017, National Museum Karachi

The Inter-Regional Workshop “World Heritage and Sustainable Development: The Role of Local Communities”, held in Karachi on 23 and 24 November 2017, provided a firm platform for the discussion and sharing of good practices. The workshop highlighted in particular how the involvement of local communities may improve sustainable development by preservation and promotion of cultural heritage.

Several case studies, from Pakistan, Nepal, Jordan, Oman and Iran, were presented during the presentations and discussions of sessions I & II “Cultural Heritage and Local Communities for Sustainable Development” and “Engaging Local Communities for a Sustainable management of World Heritage”.

Practices of heritage management and sustainable development by involving local communities were exchanged and discussed starting with (session I): - revitalisation of glazed tiles in Makli World Heritage site in Pakistan,

- revitalisation of ancient Terracotta Paharpur Vihara World Heritage site in Bangladesh, - preservation and conservation of Shigar Fort in Pakistan, - sustainable cultural heritage management practices in Jordan.

The above were followed by (session II): - Aflaj and water management traditions in Oman, - rehabilitation and democratic management of Kathmandu Vally World Heritage site in Nepal, - government initiatives to engage local communities in the management of World Heritage sites in Jordan,

- case studies of Inclusive Sustainable Growth in Iran.

The World Heritage Capacity Building Strategy was discussed during the session I. This strategy, adopted by the World Heritage Committee in 2011, responds to the needs identified by a diverse and growing audience, regarding capacity building for World

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Heritage conservation and management activities. The development of resource materials such as best practice case studies and communication tools is one of the main activities foreseen by the strategy, aiming to improve the mentioned capacities.

Following the above-mentioned debate, the discussion focused on the role of local communities in ensuring that World Heritage contributes to sustainable development. This topic was chosen by the World Heritage Committee as the central theme for the celebration of the Convention’s 40th anniversary. Following the presentation of case studies and the discussions, the 2030 Agenda was explored. The Agenda, adopted by the UN General Assembly, integrates culture as an enabler of sustainable development in the context of Sustainable Development Goals, by promoting cultural heritage and creativity. The Agenda identifies the following five critical areas of crucial importance for humanity and the planet: - People: We want to ensure that all human beings can fulfil their potential, - Planet: We must respect and safeguard our common home, - Prosperity: We want all human beings to enjoy the fruits of economic, social and technological progress and live productive and fulfilling lives, - Peace: All people yearn to live in peaceful and harmonious societies, free from fear and violence, - Partnership: We want to create an effective Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, which will embrace all countries and stakeholders.

Session II highlighted the role of World Heritage as a platform to develop and test new approaches that demonstrate the relevance of heritage for sustainable development. The contribution of World Heritage to Sustainable Development and the policy for the integration of a Sustainable Development perspective into the processes of the World Heritage Convention, were discussed by experts and keynote speakers: “Well-protected World Heritage property may contribute directly to alleviating poverty and inequalities by providing basic goods and services, such as security and health, through shelter, access to clean air, water, food and other key resources.” (...) “World Heritage is also an important asset for economic development, by attracting investments and ensuring green, locally-based, stable and decent jobs, only some of which may be related to tourism. Activities associated to the stewardship of cultural and natural heritage, indeed, 1 are local by definition.”

1 Policy for the Integration of a Sustainable Development Perspective into the Processes of the World Heritage Convention

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In this session some notes from the Earth Summit 1992 were selected, recognizing that achieving sustainable development would require the active participation of all sectors of society and all types of people. The Agenda 21, adopted at the Earth Summit, drew upon this outcome and identified 9 sectors of society as the main channels through which broad participation would be facilitated in UN activities related to Sustainable Development. These are officially called "Major Groups" and include the following sectors: - Women

- Children and Youth - Indigenous Peoples - Workers and Trade Unions - Farmers - Non-Governmental Organisations

- Business and Industry - Scientific and Technological Community - Local Authorities

In the same session, some guidelines of the WHC on Management Planning of World Heritage sites were discussed. Possible approaches in heritage management include: - Conservation approach (authenticity-integrity)

- Value based approach (OUV) - People-centred approach (management planning) - Monitoring effectiveness approach The document similarly identifies possible governance arrangements: - Governance by government

- Shared governance - Governance by private actors - Governance by local communities

II.TED 2017 5 ii. Brainstorming session of the workshop (session III) 23 November 2017, National Museum Karachi

• The discussions with the key stakeholders were highly compelling and engaging. The moderator started with the following note: “NOTHING FOR US WITHOUT US, involvement is essential to give communities the sense of ownership, despite often the lack of clarity in defining the real owners.” The following questions were then posed to start the group discussions: “How to identify and to involve the community?” and “At what stage should community be involved?”

Members of the regional government started the discussions, highlighting their objectives and challenges. Stakeholders and other community members exposed what they identified as obstacles to achieving their goals. During this discussion, many questions, ideas, and solutions emerged. However, all parties agreed that investing in education is a fundamental step toward the involvement and empowering of the community for a sustainable future. An example of this is the UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) framework.

Subsequently, the issue of how to define the community was raised. Participants recognized that the communities living in and around the sites need to be engaged, socially as well as politically. Similarly, the group is aware that it is necessary in many cases to deal with the presence of hostile communities, and that often there are differences in the understanding of value between the government and the communities, which can contribute to damage heritage sites. Lastly, the session focused on the importance of determining who the possible beneficiaries are.

The participants recognized the importance of understanding the motivations of the community, particularly with respect to their desire to conserve the heritage site. Projects may need to be planned with longer duration, so to give time to develop a sense of emotional involvement with the project among the local communities.

The group considered that potential economic benefits must be studied. This means that activities that are linked to the heritage site but that can directly benefit the community economically must be understood, initiated and promoted. Similarly, the session confirmed that the means of dealing with conflictive situations are critical. This is particularly important to resolve tensions between the various community groups, often separated by

II.TED 2017 6 economic inequality. It was also noted that there legislation must be put in place to ensure equal rights to the various groups.

• The discussions between all group A panel members were organised as follows: 1. One of the main issues discussed in this session, by one of the local government members, was the importance of the archaeological sites in the Sindh region. The discussion was centred on the state of conservation and preservation of this archaeological site.

As conveyed by the participant, the Government of Sindh and the Ministry of Culture Tourism and Antiquities, have difficulties with the local communities and residents who live within the site boundaries. For the local government it is not feasible to manage these sites without the involvement of communities. The discussion was integrated by all parties, underlining that the local community is unaware of the heritage value of these sites, also due to lower education levels. Therefore, as a solution to this, the investment in education is both urgent and reasonable.

Continuing this discussion, we agreed on: - Involving the local community by all means, - Involving the national stakeholders, such as Aga Khan Cultural Services Pakistan and other relevant national organisations, - Using the best practices of UNESCO WHC and international organisations as guidelines.

2. An example, made by another member/delegate of the Sindh government in the panel, was the state of Makli World Heritage site. The delegate emphasized that families whose relatives were buried in this World Heritage site should be considered as the local stakeholders. However, he stated that the problem of unawareness of these families is a matter of concern, and that this issue should be studied more in depth. As we discussed with all the present stakeholders, the involvement of these families in the process of management of this heritage site is the most important step to be taken. This process could start with the state recognition of these families as owners. To understand this issue we discussed how to identify the community and how to understand types of ownership: - Type of ownership: a) private or b) public

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- Type of community: a) aware of the heritage site, b) unaware to the heritage site, c) part of the owners’ community, d) living within the site boundaries.

3. A participant from the Baluchistan regional government emphasized the importance of understanding the needs of Baluchi tribes living in the region. Historically organised/ arranged/populated as a tribal system society region, Baluchistan has more difficulties involving the communities living within the heritage boundaries in the management process of heritage sites. We discussed some issues regarding armed/unarmed conflicts, conflict resolutions, and heritage sites in this region.

In order to respond to the government’s needs and concerns, all group members and stakeholders had time to discuss the above mentioned points. During our discussion, some participants pointed out the urgent need to revise regional laws and legislations. As was mentioned, this can help to facilitate partnerships and will also make programmes faster. Continuing this session, important questions were posed, regarding how to promote a sense of community, and how it is possible to avoid conflicts among communities. These questions were raised as follows, in chronological order: - How to promote the sense of community, - How to achieve the sense of ownership, - How to invite and to engage these communities in the management process, - How to educate the local communities for a better heritage management, - How to resolve conflicts between different communities within a heritage site.

• After this part of the session, it was the moment for key stakeholders to pose and raise their questions and needs.

1. The importance of creating partnerships with the civil society and other governmental departments was raised by a member from the Makli World Heritage site. She underlined that the government has to find ways to create an effective regional partnership for Sustainable Development, which would embrace all stakeholders and communities. The member stated that the involvement of all stakeholders is necessary to succeed in the process. This discussion was continued by another group member from the northern Pakistan, who mentioned clearly that communities existed and exist in all territories, while

II.TED 2017 8 the only difference is their involvement in long term programmes. This is a key issue to avoid the mistrust created by political changes among the communities.

2. The session became more and more participated with suggestions and ideas of the group members, as for example:

- The values-based approach for heritage sites, - The economic and emotional benefits for communities.

Currently, the values-based approach is the most common approach to heritage conservation. However, a wider range of values, particularly those of the communities, such as the economic and emotional benefits, should also be taken into account for this approach.

3. A participant from Punjab called our attention with his proposal of creating Community Centres in Pakistani Regions with the aim of promoting a sense of partnership and ownership among the communities. As he suggested, this could be done with the support of the UNESCO Islamabad Office, Regional Government and the Ministry of Culture Tourism and Antiquities. He continued, suggesting that this Centre can develop a guideline for all communities and stakeholders at a national level.

4. We returned to the values-based approach discussion, focusing on the importance of considering the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the region. One of the members, an experienced Pakistani architect, listed the reasons to conserve heritage sites and places in relation with Sustainable Development.

“To achieve the Sustainable Development by the conservation of heritage sites and places, it is mandatory to consider both Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage. This will automatically create a stronger sense of ownership for the communities.” In order to achieve this, he continued, “we have to consider much more the sustainable dimension of the development, and not only the economic development, which often is considered more in the local development projects.”

As the country has limited economic resources for the conservation of heritage sites, he added that we have to interrogate ourselves regarding why and what to conserve.

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5. We continued our discussion by defining some goals and values, and how Sustainable Development Goals could be defined by heritage. We considered the state of conservation of a heritage site, with all its values, both tangible and intangible. The group considered this could inspire the communities, since achieving these goals could build a stronger community partnership. We continued discussing a broader range of values, including their cultural, economic, political, and aesthetic aspects.

We concluded our discussion by considering policies and strategies, particularly those relevant for a democratic governance of heritage sites. To this end, we considered that extending our view beyond the site limits (including a bigger buffer zone), embracing villages and other residential areas, could contribute to a more democratic approach. By taking into account a wider area, we hope to avoid promoting an elitist local community. This may also serve to solve local conflicts by involving all the communities and stakeholders in the site management process.

Photo credit: Siavash Laghai, Makli

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A good example of the mentioned process is the Historic Urban Landscape Approach. Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) demands a solid and continually evolving management plan. The HUL approach requires community engagement, and a diverse cross-section network of stakeholders to identify key values in their buffer zone, in this case urban areas. This helps in developing strategies and visions, in setting goals, as well as in agreeing on actions to safeguard communities’ heritage and to promote sustainable development. These tools should facilitate negotiation and dialogue between conflicting interests and groups, by learning from communities about their history, traditions, values and needs. iv. Brief summary of the study visit 24 November 2017, National Museum Karachi

The World Heritage Site of Makli, spreads over an area of 10 km, and according to the documentation by the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan consists of 75 above-ground structures and 402 platforms with over 3,000 graves. The site is close to the historic town of Thatta, once the capital of Sindh. Inscribed in the World Heritage List in 1981, the Makli necropolis presents a remarkable array of tombs, monasteries, mosques and enclosures situated at the ridge of the Makli Hill. The structures represent a culture of tolerance among people belonging to different religious orientations. The existence of an old kashi kiln2 at the foot of southeast of the necropolis points towards the existence of expertise in Thatta. During our visit to Makli, the CEO of the Heritage Foundation Pakistan, presented their project, in which members of the marginalised communities near to the World Heritage site, particularly women, were engaged in the conservation and revitalisation of the ancient Glazed Tiles in Sindh. iii. Conclusion including analysis on issues related to local community engagement in heritage

Heritage sites are requested to present a comprehensive management plan in order to set out adequate preservation strategies, adopt measures to involve local communities and to stress the role of heritage for sustainable development:

2 A furnace or oven for burning, baking, or drying something

II.TED 2017 11 to engage the local community in this process, there are various strategies such as raise awareness in the community on territorial meanings, uses, profits, values, interests (both personal and those of the community). There is a clear need to encourage and educate young people, to inform and promote awareness among them through education. It is recommendable to share best practices in World Heritage management, and to include in the management plan process the entire buffer zone area residents. To create partnerships and collaborations to finance community projects and to foster synergies amongst stakeholders, and finally to define goals that could inspire the community to participate in the processes of the World Heritage management.

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Siavash Laghai International Institute on Territorial and Environmental Dynamics Florence-Italy [email protected] +351-914483826 +39-3387290037 +98-9300387904

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