Cultural heritage is a shared resource and a common good that nourish economic growth, employment, and social cohesion across Europe. In this context, initiatives like the European Framework for Action on Cultural Heritage Reinforce the importance of cultural heritage in fostering sustainable development in Europe. By defining cultural heritage as a common good, the emphasis is stressed on its irreplaceable value for both present and future generations. This sets the stage for a deeper exploration of the European Framework for Action on Cultural Heritage, which seeks to promote an integrated and participatory approach to cultural heritage across EU policies.
However, despite its significance, cultural heritage faces numerous threats, including poor governance, economic changes, environmental factors, tourism pressures, and armed conflict. Even well-supported heritage sites are vulnerable, and traditional governance models struggle to maintain their sustainability and resilience in the face of these challenges. As a result, there is a growing recognition of the need for alternative approaches to cultural heritage governance that are more inclusive, transparent, and adaptable to changing realities.
Enter the CLIC Circular Governance Approach – a values-based framework aimed at valorising, protecting, and sustaining cultural heritage assets as a common good for society. This innovative approach seeks to shift the focus from traditional custodial models towards more participatory and collaborative governance structures. Through principles like participatory, inclusive, transparent, accountable, collaborative, circular, fair, and just governance, the CLIC Circular Governance Approach aims to empower communities to actively engage in the adaptive reuse of cultural heritage assets.
The document further explores 16 case studies from international cities, shedding light on various shared governance arrangements for cultural heritage adaptive reuse projects, ranging from Public Custodian to Community Custodian and Private Custodian for the common good.
