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South Africa is rapidly obliterating its cultural resources and indigenous values. Particularly, this is the case in rural South Africa where manifestations of socio-economic declensions are evident. However, a number of the policies that are meant to enhance rural development lack a cohesive strategy that is based on culture-based theoretical frameworks. The paper argues that the conspicuous disregard to address rural development and its concomitant socio-economic challenges in the Revised White Paper on Arts, Culture, and Heritage, 2017, by the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC), now (DSAC); poses a great threat to sustainable rural development [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, in alignment with globalization and the megatrend within the international socio-cultural sphere, China has initiated a large-scale "intangible cultural heritage (ICH) protection movement" through its proactive leadership and management of cultural heritage administration. As a significant component of Chinese cultural politics, this movement has profoundly influenced the cultural lives of Chinese society and its citizens and is poised to continue doing so. Some Chinese anthropologists have also participated in and significantly contributed to this movement in various ways. This paper comprehensively and meticulously examines these fundamental ways. Building upon this analysis, this paper further provides an overview and assessment of the research outcomes of anthropological research on Chinese cultural heritage, both domestically and internationally. The author posits that the paramount contribution of anthropologists, both domestically and internationally, to Chinese cultural heritages and the related protection endeavors lies in their academic research outcomes being predominantly based on their respective fieldwork practices. These outcomes, shaped and realized through on-the-ground fieldwork, hold exceptional value for cultural heritage administration and national cultural policies, as they effectively provide cultural criticism and dissenting perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the live music industry have received much attention, little consideration has been given to regional music production clusters more broadly. Evaluating the impacts of the pandemic on the music economy of North West England, this paper identifies key areas of support required as music businesses transition into a digitally-orientated post-COVID period. Findings demonstrate the ways in which the pandemic encouraged or forced music businesses to innovate with new digital ways of showcasing, promoting and distributing music. Yet, while digitalisation offers many opportunities, these are often difficult for businesses to capitalise upon. The paper argues the need to place business support at the heart of local cultural policy. More specifically, the paper makes the case for a soft institutionalist approach whereby local policymakers, the market and civil society work together to generate and distribute crucial resources of human, financial and social capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Established in 1951, the Children's Film Foundation (CFF) contributed to the growth of children's film culture in Britain. This paper aims to show how the CFF's active involvement of public authorities, film industry organisations and educationalists resulted in partnerships between them and in the growing production of children's films in Britain. Drawing on under-investigated archival materials, this paper argues that the Advisory Council of the Children's Film Department and Children's Entertainment Films, precursors of the CFF, offered significant platforms for mediation between public authorities, industry organisations and educationalists, and for shaping new beliefs about child audiences and children's cinema, which resulted in both the film industry's and educationalists' support for, and commitment to, producing films with entertaining and educational values. The case study demonstrates how the CFF overcame a commerce – culture dichotomy. It therefore offers a more nuanced understanding of state–market–civic relations in British cultural policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to clarify how social positioning and modes of cultural participation shape the meanings people attach to the European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016 initiative. The authors analyse both quantitative and qualitative evidence for narratives on ECOC, drawing on data collected in a survey (N = 1000) in 2017 and qualitative group interviews (10 FGIs) in 2016 and 2017. A literature-based narrative on the ECOC legacy is first reconstructed as a point of reference. Local perspectives on ECOC 2016 are derived from a representative survey and in-depth qualitative analysis to reveal bottom-up perspectives on what ECOC 2016 was. The paper examines the relationship between ECOC's values and the socioeconomic and sociocultural characteristics of city residents who support and oppose it, to determine how ECOC's values are related to class dimensions of social positioning and modes of cultural participation. The paper concludes that ways of understanding and narrating ECOC are derived primarily from cultural practices. Socio-demographic variables are of secondary importance. Both affirmative narratives of ECOC's achievements in cultural policy and critical accounts can be viewed as informative markers of who and how perceives cultural policy successes and failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extent to which Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), as policy concepts, are globalized, has been a matter of debate. This paper engages with the debate while seeking to move beyond the binary division of global and local scales of analysis. Empirically, it examines the emergence and politics of CCIs in Vietnam, with a focus on its connection with the implementation of the UNESCO 2005 Convention. The paper explores the complexity of the policy translation process, which shows the degrees to which neoliberal ideas can be translated in a post-socialist context. It also examines the role of UNESCO and questions the consistency of its position against the commodification of culture. Conceptually, it brings together different approaches to policy translation from language studies, Science and Technology Studies (STS), and postcolonial studies. The paper suggests that this interdisciplinary framework can further the understanding of both paradigmatic and pragmatic dimensions of policy travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the use of intangible cultural heritage as a vehicle for soft power in the service of geostrategic competitions between Iran and Turkey, two regional powers in West Asia. We focus on two significant trans-regional instances of intangible cultural heritage relevant to both countries: the mystic poet Rumi and the New Year's celebration of Nowruz. We draw on theories in political science and cultrual heritage as well as a host of sources in Persian, Turkish, and Azerbaijani, to demonstrate how heritage is mobilised concurrently as a nation-building device and a tool for soft power in international relations. We conclude by suggesting that, despite strong grounds for its claims, Iran's response in this competition has been reactive rather than proactive. Overall, the paper contributes to the scholarship on soft power and heritage diplomacy by presenting the first comparative analysis of cases of shared intangible heritage in West Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the influence of the Heritage Transfer of Development Rights (HTDR) among heritage property owners and explores how its successful implementation has been hampered based on the study of two indicators—policy awareness and implementation efficiency—which are vital for generating initial interest among stakeholders and leading them to use the policy. The HTDR policy at Ahmedabad, introduced in 2015 as an incentive program supporting the conservation of privately owned properties within the old city of Ahmedabad, has failed to generate much interest among the local community. As per the documents available online on the website of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, in the last 9 years, only 81 properties with TDR certificates. It is thus very pertinent to identify the reasons for its lack of influence and acceptance. In this study, a mixed method was adopted involving a closed-ended survey and semi structured interviews. The inferences are based on the responses gathered from heritage property owners currently living in heritage properties and those living elsewhere. The heritage properties were identified based on a random sampling method from the listed heritage properties spread across the 13 wards of the walled city. Based on the research findings, although most property owners are aware of the HTDR policy and find it an essential tool for conserving heritage in Ahmedabad, awareness of the whole mechanism and application process is significantly limited. The implementation of the HTDR policy is highly inefficient, and more awareness must be generated among owners. Moreover, more training or technical assistance needs to be provided to them to help them access the incentive program. The lack of a proper and comprehensible policy brief or document further hinders the situation. Overall, property owners are not completely satisfied with the HTDR policy and suggest critical revisions, such as reducing the file clearance time, calculating a new TDR amount, and modifying the stages of fund disbursement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural heritage (e.g., historic buildings, memorials and museums) has been used to construct and negotiate various identities and meanings in the present, specifically in the context of nation-states. In transforming the past into heritage, however, States may disregard other histories-ones which deviate from the historical narratives they promote. In this paper, I discuss the case of the Heritage Plan, Israel’s official cultural heritage policy. Specifically, by using the discursive approach, I expose and assess cases of silencing competing histories which would challenge the history promoted by the Heritage Plan. My findings suggest that, in addition to privileging Jewish heritage, the Heritage Plan is used as a mechanism for erasing competing, non-Jewish histories. This article presents three case-studies of silencing: the first investigates the Druze heritage center; the second inquires into Israeli heritage practices in the West Bank; the third examines the Castel national heritage site associated with the 1948 war. The analysis of these cases reveals how the Heritage Plan is guided by ethnic and religious factors, whereby heritage assets are not necessarily promoted according to their full historical value, but are instead used to sustain current power structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pennsylvania's (PA) processes and policies for landscape-scale cultural and visual resource conservation are lacking. In PA, like much of the United States (US), landscape change policies are prescriptive and concerned mainly with ecology, health, safety, and welfare issues. These factors combined relegate cultural and scenic aspects to ancillary matters, often leading to their degradation. Culturally focused fields, such as landscape architecture, archaeology, and planning call for rescaling cultural conservation planning to regional scale. Rescaling would treat cultural resources like other environmental and ecological resources, giving cultural resources equal weight in conservation evaluations. The United Kingdom (UK) has policies specifically for visual impact assessment required for development projects. This paper discusses scale issues and political processes within regional visual and cultural resource conservation in PA, US, compares nascent regional-scale planning efforts in PA and the UK, and proposes improvements to PA and, by extension, US cultural landscape conservation policy implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, the styles and the role of monumentality have undergone significant transformations in the West, in line with wider trends of democratization and demystification of arts. Nevertheless, statues depicting human figures are still important landmarks in urban cultures. The statue wars that have erupted in several countries during recent years to challenge the racist, colonial and/or patriarchal vision embodied by many monuments, are a tangible demonstration of this. However, the topic remains understudied in the scientific literature. This research paper is intended as a contribution to begin addressing this gap by focusing on the dimension of gender in public monuments. We analyze statues in Italy depicting contemporary secular female figures. The aim of this paper is to research gender-based patterns or stereotypes that are specific to cultural heritage and urban design. The sample consists of 34 statues, distributed throughout the Italian national territory. A thematic analysis is conducted on the corpus integrating visual, narrative, aesthetic and sociological elements. The results reveal the existence of evident and widespread forms of stereotyping and discrediting of the female figure in Italian monuments, as well as the inadequacy of cultural policies, both in small provincial as well as larger urban contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural heritage, cultural policy and cultural participation are crucial topics for the European Union (EU) participatory governance and social integration. The purpose of the paper is to conduct and develop conceptual and legal research on the EU documentation in the field of cultural policy, cultural heritage and cultural participation engaging a three-step research plan: (1) the appraisal of the recent literature in the field; (2) the broad interdisciplinary approach to the relevant doctrinal and latest legal advances; (3) the policy and societal contexts influencing the citizen participatory actions. The added value of the research is related to the identification of the inner concepts and processes influencing participatory governance and social integration: cultural assets, historical and social structures and areas, cultural goods, conservation management and participatory governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista CPC is the property of Revista CPC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents some findings of a research on a PhD level that aimed to develop a policy model regarding handling provenance research of Nazi looted art of Jewish ownership. The paper focuses on two major aspects related to provenance research of looted art, namely, the Museums' conflict of interests and training and education of researchers to handle collections in training for provenance research. The research offers practical tools for states that wish to rethink their cultural policy with regard to Nazi looted art. The research was carried out using a qualitative approach, and the data rely on in-depth, semi-structured interviews, analysis of various historical and present-day documents, plus discussion from the focus group. Interviewees included key art world figures, museum directors, art curators, senior diplomats, and senior government officials. The paper argues that it is of great importance for humanity to protect, preserve and maintain cultural heritage objects. Developments in culture heritage show collective history, social changes are reflected within cultural heritage objects and will present recommendations drawn from the findings regarding the role of museums and public collections' handlers in training for provenance research of Nazi looted art of Jewish ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal for Tourism, Archeology & Hospitality (IJTAH) is the property of Beni Suef University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Il Capitale Culturale: Studies on the Value of Cultural Heritage is the property of Il Capitale Culturale Studies on the Value of Cultural Heritage and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper refers to the current legislation drafting on cultural heritage in Romania, with a view to the amendments regarding museums and public collections. It debates both on the positive and the negative stipulations in the draft Code of Cultural Heritage, published by the Romanian Ministry of Culture early in 2022. The main subjects presented in the paper are: the revision of the definition of national movable cultural heritage, stating that all cultural goods are subject to legal protection, the emphasis on the public interest in protecting the cultural heritage as well as new and needed clarifications on the public property legal regime of cultural goods in the public domain, new centralized inventories and registries, new procedures regarding the classification as "National Treasury" and the new ex lege general protection regime for public collections, accredited museums and religious institutions, new obligations regarding the strategic planning of museum collections management and accessibility for the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article states that the philosophical nature/ambiguity/controversy of the issue of authenticity undermines its usefulness as a tool in conservation practice. The main drawback is the inability to objectively define the notion of authenticity. In conservation philosophy, the meaning of authenticity relativizes along with the widespread consent to the reproducibility of cultural heritage, whereas the recognition of its intangibility negates the sense of authenticity. In the World Heritage (WH) policy and practice, the uselessness/counterproductivity of authenticity as a necessary requirement is visible in the inconsistency of this system in the treatment of the commonly realized reproducibility of cultural heritage, and in relation to heritage with a prevailing intangibility, which is illustrated by the example of Gdańsk as a potential WH site. Although the article provides many arguments for departing from the concept of authenticity in the WH system, authenticity introduces the socially beneficial element of discretion (it cannot be considered binarily), as it forces a discussion that raises cultural awareness in an increasingly homogenized world. Finally, to reduce some inconsistencies in the WH system, this paper recommends restoring autonomy to criterion (vi) in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas is the property of Centro de Investigacao e Estudos de Sociologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Before the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, mass tourism was the main driver for the unusual growth of tourist accommodations in World Heritage Cities (WHC). This paper investigates how the mass tourism pause due to the pandemic can be considered an opportunity for resetting cultural heritage policy and management practice in WHC. Selecting the Historic Centers of Siena and Florence as the case studies, we explain how the two cities experienced an unusual increase in tourist accommodation before the pandemic. By reviewing scenarios for the COVID-19 virus outbreak in Italy, we argue insights for a new cultural heritage policy and management framework that can effectively moderate mass tourism in WHC. Our findings suggest the new policies should be initiated based on a multi-sectoral and multi-level approaches in planning practice. By creating a dynamic tourism map on the macro level, international cultural heritage and tourism organisations may agree on policies that mitigate tourist flows in vulnerable WHC. On the micro-level, there is a demand for regional directives that monitor the growth of tourist accommodations in WHC. Furthermore, local communities' engagement in decision-making may open new opportunities to work more collaboratively on the social or environmental challenges that exist in WHC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Actas de Diseño is the property of Facultad de Diseno y Comunicacion, Fundacion Universidad de Palermo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The nature and extent of past indigenous transformations in the Amazon basin is an actively debated topic, and one that has important implications for both conservation policy and the cultural heritage of its indigenous and traditional populations. The use of charcoal and phytoliths to measure past human impacts in non-lacustrine settings has become especially influential in this debate but has also generated disagreement among scholars regarding the possible limits of these proxies for detecting ancient land-use. To contribute empirical data to this issue, our paper presents the first attempt to study charcoal and phytolith signals from areas of modern indigenous land-use, in the Xingu Indigenous Territory, southern Amazonia. Our findings show that, while charcoal and early successional herb phytoliths are good indicators of land-use intensity, certain types of land-use leave subtler traces in the phytolith record that can hinder their detection. We demonstrate how using finer sampling resolution and comparing local proxy data on their own terms are necessary steps in order to identify trends in human land-use across time and space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How is land management related to cultural policy and how do these two different scientific fields contribute to cultural heritage protection? How may archaeological sites, immovable monuments, and state property be recorded in a specific Land Administration System? What are the records of the system in numbers? These questions will be answered in this publication, and the example of the Hellenic Archaeological Cadastre (HAC) will be analyzed in detail. The HAC project is one of the most important projects that has been designed, implemented, and launched within the last decade by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. The transition of the whole public sector in the digital era and the urgent need for reliable and updated geospatial documentation of public parcels of land and constructions, archaeological sites, and immovable monuments were the two main factors that led to the compilation and implementation of the specific LAS. This study presents the available tools, administrative procedures, records, qualitative and quantitative data, and prominent examples of public parcels of land accessible online in the open access web GIS platform. A SWOT analysis is also performed for its evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: In recent years, the impact of cultural factors on the economic development has been analysed. This research concerns the impact of culture on the labour market, the growth of innovation and creativity, participation in creating added value of GDP, stimulating exports, although the cultural sector also affects the development of tourism, entertainment and improvement in the quality of life of residents. Currently, the cultural sector is treated as a long-term economic investment affecting the development of the country. Aim: The goal of the article is to evaluate the functioning of the cultural sector in Poland. This assessment has been made on a regional basis. Results: To achieve the purpose, data of the GUS (Central Statistical Office in Poland) were analysed. The data concerned expenses allocated to culture and national heritage -- they included individual types of cultural institutions and number of cultural sector entities in 2018-2021. The results of the analysis of the cultural sector have been presented in tables and diagrams. Using an agglomeration method, the Polish provinces were grouped according to values of the analysed categories of expenses allocated to culture and national heritage in the provinces in year 2021. It was noticed that the development of the cultural sector in Poland is uneven, concentrated in the country's capital, which is typical for less developed countries. Therefore, main barriers to the development of the cultural sector in Poland were identified. The most important obstacles were: underfunding, lack of systemic solutions to support the demand for cultural goods, unfavourable legal and financial conditions for creators of culture, lack of support for cooperation between public and private cultural sector, dependence of the development of the cultural sector on politics, as well as lack of social acceptance of the cultural policy. Culture is also negatively affected by the processes of globalization, commercialization and recently the Covid 19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Future Museums Project Group was created under the Portuguese Ministry of Culture with the mission of proposing recommendations for a 10-year public policy for museums, palaces, and monuments, considering sustainability, accessibility, and innovation issues and their relevance in society. Against this background, museums were understood as agents of change with a role to play in achieving a more sustainable future, and culture as a fundamental pillar for democracy and sustainable development. This study discusses the findings of the project, focusing on three features that highlight the approach adopted to sustainability, which included collections management, participation, and mediation. Drawn from empirical research, a series of concrete recommendations, both for policy makers and museums, are discussed. The study concludes by arguing that cultural policies must place sustainability at the core of their strategy in order to function as a framework to drive and implement sustainable development practices in museums and heritage. Furthermore, within the scope of post-pandemic recovery plans, climate emergency, and the energy crisis, it is even more pressing that cultural policies provide support for museums and heritage and ensure that they have the conditions and resources to be able to move forward in a more integrated manner, thus contributing to a sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article is to analyse the rights of Indigenous Peoples to the protection, preservation, and management of their cultural heritage. The second element of the research is the analysis of the politicisation of the cultural heritage of Indigenous Peoples in the context of their right to participation and consultation. Considerations on this subject are presented in the context of the phenomenon of ethnic revival and empowerment of indigenous communities (both in Latin America and on a global scale), which has been developing for several decades, in line with the slogans of democratisation and decolonisation. These phenomena coincided in the first decades of the 21st century with an unprecedented moment in the political history of Latin America – the so-called progressive cycle of public policies, according to which the governments of subsequent countries rejected neoliberal concepts in favour of greater involvement of the authorities in building egalitarian societies, and in the field of cultural policies, the pursuit of ‘democratisation of culture’. As a case study of the discussed phenomena, the article presents the progressive cycle of cultural policy in the Republic of Peru and an example of the activity of the interdisciplinary program Proyecto Qhapaq Ñan, established in 2001 by the authorities of the Republic for the purpose of inventory, documentation and safeguarding the remains of the Andean Qhapaq Ñan Trail. Its trajectory reflects both the variables of Peru’s cultural policy, shaped in relation to the operational guidelines and international standards of the UN system, and the evolution of Peruvian ethnopolitics toward indigenous peoples in the last two decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of indicators to measure, evaluate, and assess cultural activities and policies represents a best practice (often unpractised) for local and national legislators and administrators, and nowadays this is more necessary than ever. The use of a tailored indicators framework is advisable for several different reasons, among which the provision of evidence regarding the role of cultural heritage, making it more visible and tangible; the development of the advocacy role of cultural heritage able to create an evidence-based narrative; its being an incentive for policymakers to reach measurable and targeted objectives. This contribution seeks to investigate, from a legal perspective, how to measure local cultural impact or, more correctly, how the measurement of this impact can take place and can be taken into account in the enactment of rules determining the creation and management of cultural projects and activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the question of the restitution of lost cultural property is no longer a new one, the issue of recovering illegally excavated archaeological objects has recently become a subject of attention from the Chinese Government. This article is an in-depth study of the process of recovering illegally excavated archaeological objects from Japan for the first time. The detailed analysis of this particular case focuses on the following: analyzing the legal issues involved in this case; exploring the legal basis for recovering illegally excavated archaeological objects and the relevant issues concerning the potentially adopted solutions; and universal recommendations on recovering archaeological objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal Public Administration & Social Management / Administração Pública e Gestão Social is the property of Administracao Publica e Gestao Social and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A growing attention to cultural participation of people with disabilities has been propelled by the entry into force of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Being strictly connected to the implementation of the CRPD, the focus on cultural participation of people with disabilities has accrued outside the remit of national cultural policy. This article carries out a thematic analysis of national disability strategies across 27 Member States of the European Union plus the UK and explores the extent to which these strategies can be considered rights-based cultural policy tools. It identifies four themes recurring across those strategies: enhancing accessibility of cultural heritage, cultural institutions and cultural content; supporting persons with disabilities as creators of culture; awareness-raising about cultural participation of persons with disabilities; and protecting disability identity and culture. It then discusses the measures linked to these themes that national disability strategies adopt. On the whole, this article argues that national disability strategies can be, to varying degrees, considered cultural policy tools, and display significant rights-based elements. It concludes with reflections on the broader implications of those findings for cultural policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joseph Nye's soft power has become popular among academics and practitioners in Thailand for decades. Despite its pervasiveness in Thai society, the soft power concept, which is predicated on the outcome‐based definition of power, has been misconstrued by Thai policymakers as synonymous with the resource‐based definition of power. This policy review examines key strategic blueprints of the relevant Thai state agencies and argues that they misunderstand soft power in its entirety. Mistaking soft power as cultural resources gravely affects how the Thai state agencies outline policy evaluation criteria, which neither conform to Nye's expectations nor achieve the Thai government's objectives. This policy review, however, discovers that "Thailand Foundation," which is the affiliated organization of Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, appropriately designs soft power indicators that can be emulated by the other Thai state agencies to make soft power strategies work for Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ruins are of high cultural significance and their protection is an important policy issue. This article argues that a focus on regional policies might in some instances help to counter ruined policies. In a first step, the article contours an understanding of ruins and distinguishes functions of ruins by the motivation of the constructors and the preservers. Subsequently, the article finds that some current attempts to 'keeping ruins alive', efforts to putting the presence in perspective with the past, relate to ruin(ed) temporalities because either the motivation of the constructors of ruins is ignored or the function of ruins for preservers is not reflected on sufficiently. The article concludes that a regional policy focus – in contrast to an international or domestic approach – might do more justice to these spatial differences and therefore might counter ruined temporalities and ruined policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study, on the one hand, seeks to offer the validated design of the Digitization of Cultural Heritage, Identities and Education (DICHIE) instrument, applicable in focus-group contexts, to extract qualitative data on both the needs and the challenges relating to the digitization of the cultural heritage of Castile and Leon (Spain). On the other hand, it aims to facilitate the contribution of solutions within the field of education and cultural policy for the cultural heritage within this Autonomous Community. The research adheres to quantitative-descriptive methodological principles and, in particular, follows instrumental psychometric studies of reliability and content validity. The results of the instrument were optimal, both in terms of internal reliability and complete global and intra-group content validity, for its application to professional areas of heritage conservation and education and digital cultural management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Colloquia Humanistica is the property of Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Slavic Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The ambitious 11fountains project was a flagship feature of the programme that won Leeuwarden (Netherlands) the title of European Capital of Culture for 2018. Eleven international artists were invited to design fountains for 11 towns in the province of Friesland. Feeling side-lined in the project, local Frisians responded by erecting their own fountain, which was decorated with 230 stylised penises and concealed a toilet. Drawing on theories of heritage and community formation to frame this fountain as a case study, I develop a concept of 'community-building heritage'. Community-building heritage is participatory, dependent on citizen contributions and explicitly aims to mobilise and connect individual contributors in a community. Understanding community-building heritage as an act of cultural self-signification, I argue that its facilitation within the European Capital of Culture initiative, either in official programming or as counter-initiative, may contribute to a more bottom-up and constructivist approach towards community constitution within European Union cultural policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wellbeing measures are gaining consensus as complementary to the traditional GDP approach when it comes to assessing the development of countries and communities. Cultural Welfare is a new, integrated approach aimed at promoting the wellbeing and health of individuals and communities through practices rooted in the arts and in cultural heritage. Recently, experimental tools have been devised and applied, with reference to either specific target groups of beneficiaries or individual cultural/artistic disciplines, the purpose of which is to measure and assess the contribution to individual and societal wellbeing, as well as the health of cultural and artistic participation and practice in general. Policies aimed at promoting cultural welfare need a robust body of evidence, and indicators may contribute to supporting them. While measures for the assessment of the culture-and-wellbeing relationship have been proposed at the national level or at the level of individual organizations or programmes, the level of local policies appears still largely unexplored. The article discusses a few theoretical and methodological issues and proposes a set of quality criteria for designing cultural welfare indicators on a local scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Culturas: Revista de Gestion Cultural is the property of Universidad Politecnica de Valencia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Cuestiones Políticas is the property of Revista Cuestiones Politicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents the methods of the continuing forced appropriation of Armenian cultural monuments in Artsakh by the Republic of Azerbaijan’s functionaries after the Second Artsakh War.1 The “Albanisation” of Armenian cultural monuments in Mountainous Karabagh in the scientific field began in the 1950s, when it was imperative to reinforce the Azerbaijani people’s cultural identity, based on the foundations laid between 1920 and 1930 and to try to make all the peoples living in the Southern Caucasus equally indigenous to the region. One of the “victims” of the “Albanisation” of the cultural heritage of the Armenians of Mountainous Karabagh is the monastic complex of Dadivank, located in the Karvachar area of the Shahumyan region. Passing under Azerbaijani jurisdiction in November 2020, it was presented to the international community as part of the historic-cultural heritage of the descendants of the Caucasian Albanians, which should be under the jurisdiction of Udis and Azerbaijanis. With this aim in view, the Azerbaijani leadership instituted the policy of forced appropriation and alienation of Armenian heritage from the Armenian culture through various means, which will be shown in detail below. This article will also demonstrate how the theory of “Albanisation” began and developed in Azerbaijani SSR historiography and what “scientific bases” were – and are – being brought forward during the Soviet and post-Soviet eras by historians to present Dadivank as Albanian. It will also reveal the directions Azerbaijan is following for the appropriation of Armenian cultural legacy, rebranding it as Albanian, and foisting this theory on the international public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new technologies, which will be briefly described below, provide opportunities for documenting cultural and historical structures as a whole and individual details with absolute accuracy and credibility, completely eliminating the subjective factor, speed, representativeness, usability in design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]