"When the heritage came" : world heritage and local communities through the prism of Ironbridge Gorge

Exploring the role of local communities in the identification and subsequent management of World Heritage Sites (WHS) is particularly relevant, as it is not clear how to define local communities and how they can be included in the World Heritage process, which was initially designed for professionals. This thesis adopts two concepts - cognitive ownership and Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) - as overarching frameworks in an attempt to address the gap in research on communities and World Heritage and to bring new knowledge to the field. An overview of global representations of communities in the literature in the contexts of authenticity, integrity, management and OUV is complemented by a review of developments pertaining to the inclusion of communities within the World Heritage discourse, based on archival research at ICOMOS Paris, IUCN Gland, ICCROM Rome and on the study of World Heritage Centre decisions. The aim of this research is two-fold. It explores global representations of communities through the prism of self-defined communities in Ironbridge Gorge. The application of the cognitive ownership model in identification of communities at the micro level bring knew knowledge about the role of communities in the World Heritage process, both at the global and local level. The microcosm of Ironbridge gives an insight into how communities absorb, negotiate and transmit the concept of OUV.