Review of Heritage, a Driver of Development. The 17th ICOMOS General Assembly Scientifi c Symposium

Abstract

First paragraph: The 17th ICOMOS Scientific Symposium ran in parallel with the ICOMOS General Assembly, from 28 November to 1 December 2011, at the Headquarters of UNESCO in Paris, and was centred on the topic of 'Heritage, a Driver of Development'. The aim of the conference was to explore the active role of heritage in shaping the society of tomorrow. In the introductory address, Philippe Belaval — Director General of Heritage at the French Ministry of Culture and Communication — suggested that the focus should be on heritage as an asset and that development was a way to talk to people who are less receptive to the possible beneficial roles played by heritage within society. ICOMOS must be congratulated on selecting this theme, as the subject is an increasingly important part of the world-view of conservation and heritage management, and this global conference provided an excellent stage to examine the current nature of the relationship between heritage and development. The conference produced the 'Paris Declaration on heritage as a driver for development', which was adopted at the end of the Symposium as a summary of participants’ views and conclusions (see ICOMOS, 2011).