ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network working with more than 2,500 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development.

Navigation

ICLEI World Secretariat
Kaiser-Friedrich-Str. 7
53113 Bonn
Germany

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network working with more than 2,500 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development.

ICLEI Regional Secretariats and country offices

OpenHeritage – Organizing, Promoting and Enabling Heritage Re-use through Inclusion, Technology, Access, Governance and Empowerment

OpenHeritage
decor
ACTIVITY INFORMATION
What we are doing

OpenHeritage aims at developing and testing an inclusive governance model and a supporting toolbox for the adaptive reuse of cultural heritage assets. It builds on the role of communities and the possibility of empowering them in the redevelopment process based on the concepts of heritage community and participatory culture. The project operates with an open definition of heritage, not limited to listed assets but also involving those buildings, complexes, and spaces that have a symbolic or practical significance for local or trans-local heritage communities. Inclusiveness also means the incorporation of a coalition of stakeholders into the re-use and maintenance process, the integration of resources involving new financial and economic models, and working with the local social, environmental, administrative, and economic context of the heritage sites. Territorial integration is an essential element: the planning process goes beyond a building or a site to contribute to the transformation of wider areas. OpenHeritage connects diverse cases across Europe, involving sixteen Observatory Cases (OCs), which are adaptive reuse projects that are studied and compared in-depth, and six Cooperative Heritage Labs (CHLs), on-going projects overseen by consortium partners, where it co-creates and tests its inclusive model. The cases are situated in a variety of urban, periurban, and natural environments, and include diverse heritage assets.

Read more Read less
What we are achieving

ICLEI leads the general dissemination effort of OpenHeritage, with a particular focus on reaching out to local authorities all over Europe, leveraging its vast municipality network with the policy and academia connections of the consortium as a whole. ICLEI also contributes to the Observatory Cases, and to the Cooperative Heritage Labs, collecting and synthesizing information.

Read more Read less
Partners

Association of Polish Architects, Center for Urban History of East Central Europe, Central European University, Eurodite, Eutropian, Ghent University, Humboldt University of Berlin, Luiss Free International University of Social Studies Guido Carli, Metropolitan Research Institute, Newcastle University, Platoniq, Stiftung trias, Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust, University Roma Tre,

Having trouble?

If you encounter any issue with this page, kindly send us your feedback.

Submit issue

Related publications

2020
Report on the comparative analysis of Observatory Cases
Download
2019
Local Action Plans of the Cooperative Heritage Labs
Download