Multidisciplinarity, Citizen Participation and Geographic Information System, Cross-Cutting Strategies for Sustainable Development in Rural Heritage. The Case Study of Valverde de Burguillos (Spain)

• Published in: Sustainability 2020-11, Vol.12 (22), p.9628
• Main Authors: Rey-Pérez, Julia, Domínguez-Ruiz, Victoria
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 21st century; Cross cutting; Cultural heritage; Cultural resources; Culture; Decision making; Developing countries; Geographic information systems; Information management; Information systems; LDCs; Management tools; Natural resources; Population decline; Public administration; Public participation; Public sector; Quality of life; Research methodology; Rural areas; Rural environments; Sustainability; Sustainable development; Urban areas; Urban development; Values
• ISSN: 2071-1050; 2071-1050
• DOI: 10.3390/su12229628

The pace at which cities grow and its impact on heritage management has meant that those heritage assets not linked to the traditionally monumental have been directly doomed to oblivion. The purpose of this article is to present a research methodology backed up by multidisciplinarity and stakeholders’ diversity that allows us to highlight the values and singular aspects of this rural heritage. To achieve this, a methodology was devised that is divided into three phases: mapping of human, cultural, and natural resources based on studies undertaken by the Public Sector Administration, experts, and the citizens themselves. The second phase involved the establishment of what to protect amongst all the stakeholders involved. Finally, the third stage entails integration of the information within an urban development framework. In order to work on the development of a diagnosis from three highly different approaches, Geographic Information Systems was used as information management tools, as a means of contrasting it and performing a comprehensive analysis of the same. The development of such a holistic approach provided a patrimonial map of essential resources in the municipality to be taken into account to shape sustainable development strategies inherent to a rural environment of low density. The lack of this comprehensive approach when managing rural heritage in which citizens take on centre stage in decision-making processes unearths two fundamental issues: firstly, the ascertainment of the existence of cultural heritage hitherto abandoned, alongside the need to endow urban governance powers to the public administration, as it falls to them to spearhead this shift in public management.