The discussant will share his views on evolving bank heritage policies, especially on the importance of community consultation in deciding what heritage to protect and how to protect it.
Cultural heritage can be broadly defined as any human-modified site or object, natural feature, or cultural practice. Such an expansive definition, however, makes cultural heritage almost impossible to fully protect from development projects. Consequently, international lender standards define cultural heritage as only those sites, objects, features, and practices that have value to international, national, or local stakeholders. One of the key challenges for international cultural heritage practitioners is that the value assigned to different forms of cultural heritage varies across regions, countries, subnations, and even individual communities. In addition, the practices utilized to identify, evaluate, and manage impacts on cultural heritage differ considerably by region, country, and even subnations, which are sometimes but not always codified in laws and regulations. International lender standards are intended to be applicable across diverse geographic settings. As a result, they seek to protect cultural heritage from the impacts of lender-financed development projects while respecting local values and not superseding local practices. Consultation with local stakeholders, including affected communities and regulatory authorities, is crucial for achieving the latter. As a result, consultation has become an increasingly important component of international lender standards for cultural heritage.
Greg is a professional anthropologist and leader of the Social Cluster at IDB Invest with 20 years of experience applying lender standards for cultural heritage, especially in Latin America.