Heritage Work: Understanding the Values, Applying the Values

The inclusion of social value within the constellation of heritage values that lend significance to specific places is not new. But heritage practitioners have recently developed creative responses to new pulses shaping heritage itself. Given societal expectations that our work be transparent, democratic, and able to be validated, the development of social value methods has been slow. Colleagues and political decision makers alike privately express doubts about the legitimacy of social value; meanwhile, many communities have up-skilled and are doing their own heritage work. This paper explores shifting influences in heritage practice and how it engages with people, considering challenges of representation, essentialism, diversity,accumulation, scale, fluidity, repeatability, and affordability. These ideas are explored through examples drawn from practice in southeastern Australia.