Sustainable development in a Dutch-German World Heritage site: The Wadden Sea, Germany and the Netherlands

2012 ◽  
pp. 279-289
Author(s):  
Barbara Engels ◽  
Carol Westrik
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 8006
Author(s):  
Till Schmäing ◽  
Norbert Grotjohann

The Wadden Sea ecosystem is unique in many respects from a biological perspective. This is one reason why it is protected by national parks in Germany and by its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In biology didactics, there are only a few studies that focus on the Wadden Sea. This work investigates students’ word associations with the two stimulus words “national park” and “UNESCO World Heritage Site”. The survey was conducted among students living directly at the Wadden Sea and among students from the inland. The analysis of the identified associations (n = 8345) was carried out within the framework of a quantitative content analysis to be able to present and discuss the results on a group level. A statistically significant difference was found between the two groups. Overall, results showed that the students made subject-related associations as well as a large number of associations to both stimulus words that could be judged as non-subject-related. In some cases, a connection with the region of residence could be found, but this was not generally the case. Even students’ immediate residential proximity to the Wadden Sea is no guarantee that they have knowledge of the two considered protection terms.


Author(s):  
Mavis Thokozile Macheka

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which Great Zimbabwe World Heritage Site has contributed to the sustainable development of the local people who live in its vicinity. What is critically important to underscore is the value of the site to society. Design/methodology/approach The relevant data were collected through questionnaires, personal interviews and site visits. Findings The paper reveals that cultural heritage has affected sustainable development of local communities living in its vicinity in social and cultural terms. There is promotion of Shona traditions through exhibitions and selling of curios by local people at community projects such as the Shona Village and the Great Zimbabwe Nemanwa Craft Centre. The two projects also generate revenue to the local communities. However it was established that a number of benefits from the site such as employment creation are temporary and unsustainable. The main challenge for effecting sustainable development to local communities is lack of community participation. Originality/value Most researchers are arguing that sustainability of cultural heritage is much more difficult compared to natural heritage but the findings reflect that cultural heritage through Great Zimbabwe World Heritage Site could be an essential engine and valuable resource for sustainable development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4025
Author(s):  
Weifeng Guo ◽  
Xiangmin Zheng ◽  
Fang Meng ◽  
Xiaonan Zhang

It is necessary to examine cultural space in tourism destinations, including World Heritage Sites, for the long-term sustainable development of these destinations. Existing studies on cultural space mainly concentrate on the conceptual and textural elements. However, factors influencing the evolution of cultural space still need to be explored for the sustainable development of tourism destinations. Taking Mount Wuyi, a World Heritage Site in China, as a case study, this research examines the evolutionary trend of its tea cultural space. Specifically, this study investigates indicators that influence cultural space and explores its evolutionary mechanism. The vector autoregressive model was used to analyze Mount Wuyi’s tea cultural space evolution from 1996 to 2017. The results reveal that culture had the highest overall development in the tea-space evolution; the market supply and demand were the strongest and most enduring exogenous forces. Moreover, the evolution of tea cultural space demonstrated a multi-stranded interactive evolution model. This study not only enriches the understanding of cultural space evolution in tourism destinations but also offers suggestions for the sustainable development and management of World Heritage Sites.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 8825
Author(s):  
Else Ragni Yttredal ◽  
Nathalie Homlong

Many frameworks, theories and tools exist to help operationalize and comprehend the concepts of sustainable development and sustainability. However, knowledge about how the concepts are perceived at a local level is scarce. The objective of this paper is therefore to gain such insight and, through this, to contribute to the understanding of local sustainability dynamics. A study of perceptions of sustainability was carried out in Geirangerfjord, a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Natural World Heritage Site in Western Norway. Using semi-structured interviews, stakeholders were asked about their perceptions of what sustainable development in Geirangerfjord entails. Several methods of analysis were used, namely, theme analysis, emergent pattern analysis and group comparisons. Furthermore, an approach we call the “What Is Not There (WINT) analysis” was developed to identify themes that are part of the sustainability discourse, but that were not mentioned by stakeholders. Among the results of the analysis are that social dimensions of sustainability dominated the perceptions of stakeholders. Stakeholder perceptions are furthermore context-dependent and are formed by sustainability issues that are close to people’s lives. The study also indicates that place of residence is a strong determinant of perceptions. In this way, the article adds to the existing literature on perceptions of sustainability.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohayah Che Amat

This research presents the value of historic urban landscape (HUL) elements in influencing the character of George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS), Penang, Malaysia. The values were perceived by the local community of different social-cultural groups that occupied the study area. The historic urban landscape elements constitute towards the protection of its townscape. The identification of the heritage elements influenced by the community interaction with their environment. This study also helps to define the character of a place, as well as reflecting its historical significance. The study adopted four techniques to gather both qualitative and quantitative data, including questionnaire survey, in-depth interview, visual survey and content analysis. In general, the local community has the capability in valuing the historic urban landscape values. The outcomes of their perceptions became the statement of the historic urban landscape values, which are expected to lead to the development of the areas. The community evaluation and perception can be expanded in implementing any development of the historic urban area by the authority.


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