Developing Partnerships: tools for interpretation and management of World Heritage Sites

This paper proposes a model of partnership for World Heritage Site and presents a discussion, using British and North American examples. Partnerships are examined for protected and mixed-use settings, where the scale involved ranges from local/regional to international. Emphasis is directed at assessing partnerships as a tool to assist site interpretation and general site management, visitor management in particular. It is suggested that partnerships need to be broad-based, encouraging empowerment of, and cooperation between, stakeholders, accepting that they will range from agency-led to grassroots initiatives and result in public-private co-operative arrangements. It is also argued that partnerships should not just exist at the management level alone. Rather, they should filter down to the visitors and be reflected in how they view and respect the site through their understanding of its qualities.