OpenHeritage Observatory Cases

Observatory Cases are ongoing, advanced experiments of adaptive re-use of heritage sites. They are practices that present prototypes of innovation in the realm of community/stakeholder involvement, resource integration, financial management or having an area-based, territorial approach. Many of them have a deep social mission, aiming to increase the social integration of vulnerable people, and the re-use is regarded as part of creating a more sustainable, eco-friendly way of development. OCs are important knowledge resources and they present a crucial link between analysis and practice.

Before the consortium meeting in Barcelona, OH partners were asked in November 2018 to send in ‘hypotheses’ to prepare and explore the ideas around Open Heritage. These ‘hypotheses’ recorded as proposals within this process were used to support ongoing academic research as well as clarify what underlying assumptions and knowledge partners bring to heritage work. However, much of this took place before the Open Heritage Decidim platform was up and running. So hypotheses were sent through email and voted on through a physical in person process using ‘dotmocracy’ where participants (partners) voiced their votes through putting dots on the hypotheses or proposals that resonated best with how they thought about the Open Heritage project. Digitizing this process on Decidim, we want to record our history and experience as accurately as possible for greater transparency as well as to share knowledge about our beginnings in creating collective decision making processes.