Cognitive mapping the topic of cultural heritage management

Cognitive mapping the topic of cultural heritage management

Joseph Kim-keung Ho

Independent Trainer

Hong Kong, China

Abstract: The topic of cultural heritage management is complex. By making use of the cognitive mapping technique to conduct a brief literature review on the cultural heritage management topic, the writer renders a systemic image on the topic of cultural heritage management. The result of the study, in the form of a cognitive map on cultural heritage management, should be useful to those who are interested in the topics of cognitive mapping, literature review and cultural heritage management.

Key words: cultural heritage management, cognitive mapping, literature review

Introduction

The topic of cultural heritage management is complex. It is thus useful to employ some learning tool to conduct its study, notably for literature review purpose. As a teacher in research methods, systems thinking and management, including tourism management, the writer is specifically interested in finding out how the cognitive mapping technique can be employed to study cultural heritage management as a literature review exercise. This literature review exercise is taken up and reported in this article.

On the cognitive mapping exercise for literature review

Literature review is an important intellectual learning exercise, and not just for doing final year dissertation projects for tertiary education students. On these two topics of intellectual learning and literature review, the writer has compiled some e-learning resources. They are the Managerial intellectual learning Facebook page and the Literature on literature review Facebook page. Conducting literature review with the cognitive mapping technique is not novel in the cognitive mapping literature, see Eden and Simpson (1989), Eden, Jones and Sims (1983), Open University (n.d) and the Literature on cognitive mapping Facebook page. In this article, the specific steps involved in the cognitive mapping exercise are as follows:

Step 1: gather some main points from a number of academic journal articles on cultural heritage management. This result in the production of a table (Table 1) with the main points and associated references.

Step 2: Consolidate  the main points from Table 1 to come up with a table listing the cognitive map variables (re: Table 2).

Step 3: Link up the cognitive  map variables in a plausible way to produce a cognitive map (re: Figure 1) on the topic under review.

The next section applies these three steps to produce a cognitive map on cultural heritage management.

Descriptions of cognitive map variables on the cultural heritage management topic

From the reading of some academic articles on cultural heritage management, a number of main points are gathered. They are shown in Table 1 with explicit referencing on the points.

Table 1: Main points from the cultural heritage management literature and referencing

Main points from the cultural heritage management literature	Referencing
Point 1.                    "a monument is defined as 'a clearly determined entity, the bearer of values, which represent a support to memory. In it, memory recognises the aspects that are pertinent to human deeds and thoughts, associated with the historic time-line".	Vecco, M. 2010. "A definition of cultural heritage: From the tangible to the intangible" Journal of Cultural Heritage 11 Elsevier: 321-324.
Point 2.                    "material heritage is of limited importance in many cultures..... On the other hand, many cultures that manifest little consideration for their heritage have developed the ability to conserve  their material culture".	Vecco, M. 2010. "A definition of cultural heritage: From the tangible to the intangible" Journal of Cultural Heritage 11 Elsevier: 321-324.
Point 3.                    "While the western philosophical approach as regards conservation manifests itself in the preservation of the historical monument, the oriental one tries to use the monuments to preserve the very spirit they represent".	Vecco, M. 2010. "A definition of cultural heritage: From the tangible to the intangible" Journal of Cultural Heritage 11 Elsevier: 321-324.
Point 4.                    "A definition of cultural heritage tourism inevitably derives from that of cultural heritage but varies significantly in that cultural heritage tourism (CHT) is travel directed  toward experiencing local traditions, arts, and heritage while respecting the host community  and its surrounding environment. The components of CHT are cultural heritage aspects such as monuments, archaeological sites, museums, and cultural experiences such as festivals and communities among others".	Keitumetse, S.O. 2009. "The Eco-tourism of Cultural Heritage Management (ECT-CHM): Linking Heritage and 'Environment' in the Okavango Delta Regions of Botswana" International Journal of Heritage Studies 15(2-3): 223244.
Point 5.                    "Agencies and organizations whose mission it is to protect and preserve historic and culturally important buildings,, monuments, and artifacts from the ravages of weather, pollution, development, and even use by the general public must compete for needed resources with other social goals".	Ready, R. and S. Navrud. 2002. "Chapter 1: Why Value Cultural Heritage" in Stẵle, N. and R.C. Ready (editors) Valuing cultural heritage: applying environmental valuation techniques to historic buildings, monuments and artifacts, June Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. UK.
Point 6.                    "Cultural heritage goods are.... typically public goods.... In order to be a pure public good, the good must have two properties. First, public goods are non-excludible....The second characteristic of a public good is that it is non-rival in consumption".	Ready, R. and S. Navrud. 2002. "Chapter 1: Why Value Cultural Heritage" in Stẵle, N. and R.C. Ready (editors) Valuing cultural heritage: applying environmental valuation techniques to historic buildings, monuments and artifacts, June Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. UK.
Point 7.                    "The value that a person gets from being able to enjoy a cultural heritage good is defined as the largest amount of money that that person would willingly pay to have that opportunity".	Ready, R. and S. Navrud. 2002. "Chapter 1: Why Value Cultural Heritage" in Stẵle, N. and R.C. Ready (editors) Valuing cultural heritage: applying environmental valuation techniques to historic buildings, monuments and artifacts, June Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. UK.
Point 8.                    "The approach of heritage organizations is to protect and preserve, while tourism has the overriding aim of becoming  a profitable business. Therefore, the management is often characterized by a series of conflicts where conservationists perceive heritage tourism as compromising conservation goals for the benefit of profit".	Aas, C., A. Ladkin and J. Fletcher. 2005. "Stakeholder collaboration and heritage management" Annals of Tourism Research 32(1), Pergamon: 28-48.
Point 9.                    "..irrespective of the opinions of the different interest groups, the high costs involved in the conservation of cultural heritage make the revenue from tourism indispensible".	Aas, C., A. Ladkin and J. Fletcher. 2005. "Stakeholder collaboration and heritage management" Annals of Tourism Research 32(1), Pergamon: 28-48.
Point 10.               "Fundamental to developing a successful symbolic  relationship between tourism and heritage is the need to involve all stakeholders in the development of the cultural resource, as there is a recognition that many of the problems are due to a lack of interaction".	Aas, C., A. Ladkin and J. Fletcher. 2005. "Stakeholder collaboration and heritage management" Annals of Tourism Research 32(1), Pergamon: 28-48.
Point 11.               "Narratives, storytelling and anecdotes play a crucial role in rendering intangible heritage attractive to tourists, diminishing the distance between "us" and "them".".	Dryjanska, L. 2015. "A social psychological approach to cultural heritage: memories of the elderly inhabitants of Rome" Journal of Heritage  Tourism 10(1): 38-56.
Point 12.               "The communication of the cultural heritage  to the external world helps to shape identities and perceptions of the surrounding reality, influencing the formation of a destination image.... The nearby places of historical and cultural value can be represented by the population that comes into frequent contact with them in many ways, depending on their function, esthetical appeal and emotional value to people".	Dryjanska, L. 2015. "A social psychological approach to cultural heritage: memories of the elderly inhabitants of Rome" Journal of Heritage  Tourism 10(1): 38-56.
Point 13.               "The understanding of cultural heritage includes and highly values its intangible aspects, such as esthetic, historical, scientific and social values, which in turn serve the identity purposes".	Dryjanska, L. 2015. "A social psychological approach to cultural heritage: memories of the elderly inhabitants of Rome" Journal of Heritage  Tourism 10(1): 38-56.
Point 14.               Cultural heritage management is the "practice of managing cultural heritage". It has traditionally been concerned with the identification, interpretation, maintenance and preservation of significant cultural sites and physical heritage assets, although intangible aspects of heritage, such as traditional skills, cultures and languages are also considered".	Wikipedia.org. 2017. "Cultural heritage management" Wikipedia.org (url address: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_heritage_management) [visited at April 15, 2017].
Point 15.               "What is needed in Asia is a synergy between heritage and tourism with improved modes of interpretation and presentation of sites to cater for a range of tourists from  the informed to the novice".	Taylor, K. 2004. "Cultural Heritage Management: A Possible Role for Charters and Principles in Asia" International Journal of Heritage Studies 10(5) December, Routledge: 417-433.
Point 16.               "It is essential that visitors'/tourists' needs, domestic and international, in terms of site planning and interpretation at heritage places in Asia are considered as part of the conservation management process".	Taylor, K. 2004. "Cultural Heritage Management: A Possible Role for Charters and Principles in Asia" International Journal of Heritage Studies 10(5) December, Routledge: 417-433.
Point 17.               "The growth in popular heritage consciousness relates to the values people put on knowing about the history of events, places, and people through time, and not just distant history but the present".	Taylor, K. 2004. "Cultural Heritage Management: A Possible Role for Charters and Principles in Asia" International Journal of Heritage Studies 10(5) December, Routledge: 417-433.
Point 18.               "The tangible fabric of heritage places and objects is capable of objective  quantification, but it is the values we attach to places and objects that are the fuel of the fire  of heritage".	Taylor, K. 2004. "Cultural Heritage Management: A Possible Role for Charters and Principles in Asia" International Journal of Heritage Studies 10(5) December, Routledge: 417-433.
Point 19.               "People want to know about their history and want it interpreted in such a way that it suffuses their need for memory connections".	Taylor, K. 2004. "Cultural Heritage Management: A Possible Role for Charters and Principles in Asia" International Journal of Heritage Studies 10(5) December, Routledge: 417-433.
Point 20.               "...in cultural heritage management, the key issue is whose culture we are presenting and why".	Taylor, K. 2004. "Cultural Heritage Management: A Possible Role for Charters and Principles in Asia" International Journal of Heritage Studies 10(5) December, Routledge: 417-433.
Point 21.               "Heritage... is what we absorb from the past and is part of the growing dependence we have on the past where we may in fact falsify history".	Taylor, K. 2004. "Cultural Heritage Management: A Possible Role for Charters and Principles in Asia" International Journal of Heritage Studies 10(5) December, Routledge: 417-433.
Point 22.               "Cultural heritage can be a strategic  factor in enhancing the competitiveness of a nation's domestic economy during the current worldwide economic  recession".	Pietro, L.D. and R.G. Mugion. 2015. "Cultural heritage and consumer behaviour: a survey on Italian cultural visitors" Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development 5(1), Emerald: 61-81.
Point 23.               "To invest in culture means to improve the quality of life in a specific territory by attracting new economic, financial and human resources that influence the growth of the society... Moreover, the tourist traffic that is attracted by the presence of cultural heritage resources contributes to an increase in satellite activities that also produce a related economic impact"... Furthermore, culture plays the role of a catalyst for new production and modes of the consumption of goods and services".	Pietro, L.D. and R.G. Mugion. 2015. "Cultural heritage and consumer behaviour: a survey on Italian cultural visitors" Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development 5(1), Emerald: 61-81.

With a set of main points collected, the writer produces a set of cognitive map variables. These variables are informed by the set of main points from Table 1. These variables are presented in Table 2.

Table 2: Cognitive map variables based on Table 1

Cognitive map variables	Literature review points
Variable 1: Understand specific societal context and culture	Point 2: "material heritage is of limited importance in many cultures..... On the other hand, many cultures that manifest little consideration for their heritage have developed the ability to conserve  their material culture". Point 3: "While the western philosophical approach as regards conservation manifests itself in the preservation of the historical monument, the oriental one tries to use the monuments to preserve the very spirit they represent". Point 5: "Agencies and organizations whose mission it is to protect and preserve historic and culturally important buildings,, monuments, and artifacts from the ravages of weather, pollution, development, and even use by the general public must compete for needed resources with other social goals". Point 17: "The growth in popular heritage consciousness relates to the values people put on knowing about the history of events, places, and people through time, and not just distant history but the present".
Variable 2: Understand cultural heritage	Point 1: "a monument is defined as 'a clearly determined entity, the bearer of values, which represent a support to memory. In it, memory recognises the aspects that are pertinent to human deeds and thoughts, associated with the historic time-line". Point 6: "Cultural heritage goods are.... typically public goods.... In order to be a pure public good, the good must have two properties. First, public goods are non-excludible....The second characteristic of a public good is that it is non-rival in consumption". Point 13: "The understanding of cultural heritage includes and highly values its intangible aspects, such as esthetic, historical, scientific and social values, which in turn serve the identity purposes". Point 21: "Heritage... is what we absorb from the past and is part of the growing dependence we have on the past where we may in fact falsify history".
Variable 3: Effective cultural heritage management practices	Point 5: "Agencies and organizations whose mission it is to protect and preserve historic and culturally important buildings,, monuments, and artifacts from the ravages of weather, pollution, development, and even use by the general public must compete for needed resources with other social goals". Point 14: Cultural heritage management is the "practice of managing cultural heritage". It has traditionally been concerned with the identification, interpretation, maintenance and preservation of significant cultural sites and physical heritage assets, although intangible aspects of heritage, such as traditional skills, cultures and languages are also considered". Point 20: "...in cultural heritage management, the key issue is whose culture we are presenting and why".
Variable 4: Collaboration with the tourism sector	Point  4: "A definition of cultural heritage tourism inevitably derives from that of cultural heritage but varies significantly in that cultural heritage tourism (CHT) is travel directed  toward experiencing local traditions, arts, and heritage while respecting the host community  and its surrounding environment. The components of CHT are cultural heritage aspects such as monuments, archaeological sites, museums, and cultural experiences such as festivals and communities among others". Point 8: "The approach of heritage organizations is to protect and preserve, while tourism has the overriding aim of becoming  a profitable business. Therefore, the management is often characterized by a series of conflicts where conservationists perceive heritage tourism as compromising conservation goals for the benefit of profit". Point 9: "..irrespective of the opinions of the different interest groups, the high costs involved in the conservation of cultural heritage make the revenue from tourism indispensible". Point 10: "Fundamental to developing a successful symbolic  relationship between tourism and heritage is the need to involve all stakeholders in the development of the cultural resource, as there is a recognition that many of the problems are due to a lack of interaction". Point 11: "Narratives, storytelling and anecdotes play a crucial role in rendering intangible heritage attractive to tourists, diminishing the distance between "us" and "them".". Point 15: "What is needed in Asia is a synergy between heritage and tourism with improved modes of interpretation and presentation of sites to cater for a range of tourists from  the informed to the novice". Point 16: "It is essential that visitors'/tourists' needs, domestic and international, in terms of site planning and interpretation at heritage places in Asia are considered as part of the conservation management process".
Variable 5: Appropriately evaluate cultural heritage value and cultural heritage performance	Point 7: "The value that a person gets from being able to enjoy a cultural heritage good is defined as the largest amount of money that that person would willingly pay to have that opportunity". Point 18: "The tangible fabric of heritage places and objects is capable of objective  quantification, but it is the values we attach to places and objects that are the fuel of the fire  of heritage". Point 19: "People want to know about their history and want it interpreted in such a way that it suffuses their need for memory connections".
Variable 6: Impacts to the society	Point 12: "The communication of the cultural heritage  to the external world helps to shape identities and perceptions of the surrounding reality, influencing the formation of a destination image.... The nearby places of historical and cultural value can be represented by the population that comes into frequent contact with them in many ways, depending on their function, esthetical appeal and emotional value to people". Point 22: "Cultural heritage can be a strategic  factor in enhancing the competitiveness of a nation's domestic economy during the current worldwide economic  recession". Point 23: "To invest in culture means to improve the quality of life in a specific territory by attracting new economic, financial and human resources that influence the growth of the society... Moreover, the tourist traffic that is attracted by the presence of cultural heritage resources contributes to an increase in satellite activities that also produce a related economic impact"... Furthermore, culture plays the role of a catalyst for new production and modes of the consumption of goods and services".

The next step is to relate the cognitive map variables to make up a cognitive map on cultural heritage management. The cognitive map is explained further in the next section.

A cognitive map on cultural heritage management and its interpretation

By relating the variables identified in Table 2, the writer comes up with a cognitive map on cultural heritage management, as shown in Figure 1.

The cognitive map on cultural heritage management  comprises the following types of variables:

Generic and situational understanding of cultural heritage: They include variable 1 (understand specific societal context and culture) and variable 2 (understand cultural heritage).

Effective cultural heritage management and related practices: They include variable 3 (effective cultural heritage management practices) and variable 4 (collaboration with the tourism sector).

Impacts assessment: They cover variable 5 (appropriately evaluate cultural heritage value and cultural heritage performance) and variable 6 (impacts to the society).

These cognitive  map variables are related to make up a systemic image of cultural heritage management. The links in the cognitive map (re: Figure 1) indicate direction of influences between variables. The + sign shows that an increase in one variable leads to an increase in another variable while a -ve sign tells us that in increase in one variable leads to a decrease in another variable.  If there no signs shown on the arrows, that means the influences can be positive or negative.

Concluding remarks

The cognitive mapping exercise captures in one diagram some of the main variables involved in cultural heritage management. The resultant cognitive map promotes an exploratory way to study cultural heritage management  in a holistic tone. The experience of the cognitive mapping exercise is that it can be a quick, efficient and entertaining way to explore a complex topic such as cultural heritage management. Finally, readers who are interested in cognitive mapping should also find the article informative on this mapping topic.

Bibliography

1.      Aas, C., A. Ladkin and J. Fletcher. 2005. "Stakeholder collaboration and heritage management" Annals of Tourism Research 32(1), Pergamon: 28-48.

2.      Dryjanska, L. 2015. "A social psychological approach to cultural heritage: memories of the elderly inhabitants of Rome" Journal of Heritage  Tourism 10(1): 38-56.

3.      Eden, C. and P. Simpson. 1989. "SODA and cognitive mapping in practice", pp. 43-70, in Rosenhead, J. (editor) Rational Analysis for a Problematic World, Wiley, Chichester.

4.      Eden, C., C. Jones and D. Sims. 1983. Messing about in Problems: An informal structured approach to their identification and management, Pergamon Press, Oxford.

5.      Keitumetse, S.O. 2009. "The Eco-tourism of Cultural Heritage Management (ECT-CHM): Linking Heritage and 'Environment' in the Okavango Delta Regions of Botswana" International Journal of Heritage Studies 15(2-3): 223244.

6.      Literature on cognitive mapping Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/Literature-on-cognitive-mapping-800894476751355/).

7.      Literature on cultural heritage Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/literature.cultural.heritage/).

8.      Literature on literature review Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/literature.literaturereview/).

9.      Managerial intellectual learning Facebook page, maintained by Joseph, K.K. Ho (url address: https://www.facebook.com/managerial.intellectual.learning/).

10. Open University. n.d. "Sign graph" Systems Thinking and Practice (T552): Diagramming, Open University, U.K. (url address: http://systems.open.ac.uk/materials/T552/) [visited at April 10, 2017].

11. Pietro, L.D. and R.G. Mugion. 2015. "Cultural heritage and consumer behaviour: a survey on Italian cultural visitors" Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development 5(1), Emerald: 61-81.

12. Ready, R. and S. Navrud. 2002. "Chapter 1: Why Value Cultural Heritage" in Stẵle, N. and R.C. Ready (editors) Valuing cultural heritage: applying environmental valuation techniques to historic buildings, monuments and artifacts, June Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. UK.

13. Taylor, K. 2004. "Cultural Heritage Management: A Possible Role for Charters and Principles in Asia" International Journal of Heritage Studies 10(5) December, Routledge: 417-433.

14. Vecco, M. 2010. "A definition of cultural heritage: From the tangible to the intangible" Journal of Cultural Heritage 11 Elsevier: 321-324.

15. Wikipedia.org. 2017. "Cultural heritage management" Wikipedia.org (url address: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_heritage_management) [visited at April 15, 2017].