Civic Participation in the Conservation of Multicultural Heritage in Mardin

2021-8-05
Karaoğlu Köksalan, İpek
Conservation is a selective process, and through heritage policies and management approaches, governments influence what and how heritage is conserved. Adequate and efficient civic participation, implying the participation of the local civic society, local authorities, professional chambers, the third sector, and the private sector, is the only way to establish an equitable conservation process. The input of different stakeholders in a conservation project can bring in rich values and resources. Through community engagement, communities’ pride and connection to their own culture, history, and heritage can be strengthened. The local knowledge and cultural intimacies that communities possess can enrich heritage-related research. Through a dense literature review, library and archival research, multiculturalism and multicultural theories are studied. International charters and documents on civic participation in conservation and the conservation of multicultural heritage are analyzed. Turkey’s legal and administrative systems and institutions related to conservation are assessed. Through a case study that consists of site visits, interviews with the local community, religious and administrative leaders, local scholars, key professionals working in NGOs, project leaders and tour guides, this thesis thus evaluates the role of civic participation in the conservation of multicultural heritage in Mardin. Through the case studies of civic participation in conservation, interpretation, and exhibition of multicultural heritage in Mardin through archaeology and museums, it considers what aspects make culture-related civic participation projects successful. To conclude, it considers suggestions that can help develop civic participation in the conservation of multicultural heritage, specifically in Mardin, as well as in Turkey in general.

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Citation Formats
İ. Karaoğlu Köksalan, “Civic Participation in the Conservation of Multicultural Heritage in Mardin,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2021.