Public participation and local community involvement have taken centre stage in heritage practice in recent decades. In contrast with this established position in wider heritage work, public engagement with conservation practice is less well developed. The focus here is on conservation as the practical care of material cultural heritage, with all its associated significance for local people. How can we be more successful in building capacity for local ownership and leadership of heritage conservation projects, as well as improving participative involvement in decisions and in practice? This book presents current research and practice in community-led conservation. It illustrates that outcomes of locally-led, active participation show demonstrable social, educational and personal benefits for participants. Bringing together UK and international case studies, the book combines analysis of theoretical and applied approaches, exploring the lived experiences of conservation projects in and with different communities. Responding to the need for deeper understanding of the outcomes of heritage conservation, it examines the engagement of local people and communities beyond the expert and specialist domain. Highlighting the advances in this important aspect of contemporary heritage practice, this book is a key resource for practitioners in heritage studies, conservation and heritage management. It is also relevant for the practising professional, student or university researcher in an emerging field that overarches professional and academic practice.

1 Introduction: Engaging Conservation - practising heritage conservation in communities Gill Chitty Part 1 Approaches: community engagement, participation and capacity building 2 Engaging Conservation: communities, place and capacity building Jukka Jokilehto 3 People-centred approaches: engaging communities and developing capacities for managing heritage Gamini Wijesuriya, Jane Thompson and Sarah Court 4 Everyone loves a good story: narrative, tradition and public participation in conservation Nigel Walter 5 The language changes but practice stays the same: does the same have to be true for community conservation? Keith Emerick 6 Community involvement in mapping and safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in India Nerupama Y. Modwel 7 An insight into Historic England's approach to community-led conservation Helen Marrison 8 Engaging with industrial heritage in the twenty-first century: a perspective from the work of the Industrial Heritage Support Officer Ian Bapty 9 Developing evaluation strategies for engagement projects in museum conservation Danai Koutromanou Part 2 Case studies: engaging conservation in community practice 10 Living with history in York: increasing participation from where you are Lianne Brigham, Richard Brigham, Peter Brown and Helen Graham 11 Community heritage and conservation in Castleford, West Yorkshire Alison Drake 12 Dunston Staiths: the reconnection of an industrial monument Craig Wilson 13 Heritage conservation: the forgotten agenda in Victorian terraced communities Joanne Harrison 14 Linking people and heritage: lessons from community engagement initiatives in India Krupa Rajangam 15 Community involvement matters in conserving World Heritage Sites: remote cases of Japan Aya Miyazaki 16 Researching with the public, conserving with the community: the Martos project workshop, Spain Laura-Melpomeni Tapini and Lucia Gomez-Robles 17 SPAB Maintenance Co-operatives: a move towards meaningful community participation? Stella Jackson and Alaina Schmisseur 18 Maintaining treasures on Earth: supporting volunteers to care for places of worship Henry Russell and Philip Leverton 19 The devil is in the detail: capacity building conservation skills at the Stone Masons' Lodge Sophie Norton