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Short Abstract

In this presentation we introduce and explore the concept of Heritage Practice Communities (HPCs). HPCs may create and share knowledge independently of formal institutions, which can seem at odds with many citizen science models that are conventionally shaped and controlled by heritage institutions.

Abstract

In this presentation we introduce and explore the concept of Heritage Practice Communities (HPCs). This is a term which is intended to assist researchers and others with making sense of how diverse groups engage with heritage, beyond formal, institutional frameworks.

Public participation, including through citizen science, is often shaped by top-down models that can primarily serve, or originate from heritage institutions. Academic research on HPCs has also commonly aimed at providing training or instruction, or otherwise modifying, correcting or harnessing the ways in which the public uses, accesses and works with heritage. We contend that across society, many groups exist that independently create and share heritage knowledge. The goals and interests of these HPCs may sometimes be in alignment with, or be influenced by, the goals and interests of heritage institutions. At other times, however, their interests and ways of generating knowledge may differ from and even be at odds with those of heritage institutions.

We explore what it means to study, engage with and co-create with HPCs, suggesting that in a metaphorical ‘galaxy’ of heritage actors and activities, HPCs, institutions, and other actors form dynamic, ever-shifting constellations, capturing the fluidity of these relationships. We conclude with a call for a shift away from institutional perspectives on heritage practices and communities. We aim in this way to support more respectful, engagements from both researchers and heritage professionals, not just viewing non-professionals through their usefulness to institutions, but recognizing them as equal stakeholders around a shared object of interest, with autonomy and intrinsic value.