Paper short abstract:

Museums worldwide have conservation values related to the complex links between heritage conservation and people. This bond is fluid, active and mutable.

Paper long abstract:

The construction and communication of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in a museum have great significance concerning the self- perceptions and the formation of the environmental identity of the people, in a certain socio-cultural context. In addition, the development of socio-cultural behaviors related to the Traditional Ecological Knowledge is an expression of the relationship between people and their environment. Museums and object exhibitions can perpetuate existing worldviews because the collection and display of museum object are made by museum professionals. In this context, non-professional involvement in museum conservation in collecting, exhibitions and interpreting of minority or subaltern groups can be instrumental in the management and communication of cultural biodiversity