Tilgang til Transformation af Kulturmiljøer: En Fælles Fortælling

In Denmark, there are unities of buildings that reflect locally based narratives and which can be categorized as cultural environments. The concept of a ‘cultural environment’ does not have an official definition, but it represents a category in local Danish planning which the dissertation is based upon. Today the department in the Danish ministry called ’Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen’ defines cultural environments by the following: ”a geografic and defined area, that in its present, reflects significant aspects of the societal change”, which is rooted the first definitions of cultural environments from the 1990s. Cultural environments can be characterized by a unity of the buildings, which is why it is the integrity that provides the narrative for the place. The dissertation examines what characterizes a cultural environment by studying the development of the concept of cultural environments in relation to official heritage documents - both Danish and international documents. Cultural environments are embedded in heritage, and the definition of heritage has, especially in recent decades, been challenged and expanded. The first official heritage documents focus on ‘the monument’, but since then, the concept of heritage has been developed to include landscapes, unities of buildings, and entire cities. Likewise, the heritage definition has been expanded to include the people who value, and is connected to, the heritage. The Australian professor Laurajane Smith challenges the understanding of heritage, in the 2006 publication Uses of Heritage, and argues that people’s connection to heritage is what constitutes heritage. These developments provide an opportunity to examine the characterization of cultural environments, from a perspective that emphasizes the life that unfolds in the cultural environment.

The research project ’Screening af Kulturmiljøer’ screened, in collaboration with the municipalities, local archives, and museums, over 2100+ cultural environments in 52 municipalities between 2015-2020. The dissertation is based on this research project, but it also questions the screening method, which still is rooted in a definition that emphasizes the physical cultural environment. Based on a research focus that emphasizes the life that unfolds in the cultural environment, the dissertation examines what characterizes a cultural environment and, from these investigations, examines how cultural environments can be approached. The latter relates to the municipalities' management of cultural environments, to which the dissertation will inspire to a possible approach in relation to transformation of cultural environments. The dissertation includes two studies in two different Danish cultural environments, as well as two case studies of a Danish cultural environment and an Australian heritage city. The studies, in the two Danish cultural environments, uses the methods Research by Design and Action Research. More specifically site-specific interventions that examines a collaborative approach and the question of how the cultural environment is being perceived. The dissertation uses methods within the design-based research tradition and humanistic methods such as interview and observation. In relation to the emphasizes of the people who is connected to heritage, the subject of cultural environments are discussed in relation to phenomenological and sociological theory. In addition, the dissertation incorporates relevant architectural theory and place theory. The dissertation's research is presented in separate chapters, but has emerged through an interaction between theory, method and investigations. The dissertation's research is discussed and concluded in a series of insights. These insights is formed as a contribution that can inspire the local management of cultural environments, as well as inform further research in the subject of cultural environments.

The dissertation contributes with a perspective, where the site-specific use of the cultural environment is a part of the characterization. In addition, the dissertation contributes with insight to an approach to transformation, which balances the expert’s assessments and the people who is devoted to the cultural environment. The dissertation’s interventions enabled a setting for negotiation, activation and interaction, which exemplifies an approach to transformation that frames a continuous interaction with the cultural environment. The dissertation does not unfold transformation, but an approach to transformation and should be read as a preliminary study to further research in relation to transformation of cultural environments. The dissertation’s research has provided a focused contribution, where the people in the cultural environments was the focal point of the studies. Going forward, the dissertation’s focus on people’s connection to the heritage, which also is a part of social sustainability, can be brought into a more widespread sustainability context. The theoretical perspective, presented in the dissertation, investigates the correlation between the intangible and material heritage, which can contribution to the general discussion about heritage.