Provincial Government of Zaragoza (Spain) lead partner of MOMAr project got together thirty stakeholders related to heritage management and rural development to take part in the first meeting with local agents in the province of Zaragoza last January.
The stakeholders were representative from the Government of Aragon, the University of Zaragoza, private companies and professionals in cultural management, study centers, local action groups in the province of Zaragoza and entities like the Mudéjar Territory, the Tarazona Monumental Foundation, the Uncastillo Foundation or the Pueblo Viejo de Belchite Foundation. The aim of the meeting was explained to the stakeholders: to design new models of rural heritage management to allow sustainable development taking into consideration the requirements of each territory for them to be able to adapt.
The general objective of MOMAr is to improve the development of all the policy instruments addressed in the project (structural and non-structural funds) through the application of efficient management models adapted to the heritage of those places with demographic problems. The ultimate goal in the Provincial Government of Zaragoza case is to create a working document that includes an action plan for the province of Zaragoza and incorporates all the actors involved in the management and dissemination of heritage.
For that reason, stakeholders are directly involved in heritage management and rural development strategies and the first meeting was organized as the first contact in the process of an upcoming collaboration.
"Traditionally, only attention has been paid to the restoration and recovery of heritage". highlighted the deputy delegate for Culture of the DPZ, Ros Cihuelo "Without a doubt it is an indispensable phase, but it is necessary to go further: we have to think about how to value this heritage by attending to what makes it unique and involving all the agents involved: of course the neighbors, but also the municipalities, the local action groups, hoteliers, companies, associations…”, the deputy insisted.
In addition, Cihuelo emphasized the need to "not just copy or imitate models from other territories, even if they are successful." "The strategies we design must be personalized taking into account the identity of each municipality," she claimed.
