Assessing the Social Values of Built Heritage: Participatory Methods as Ways of Knowing

This paper explores the role participatory methods play in understanding social values of built heritage, including people’s sense identity, belonging, and place. It is based on research Scotland where, as many other countries, there an increasing emphasis contemporary significance public participation within domestic heritage management frameworks. The draws experiences findings a assessment for Cables Wynd House, Brutalist block flats Edinburgh that was listed 2017. Through case study assessment, conducted over six months 2019, House manifested multiplicity connected realities, diverse experiences, micro-locations. reveal interactions tensions between architectural design aesthetics building participants’ lived connections. article argues mix provide different opportunities ways knowing, surfacing diversity, dissonance, complexity. highlights collaborative process, requiring flexible responsive approach to methods. concludes approaches can nuanced contextualised understandings value which complement but also diverge significantly from professional assessments value. Wider adoption these resulting into conservation would support more people-centred, inclusive, socially relevant forms practice.