Introduction

In September 18th and 19th 2008, the international seminar “the enhancement of urban heritage in the Mediterranean” was held in Arles (France).
This seminar was organized by the UATI , jointly with the city council of Arles, the A.V.E.C. network and the University Paris Iv-Sorbonne, and with the assistance of the French national Commission of UNESCO.
The exchanges in Arles emphasized a certain number of possible orientations
Right now, several projects are arisen, among which, the organisation of a workshop on the heritage and the economic and social development.

Thematic and objectives of the workshop

The development of the heritage, in particular of the urban heritage, can be an effective lever for the development, city planning and for their understanding by the inhabitants.
In addition, the complexity of the interventions on what already exists is an source of innovations in the technical field (products, know-how, data-processing tools etc) but also in the communication area.
Finally a rehabilitated or renovated place is a factor of attractivity of the territory for the establishment of the families but also for the creation of new activities such as tourism or construction.
It is this economic and social dimension of urban and cultural operations which will be discussed in the workshop.

Publics

Local councillors, civil servants, associations and institutions involved in heritages projects in the Mediterranean for the management and the sustainable development of the economy of the local authorities.

Objectives

The workshop will enable the participants to:
• discuss the great stakes of development for the historical local governments in the Mediterranean,
• exchange the good practices developed by people in charge of economic development projects around the heritages
• emphasize the local approach of the co-operation with the Mediterranean,
• know the various devices of support for the co-operation between local communities.
The workshop will bring tools and practical methods to the participants in order to solve their concrete problems. The cases presented can be from outside the Mediterranean area and be successes but also failures.