Hari Srinivas
Like heritage itself, heritage conservation is a complex process, requiring multi-info applied at multi-levels, using multi-media, and targeting multi-stakeholders.
A number of conventions, declarations, statements and the like have been put forth on heritage conservation. In order to draw out and distil the essence of these efforts, we can condense the whole process into a single question that, in fact, contains just two words: SO WHAT? But this is not the confrontational question "So what??!" that demands justifications. Instead it is the short form of three essential questions that start with 'So What'.
These three questions, around which much of heritage conservation activities can revolve, are:
1. So what is happening?
2. So what does this mean to me?
3. So what can I do?
- So what is happening?
- This is the 'so-what' question that begins the quest for action. What is happening to the heritage around us? Who is doing all those bad things to heritage assets? The heritage around us may look fine, but what are the real problems (and problems behind the problems). This is the awareness stage ...
- So what does this mean to me?
- How does the changing environments affect heritage? Positively? Negatively? What is the relationships - cause-and-effect - between heritage and humans? It is this reflective stage, of understanding the cyclical impacts of human activities on heritage, and vice-versa on human well-being.
- So what do I do?
- This is the stage where actual action takes place, where small daily actions cumulatively have positive impacts on heritage assets.
At each of these stages, what role does heritage conservation play? What is necessary to generate awareness for the first question, 'So what is happening?;' to stimulate reflection for the second question, 'So what does this mean to me?'; and to provoke action for the third question, 'So what do I do?'
And still the two word question remains, 'So what?'
