Gardens and garages

Heritage protection has been in existence in various ways and places for at least two centuries, protecting (it is argued) the best of our cultural heritage for the benefit of society now and in the future. But how ethical is that heritage protection? This question can be approached in two ways: first, by considering how relevant heritage protection is for people and communities today (or, put another way, do those places deemed worthy of protection for the benefit of society represent the full diversity of people within that society?); and second, by asking, why do we protect sites for the benefit of future generations when we do not know what those future generations will think? In this chapter we explore some of the challenges of an ethical approach to heritage protection and present some examples of what such an approach might look like. In defining an ethical approach, we recognise the fact that heritage protection strategies will always need to be selective (in the sense that not all heritage can or should be protected), and that an ethical approach must therefore be one in which that selection must take account of such things as cultural and social diversity while recognising the potential value of everyday places alongside iconic heritage sites. This means that selection must accommodate social and communal values, at least to some extent. We also argue that the basis of any selection process needs to be inclusive, as opposed to exclusive and entirely expert-led. Against a backdrop that will include the Council of Europe’s Faro Convention, English Heritage’s Conservation Principles , and other current initiatives in the UK that include Local Listing and Neighbourhood Planning, we present two examples from Germany (allotment gardens and garages, both from the GDR era) that illustrate both the need for an ethical approach and some of the ways this might be achieved.