ROME–Since “heritage has become a vital global business,” archaeology in Italy must generate sustainable economic benefits,  Peter Gould, visiting Professor at American University of Rome, says.

 At a time of austerity and reductions in government spending, “top-down governance becomes unaffordable,” he told AUR students on Wednesday. Archaeological and heritage sites can no longer rely on state funding to survive, and archaeologists and governments alike are facing a real challenge to find new solutions to ensure their preservation for future generations, he said during a lecture on new economic-driven approaches to managing archaeological sites that was held at the Museo Nazionale Romano.

 The talk was organised by AUR in collaboration with ICCROM and Sovrintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma and Direzione Generale Antichità.

 In times when “archaeology has moved from back pages to front pages” tourism remains the largest service industry, and one of the largest industries in the world, accounting for 2.9 percent of world gross investment product in 2012, and providing employment for around 261 million people worldwide. However, although more than 1 billion people visited other countries as tourists in 2012 alone, many iconic tourist destinations around the globe are in serious difficulty.

 A PhD candidate at the Institute of Archaeology of University College London, Professor Gould, who has a rich array of experience in journalismand business and a background in economics, dedicated his doctoral research to the theme of economic sustainability of archaeological sites.

 Having explored the question through the study of three cases from Peru, Belize and Ireland, in his lecture he confronted two of them with an example drawn from his personal experience, the Philadelphia Zoo, and showed how, despite the obvious differences between them, they all share specific features which ensure their success as cultural sites and thriving enterprises.

 The need to move away from the traditional, state-based administration of archaeological sites calls for shifting the balance towards local communities and empowering them in heritage management, he added.

  Professor Gould stressed the importance of the “ethical obligation” which archaeologists have “to engage with the local community and create economic benefits for it”, thus making archaeological work “economically meaningful”.

  This alternative, bottom-up approach to heritage management, successfully adopted in the three cases presented in the lecture, is facilitated by such factors as a supportive legal framework in the countries where the sites are located, clear rules for who can participate in their management, and democratic decision making.

 While one could suggest that the examples discussed are specific to their local contexts, Prof. Gould argued that the common characteristics which determine their success are valid for management of archaeological sites worldwide, and more than ever in Italy, where, due to the abundance of heritage sites in need of preservation, the issue remains acutely relevant.

 “There will always be iconic sites governments will manage”, Prof. Gould climaxed his talk by saying, “but local governance is possible at many levels”.

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