Using or producing: the roles of citizens’ participation in cultural heritage

The question of participation is at the core of cultural heritage when heritage is understood as a social and discursive construct constantly created and shaped by individual and collective actors. Since cultural heritage is often used to produce stories about ‘us’ and ‘them’, it is not insignificant who can participate in it and how. This article therefore examines conceptions of citizens’ participation in the context of the European Heritage Label (EHL), a flagship initiative in EU cultural heritage policy. The research material consists of interviews with practitioners working at selected heritage sites that have received the label. Within a multidisciplinary theoretical framework drawn from participatory governance research, the article analyses the meanings and roles given to citizens’ participation in cultural heritage beyond the EHL sites. The analysis shows how both democratic and governmental aspects of participation can be simultaneously present in heritage participation.