Social valuation of protected cultural assets: the railway heritage between Jundiaí and Campinas (Brazil)

Abstract

Given the shortcomings of traditional heritage preservation practices in understanding the values that justify heritage protection, it is necessary to critically re-evaluate these practices adopted to physically protect the cultural asset, which rarely include the local values ascribed by the surrounding communities. This reflection motivated the development of this study that aims to examine the social valuation ascribed to protected railway assets on the route Jundiaí-Campinas (Brazil), in order to compare the different identified values and reflect on the integrated actions of railway heritage preservation and management. To this end, a values-based approach (VBA) was used, a methodology employed for and centred on heritage preservation, which focuses on understanding the local community as one of the protagonists in the heritage valuation process. Applying the different techniques of the VBA method revealed that other values, besides the traditional ones dominant in the specialised dissemination of the subject, also have an impact on the heritage asset. By integrating these community values to the protection and management practices of the cultural asset, it is indeed possible to significantly protect and safeguard not only the monumental object but also its values.