Getting stakeholders right : exploring perspectives on cultural heritage values to improve decision-making

Marc, Mojca (author), Bilynets, Iana (author), Ifko, Sonja (author), Ponikvar, Nina (author)

This paper examines the mismatch between theoretical expectations and actual stakeholder priorities in the adaptive reuse of tangible cultural heritage. Drawing on modern stakeholder theory, highlighting value distribution and reciprocity, the study adopts a contextual case study approach focusing on Slovenia. Combining desk research and expert focus groups, it maps the perceived importance of economic, social, cultural, and environmental values in the context of adaptive reuse of cultural heritage. This was followed by two focus-group workshops with heritage stakeholders to elicit their importance and attribute preferences across those four dimensions. The qualitative analysis reveals discrepancies in value perceptions. The findings challenge common equal-weight multicriteria decision models and underscore the critical role of social value in fostering positive reciprocity and sustainable funding for tangible cultural heritage projects. This study demonstrates that aligning policies and financing models with stakeholder-perceived value requires the adoption of distributional analyses, including participatory cost–benefit assessments, multi-stakeholder decision processes, and impact measurement tools. By foregrounding stakeholder-driven value distributions, this study contributes a novel theoretical lens and practical guidance for more inclusive, resilient governance of tangible cultural heritage.

• Language: English
• Keywords: cultural heritage, management, value, sustainability, adaptive reuse, tangible cultural heritage, stakeholders, sustainable management, economic value, cultural value, social value environmental value, stakeholder
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: EF - School of Economics and Business
• Publication status: In print
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-181984
• UDC: 304
• ISSN on article: 2159-032X
• DOI: 10.1080/2159032X.2026.2644143
• COBISS.SI-ID: 273840643
• Publication date in RUL: 21.04.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Heritage & society
• Publisher: Left Coast Press, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
• ISSN: 2159-032X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 273836035

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: kulturna dediščina, management, trajnostna uspešnost, vrednost, deležnik