Why world cultural heritage? : Democracy, local participation and knowledge production in the world culture nomination of Farms in Hälsingland, Sweden

Around the world there is a rush in nominating tangible and intangible sites for UNESCO’s World Culture Heritage List. The requirements for nomination are that the sites have "universal value for mankind", that they are unique and authentic, and there is a need to secure the sites’ sustainable development by opening them up for the tourist industry. Sweden has a total of fourteen natural and cultural heritage sites on the list, one of which is a natural site, twelve are cultural sites, and one is a mixed site. It was anticipated that the large timbered red-painted farmhouses of Hälsingland in the north of Sweden would be listed in June 2009. ICOMOS, however, came to another conclusion and deferred the nomination. The nomination process has lasted for over ten years and has been a painstaking process involving the local communities and the county administration board in the county town of Gävle. The local people are partly thrilled, because they assume that there is money to earn when they open up their homes for tourists; an income that for some is badly needed because of the deterioration of the buildings due to the high costs of renovation. But some are openly critical to the entire enterprise, which is seen as a status project for some politicians and threat to the landscape by disturbing the harmony between the built environment, people and the natural landscape. In a cultural heritage nomination process, a complicated interaction arises between expert knowledge and local knowledge, which generates insights that are crucial to capture and dress in words to be able to formulate a successful world heritage proposal and not the least to make it operational.Varför Världsarv