The services of cultural heritage in drylands: an approach from water traditional technologies as a territory heritage system of desert.

GABRIELA PASTOR; LAURA TORRES

Negev

Congreso; The 4th International Conference on Drylands, Deserts and Desertification; 2012

Bluastein Institutes for Desert Research

The concept of heritage no longer suffices to define and identify the hallmarks of identity upon which the territory is built. The definitions and declarations expressed within the framework of international organizations can barely point out the “photograph” of some elements in which the hallmarks of identity attested to by these testimonies are overlooked or invisible. On the other hand, traditional technologies are a heritage system that exceeds the testimonial object, while simultaneously containing it, to integrate not only people and environmental resources but territory as well. This communication aims at characterizing the social, economic, political, and landscape services that traditional technologies, in their character as territory heritage systems, are capable of assuming, whilst allowing for a discussion not only on the notions and concepts of heritage but also on its standing in the field of more sustainable development. To this end, a case study linked to strategies for access to water in drylands of the Argentinean west is undertaken. The starting point is assuming that these strategies articulate traditional knowledge and landscapes that provide an account of processes, resources and positioning which transcend the material and immaterial facts of heritage to synergize the same restrictions but in favour of the territory. Material testimony and associated knowledge are analyzed, as well as their implications to the provision of services that aid in building the territory and its landscape. Finally, the conclusions pose some theoretical-conceptual considerations as well as new questions in light of the resilience capacity of these systems in the new scenarios.