The Spirit and the Substance: the Human Dimension of Cultural Heritage From the Perspective of Sustainability

The spirit and the substance represent the two inseparable and interdependent constituents of cultural heritage. In most cases, it is the intangible component which defines the spiritual dimension of cultural heritage, while the substance is usually identified in its tangible component. In light of their interdependency, tangible and intangible cultural heritage are not two ontologically distinct categories of heritage but correspond to two interrelated facets of the same composite entity, which are contextually necessary in order to allow cultural heritage to properly produce all the benefits for which it is conceived, created and transmitted to future generations. It is exactly the combination of these two components which defines the human dimension of cultural heritage, because both its spirit and its substance are connected to human perceptions. Through properly promoting and valorizing its human dimension, cultural heritage may greatly contribute to the process aimed at pursuing the realization of the three main dimensions of sustainable development – i.e., the social, economic and environmental ones – as well as to its fundamental requirement of promoting peace and security.