Cultural Heritage Reconstruction after Armed Conflict: Continuity, Change, and Sustainability

Post-conflict reconstruction is caught in a web of challenges, dilemmas, and opportunities. It can re-establish the thread of continuity with a pre-conflict time and change people's conditions for the better in line with twenty-first century roadmaps. Notable among these are the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Aligning reconstruction plans with principles of Build Back Better (BBB) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can help define a strategy for recovery, address underlying vulnerabilities, build resilience, regenerate livelihoods, and improve well-being. This article explores the nexus between continuity, change, and sustainability within the framework of cultural heritage reconstruction at city level. In doing so, it contributes to ongoing international efforts, such as those of United Nations agencies and the World Bank, which aim at returning people and cities devastated by armed conflict, for example in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, to a new, sustainable, state of normalcy. Key practical lessons are drawn from this research to inform the elaboration of guidelines on the reconstruction of cultural heritage, including World Heritage. Guidelines are needed to clarify what is, and is not, acceptable in line with contemporary views because classical views are becoming obsolete.