Introduction

The concept of cultural heritage has gained wide recognition globally, supporting government regulation and encouraging debates over valuable artworks, archaeological sites, and architectural creations. The 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention was initially conceived as a conservation tool for sites recognized as having “outstanding universal value” (UNESCO 2024). The notion of cultural heritage was then expanded to encompass intangible heritage that the 2003 UNESCO World Heritage Convention defined as “traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts” (UNESCO 2023).

Debates around the role of tangible and intangible cultural heritage in policymaking abound nowadays, and theoretical and practical perspectives on the economic value of culture in different socioeconomic contexts are provided. The preservation of heritage in both its forms (tangible and intangible) appears to be central to economic development in terms of creating job opportunities, attracting investments, promoting tourism, contributing to economic diversification, etc. International organizations have adapted conventions and instruments to advocate for heritage conservation and support heritage ecosystems locally and globally.

Heritage preservation remains an essential part of tangible and intangible cultural heritage literature. Preserving this heritage means protecting an invaluable cultural asset that can contribute to a country’s economic and social development. However, according to Gilberto and Labadi (2022), the literature on cultural heritage and sustainable development tends to still see heritage in terms of conservation, preservation, and environmental sustainability. According to their analysis of internationally funded projects, “the 2030 Agenda still considers heritage as an object to be protected rather than as an active driver for development” (Giliberto and Labadi 2022). They recognize that the UNESCO policies on World Heritage moves towards a more comprehensive approach to cultural heritage but still find a need to incorporate “the multifaceted aspects of cultural heritage” into sustainable development.

Additionally, a large body of literature acknowledges the role of heritage as an asset for sustainable development and a driver of societal change. Several works consider heritage to be “an active driver for development”, encompassing different disciplines and new technologies, including AI, that make landmarks, monuments, and archaeological discoveries resistant to the passing of time and the challenges of climate change (Rogerio-Candelera, Lazzari and Cano 2013; Sablier and Garrigues 2014; Sandu 2022). Similarly, the preservation of cultural heritage from destruction in conflict zones has been broadly analyzed by scholars and policymakers alike (UNESCO 1954; Frowe and Matravers 2019; Weiss and Connelly 2019; Higgins 2020). Intangible heritage is also part of this environmental protection perspective, where handicrafts, oral skills, and traditions need to be protected because they are endangered by forced migration and population displacement (Aktürk and Lerski 2021; EEAS 2023).

The literature on cultural heritage in the MENA region embraces different topics, such as heritage as international status-seeking (Yanık and Subotić 2021), heritage destruction (Groizard and Santana-Gallego 2018), sustainable tourism (Daher 2006), marine and environmental protection (Breen et al. 2021). These represent only a few examples of broader and more complex approaches to cultural heritage in the region.

In the Gulf region, cultural heritage has gained momentum through the rapid development of different heritage projects, such as excavating archaeological sites, opening museums, and rehabilitating historical centers. Most studies on cultural heritage in the Gulf region explored the connection between national identity and its representation through museums. These institutions proliferated in the area in the 1970s (Bouchenaki 2011; Exell and Rico 2014; Erskine-Loftus 2016; Mazzetto 2018; Fabbri 2022). According to these scholars, in states such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, museums represented a “vehicle for the enhancement of national identity” aiming at “creating social cohesion and affiliation to the state within a disparate population” (Erskine-Loftus 2016).

Apart from museums, the literature examines the intangible cultural heritage and the preservation of traditional practices, such as camel racing, performances, embroidery skills, pearling, coffee preparation and the art of serving it, and others (Koch 2015; Khalaf 2020; Maspul 2021). Similarly to the museum studies mentioned above, this literature links these practices to the development of national identity. These works highlight major themes covered in the literature on cultural heritage. They also show that the impact of personal values and motivations on cultural heritage practices and their renewal remain relatively unexplored, especially concerning the development of value-based decision-making and adapted statistical indicators that could stem from such an approach.

In the case of the UAE, practices such as traditional embroidery skills (Al Talli) and falconry were inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.Footnote 1 These practices are the object of historical studies (mostly in Arabic) that focus on Emirati cultural heritage (Al Musallam 2007; Al Naqbi 2012; Al Awadhi 2018; Al Bayan 2018; Al Qubaisi 2020). Despite this focus, studies examining the role of living heritage in value-based policymaking are still missing.

Aiming to fill this gap, this research offers a value-based approach to the assessment of Abu Dhabi’s living heritage ecosystem. Through the analysis of interviews with Abu Dhabi-based heritage practitioners, it was possible to identify groups of values (‘heritage drivers’) that strongly contribute to the ecosystem’s sustainability. Moreover, a ‘value-based decision-making’ approach is introduced as an intrinsic tool to articulate heritage policies and the individual values of policy stakeholders. Finally, the paper offers a methodological approach to the selection and definition of statistical indicators that connect the local and global dimensions within the living heritage ecosystem paradigm.

Approach, scope, and limitations of the study

Approach

The field of policymaking lacks a single theory capable of unifying all the various approaches to the policy process (Smith and Larimer 2009). The composite nature of policy processes results in diverse epistemological orientations of studies focused on “the development of public policy over time and the context, events, and individuals surrounding this development” (Weible et al. 2012). According to Weible et al. (2012), the diversity of policy processes and related research frameworks is a testament to the field’s strength, as it covers different analytical and cultural perspectives.

This paper is centered on value-based decision-making as it has been adopted in healthcare. This focus is on policies and decisions made at the macro level, according to “acceptable or unacceptable, desirable or undesirable, prioritized or un-prioritized, and sufficient or insufficient” criteria (Shams et al. 2021). In other words, in healthcare, value-based decision-making emphasizes the importance of shared social values at a micro level that influences and governs macro-level policies and decisions and establishes acceptability, prioritization, and efficiency.

Scholars identified the importance of shared social values in decision-making related to health systems (Urriola 2006; Abiiro and De Allegri 2015; Tajima et al. 2016; Pyone et al. 2017; Vélez et al. 2020; El-Saharty and Liu 2021; Marchildon et al. 2021). Vélez et al. (2020) classify the literature on value-based policymaking in the healthcare field into four categories of values: goal-related, governance, situational, and technical. The goal-related literature considers core values such as equity, solidarity, and universality to realize standard policies (World Health Organization 2008; Cotlear et al. 2015; Reich et al. 2016; Meehan et al. 2017). Governance values refer to how political actors within the health system and civil society “interact to produce, distribute, and consume health as a good” (Arredondo et al. 2015). Situational values can emerge under specific circumstances (e.g., historical legacies and local and international influences) and can vary according to changes in government or social mood (Coovadia et al. 2009; Keeton 2012). Finally, technical values include effectiveness, evidence, and cost-benefit and are essential to ensure efficiency and monitor the performance of the health system through the relevant set of indicators (González et al. 2010; Liaropoulos and Goranitis 2015).

As values contribute to the elaboration of policies in the health systems (e.g., how health systems and specific policies benefit the population) (Vélez, 2020), different stakeholders tend to prioritize other values, using various means to influence the decision-making process. Moreover, the healthcare sector presents issues and complexities that can be challenging to untangle, especially regarding budget allocation for cost-effective treatments, which can impact care access for more vulnerable populations (Dixon-Woods et al. 2006; Porter, 2009). Similar issues also seem to affect the cultural heritage sector, where stakeholders’ divergent priorities might hinder the clarity and specification of agenda settings and policymaking. These commonalities make the value-based approach used in healthcare beneficial for this study.

The concept of values and value-based policymaking has been applied in several works that focused on cultural relations to fields such as conservation (Azzopardi 2022), management (Avrami and Macdonald 2019), financing (Klamer and Mignosa 2019), and cultural policy assessment (Mlitz and Van den Hoogen 2022), its application to the living heritage ecosystem as a whole is not common. The literature on value-based policymaking in the healthcare field proves useful when attempting to establish a rigorous model for the analysis and implementation of policies. However, as “health policymakers and managers are increasingly seeking comprehensive, rigorous, and relevant evidence syntheses, driving the exploration of methods capable of integrating diverse types of evidence” (Sheldon 2005), this article could not simply transpose the healthcare approach but had to adapt it to the field of cultural heritage. The attention to values present in the complex field of healthcare policymaking demonstrated great relevance when developing heritage drivers from specific values.

Scope

This article borrows some of the approaches used in the healthcare field. It develops a value-based framework that offers a wider understanding of heritage and its integration into innovation, economic development, and societal change in Abu Dhabi. This inductive model comprises three steps: (1) identification of individual heritage values (‘heritage drivers’) through ethnographic interviews; (2) aggregation of the dynamics that impact the practical realization of these values and identification of the areas for value-based policymaking; and (3) a search for an approach to building indicators to assess the impact of living heritage policies contributing to the achievement of the UN SDGs and their relevance to grassroots ‘heritage drivers’.

The contribution of this article to cultural heritage policymaking is threefold: (1) it seeks to bridge the gap between cultural heritage practices and contemporary policy frameworks through the use of a value-based approach, adapting the use of values in healthcare policy to cultural heritage policymaking; (2) it applies for the first time this theoretical framework to Abu Dhabi, offering a pioneering perspective on how such approaches can be tailored to address the specific dynamics of a rapidly evolving society; (3) it provides an innovative framework of analysis stemming from the articulation of findings from Abu Dhabi’s fieldwork, generating heritage-based values, and culminating in comparability and increased conformity with indicators for the UN SDGs.

This article explores the case of the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The reasons for this choice are twofold: (1) Abu Dhabi represents the largest emirate in the UAE and is home to its capital; (2) the emirate is the place where cultural institutions, such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Berklee Abu Dhabi and Manarat Al Saadiyat are located, and where additional cultural projects will see the light in the next years (Zayed National Museum, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, and teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi) (Gulf News 2024). The ongoing attention to cultural heritage makes this study topical, especially when connecting heritage drivers and policymaking.

In focusing on Abu Dhabi, this article aligns with recent trends observed across the Gulf countries, which have introduced new legislative acts on heritage protection and management over the past decade (Wosiński 2022). The article’s contextualization also considers UNESCO frameworks for heritage preservation in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries such as Kuwait and Qatar, reflecting a growing recognition of the importance of safeguarding cultural heritage against rapid modernization and global challenges faced by populations in the region). By examining Abu Dhabi’s approach to living heritage, the article provides a localized perspective, helping understand how these global and regional initiatives are implemented at a local level through ordinary practices.

Figure 1 below shows a map of Abu Dhabi and the UAE serving as a reference for future development of this spatial context, which could help identify cultural clusters and regional disparities in heritage practices across the GCC region:

Fig. 1
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Map displaying Abu Dhabi’s location within the UAE and the GCC region (Wikimedia Commons 2024).

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Limitations and future perspectives

Because of time and resource constraints, the research could not be conducted in neighboring emirates (e.g., Dubai, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah) or other countries (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar). Future research could expand this study’s regional and international focus, providing supplementary cases to evaluate similarities and discrepancies among the patterns of heritage valuation and map them as a part of a multi-layered cartographic analysis. A cartographic analysis at the regional level could then be transformed into an open-access platform to support researchers, policymakers, and other relevant stakeholders.

Another limitation of the present research stems from its focus on Abu Dhabi-based heritage practitioners. The perspectives of other key territorial actors (e.g., local associations, regulatory bodies, adjunct cultural and creative sectors, etc.) need to be included in future research to embrace a broader ecosystem and evolve from the description of the value sets towards a broader understanding of the heritage value systems (Shams et al. 2021) and relevant indicators building. For this, three main steps need to be followed: (1) inductive definition and prioritization of the types of territorial actors should be included, (2) relevant data collection, identification of individual drivers and value categorization, and (3) mapping of the value set and modeling of the broader value system. Schwartz (1992) showed that values within a value system sometimes conflict with each other; the realization of values may be tradable and establish a “compromise relationship” that needs to be addressed as part of stakeholder consultation processes. However, in most cases, the relationship among different values is not a “sacrifice relationship” (Shams et al. 2021), as the connection among values can be explained in a hierarchical system (e.g., the values related to the safe work conditions would be superior to a nostalgic valorization of a timeworn building that hosts a heritage hub). The model of value relations in a hierarchical system could be analogous to a value ladder (Shams et al. 2021), in which each value is considered if it does not conflict with higher-rung values.

The three-step approach described above is part of a current research project on Abu Dhabi’s local fashion. This study began in March 2024 and explores the intricate relationship between fashion and culture within Abu Dhabi’s living heritage ecosystem. It involves additional territorial actors (i.e., directors of fashion institutes, design students, and heritage intellectuals) to expand knowledge on practices surrounding traditional and contemporary fashion in the emirate. Through an inductive value-based approach, this study aims to understand how fashion influenced (and continues to influence) cultural heritage and identity in the emirate.

Methodology

Data collection instruments

The study used direct non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews as the core qualitative data collection instruments. Direct non-participant observation is a type of “open-ended, flexible observation” valid in exploratory studies (Johnson et al. 2020). Firsthand observation of Abu Dhabi’s heritage spaces (such as jewelry laboratories, art studios, cafés, and festivals) enabled examining activities, behaviors, narratives, and many others.Footnote 2 This method facilitated the understanding of how practitioners learned about, interpreted, and transmitted cultural heritage in everyday life through the production of objects and the implementation of specific practices. Aside from historical sources in Arabic, the literature on Abu Dhabi’s cultural heritage practitioners appears quite limited.Footnote 3 Consequently, collecting insider perspectives and voices through interviews and conversational exchanges allowed for adopting an emic approach to addressing the lack of extensive local literature on Abu Dhabi’s cultural heritage practitioners.

According to Mishler (1986), interviews do not consist only of questions and answers but can be considered a form of discourse in which participants and interviewers co-construct meaning according to a specific type of social relationship. Researchers’ subjectivity in the form of their background, ethnicity, age, gender, and biography also plays a role in how this relationship is built. For this study, non-Emirati and Emirati interviewers formed the research team. The presence of the latter helped to access translations of sources and interviews from the Arabic language to English. However, even with these advantages, the researchers sometimes had to navigate conflicting and negative emotions that arose during the interviews.

Two were the instruments to deal with this issue: (1) the use of follow-up questions; (2) detailed knowledge of the participants’ work and the broader context in which they act and interact. The operationalization of this approach makes part of the section on data analysis presenting examples of the coding system and of the sections applying the value-based healthcare theoretical framework (i.e., goal-related, governance, and situational values) to Abu Dhabi’s heritage ecosystem. This framework will also inform the indicators’ formulation in the section focusing on technical values.

The brand displayed on a heritage object (jewelry, pottery, abayas, kanduras, and others) or the presence of a historical business employing the word ‘heritage’ in their marketing campaigns would help identify their creators or owners. The brand and the business had to be inspired by Emirati heritage. Also, these businesses should be based in the emirate of Abu Dhabi or have a branch located there.

Most heritage practitioners had an online presence (websites or Instagram pages). Consulting their profiles helped gather more information on the business and its founder. The reason for this approach can be found in the fact that the UAE has an internet penetration rate of 99% (Global Media Insight 2024) and that Instagram is a platform that many businesses in the UAE use for social and commercial purposes (Wally and Koshy 2014). This was the case for most participants who marketed their products and services on Instagram and who were easier to reach via this platform. Additionally, articles in national and regional newspapers (e.g., The National News, Khaleej Times, Gulf News) containing interviews with these practitioners were useful for learning more about their work before the interviews.

Based on direct non-participant observation, the interview protocol was designed to generate talk about topics related to cultural heritage and its implementation in the practitioner’s activity. The interviewees were asked to (1) introduce themselves and their activities; (2) what inspired them in their practice; (3) how they acquired their skills; (4) with whom they exchanged thoughts and experiences related to cultural heritage; (5) what they needed for their activity to flourish or to be maintained over time. These were the initial topics of the questions that could then be adapted according to the answers or any spontaneous subject that the interviewee would raise during the conversation.

Selection of participants

This study employed an inductive, ‘learning-by-doing’ methodological approach (Fujii 2018) that allowed the initial linchpins for the emic definition of ‘heritage practitioner’ in Abu Dhabi. More specifically, it adopted a flexible stance towards the participants’ selection process. The selection started with definitions and perimeters familiar to the researchers (i.e., contacts from closer networks) and expanded to less-known practitioners’ circles, allowing for an adaptation of the research design along the way. This approach facilitated the elaboration of definitions like ‘heritage practitioners’ and ‘values’, formulated according to the responses given by the participants.

From March to October 2023, 35 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted in English and Arabic with Emirati and non-Emirati heritage practitioners based in Abu Dhabi. The first ‘seed’ sample of interviewees would be contacted via email or direct message on different social media platforms to participate in the research through an interview.

The interviews took place in person or online, according to the interviewee’s preference and availability. The interviewees were guaranteed anonymity.Footnote 4 The use of the snowball technique was effective in the selection process (Parker et al. 2020). At the end of each interview, the participants would recommend other contacts who would fit the research criteria and who possibly could also be willing participants, who then, in turn, would recommend other potential participants, and so on.Footnote 5

However, the study integrated additional data collection approaches to avoid over-reliance on participants’ personal recommendations. The in-person fieldwork itself (conducted across Abu Dhabi’s neighborhoods and malls) revealed the existence of spaces (e.g., cafes, creative community spaces, design studios) and potential participants (e.g., coffee producers, jewelers, tailors) that had not been taken into consideration in the study’s conception phase. Entering these locations offered the opportunity to observe the activities conducted there and to converse with the owners informally. Including these actors in the study was not part of the preliminary research design. Still, the iteration process that followed helped reframe the definition of practitioners and the general identification of values.

Data analysis

The interviews were transcribed to identify patterns across individuals through the repetition of names (e.g., Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder of the UAE) or concepts (e.g., innovation, tradition, sustainability). Recurrent key themes emerged, such as collaboration and mentorship between practitioners, ways of learning about heritage and incorporating it into objects of everyday use, choice of materials, historical, family, and civic legacies, market opportunities, sustainable heritage practices, and commitment to green economy approaches.

Table 1 below presents an example of the interviews’ excerpts and their coding, including the identification of themes and their connection to emotions:

Table 1 Example of interview coding and analysis.
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The words in bold in the interview excerpts above show the presence of (recurrent) themes close to the interviewees. Here, the interviewees also share certain emotions clearly (e.g., ‘lonely’, ‘nostalgic’, ‘happy’), attaching them to cultural heritage that was then connected to valuation systems (e.g., economic and community values). Negative and conflicting emotions were also helpful in guiding the valuation process.

Objects can reveal values embedded in them that produce an emotional response (Heinich 2021). This emotional attachment to cultural heritage through objects uncovered ways through which this heritage is interconnected with one’s identity and daily practices. It is through these emotions that value systems emerge and can be identified. Heritage practitioners display their value system through their creations, objects of everyday use, and practices that lead to producing these artifacts. Thus, these pieces provoke emotional responses but are also made through a range of emotions, which are part of the above-mentioned value system.

To better grasp and connect themes with emotions and values, the analysis considered language as “overlapping with emotions in intimate ways”, as “emotions are captured and given meaning within language” (Koschut et al. 2017). This intersection of emotions and language facilitated an understanding of how audiences create discourses that symbolize their emotional investment in issues affecting their everyday life. The social context in which the interviewees lived, worked, and interacted helped identify specific emotions. This appraisal-based framework allowed for investigating emotions, such as hope, empathy, disillusionment, and their influence on beliefs, attitudes, and behavior.

During this analysis phase, four questions were addressed: (1) How was valuation carried out by actors? Does this valuation evoke individual, communitarian, or broader dimensions? (2) What are the contexts in which these valuation processes occur? (3) What are the adjunct domains (e.g., regulatory, urban, etc.) supporting those contexts? (4) What are the valuated objects? Adopting this perspective revealed that values were the guiding principles determining these individuals’ behaviors, decisions, and aspirations.

Heritage drivers and their dimensions

Inspired by narratives of the past, heritage practitioners develop a passion for passing traditions to other practitioners, who might then adapt them to their own practice, conserving and innovating them at the same time (Boltanski and Esquerre 2017):

“In the past, we were living in a zero-waste lifestyle. My parents themselves were living in this kind of traditional house. They did not have air conditioning, but they had a microclimate system already designed with cooling towers. They were located over the bedrooms, which allowed them to naturally ventilate. In the summertime, they used to sleep on the balconies with natural breezes.” (Interview with an Emirati architect)

The passage of knowledge from one practitioner to another allows for a shift from the individual to the communitarian level, creating more inclusive communities through the transfer of both “explicit” and “tacit” knowledge linked to specific non-formalized know-how (Polanyi 1962; Nonaka 1994):

“So, sustainability can come from engaging women in your community, people who have local knowledge who can provide substance to something that you are creating, which could be audiovisual, physical, etc.” (Interview with an Emirati visual artist)

Problem-solving skills in the heritage ecosystem contribute to local development by creating social and economic opportunities for others. More specifically, interest in heritage often translates into the creation of businesses producing heritage-related objects (economic value):

“When innovation, craftsmanship, and overall pure and clean ideas all come together, another candle is lit.” (Interview with a Pakistani-American jewelry creator)

However, individual economic drivers are not exclusively motivated to develop solutions where a problem arises (e.g., how to reuse discarded palm tree materials or how to simplify the process of ordering and making a kandura). Broader societal engagement and responsibilities play a role in these decisions. This type of motivation is often referred to as a desire to ‘give back’ to Abu Dhabi as a “private liberality for public benefit” (Veyne 1990). This civic responsibility expressed through heritage practices is related to personal ambitions and the hope of contributing to Abu Dhabi’s international recognition.

The system of valuation accompanying these identifications and relations among heritage practitioners in Abu Dhabi is summarized in Table 2 below. It seems important to highlight that the identified heritage drivers are transversal to the emotions-related dimensions of the interviews analyzed. This means that each individual heritage driver presented below can have both positive and negative emotional connotations. For example, heritage as a driver for “interest in helping disadvantaged people” can be contextualized by different interviewees as a source of personal pride as well as a source of frustration if, for example, the interviewee considers that the relevant policies (e.g., related to access of disadvantaged people to the heritage workshops) need to be developed further. This transversality of the identified heritage drivers helps consider the emotional spectrum in all stages of this study’s approach, from values identification and mapping to the relevant indicators building:

Table 2 Interviewees’ expressed heritage drivers.
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Individual heritage drivers related to personal well-being include values emerging from inspiration, creativity, personal welfare, individual inclinations, and preferences. Individual heritage drivers encompass the desire for interaction, the need to belong to a community, and the need to build relations and mutual respect with others through shared heritage practices. Finally, individual heritage drivers connected to the broader ecosystem include those elements of civic responsibility, recognition, economic income, and international exposure. These three groups of heritage drivers are interconnected and inscribed in wider contexts of networks, regulations, and adjunct areas of activities and knowledge. The following section will examine those contexts and adjunct areas.

From heritage drivers to value-based policymaking areas: articulations between heritage and healthcare frameworks

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) promote a set of core values prioritizing “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health” (United Nations 1966). These values (‘essential elements’) promoted by the WHO and ICESCR are availability, accessibility, acceptability, quality, and healthcare delivery free of discrimination. Vélez et al. (2020) framework shares with these organizations the core value of quality. Still, it suggests that availability, accessibility, and acceptability are components or intermediate steps to achieve the four most significant values toward realizing the right to health. Based on the critical interpretive synthesis of available publications, Vélez et al. suggest that the values considered in the policy process can be characterized in four ways, namely (1) goal-related values, (2) technical values, (3) governance values, and (4) situational values. Even if Vélez et al.’s work is prevalently focused on South American countries, the categories of healthcare values presented in the paper are meticulously conceptualized. They can function as ‘ideal types’ (Weber 1930) whose essential characteristics and elements can be adapted to the domain of cultural heritage. The table below illustrates the articulation between the categorization of values in the healthcare field and their adaptation to the results of the data analysis focusing on Abu Dhabi’s heritage ecosystem Table 3.

Table 3 Articulation between the values’ categorization in the healthcare field and its adaptation to Abu Dhabi’s heritage ecosystem.
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The following sections will address each category of values in the table above in more detail.

Goal-related values in Abu Dhabi’s heritage ecosystem

Despite the importance of goal-related values (e.g., universality, quality, solidarity, equity) in health systems, these values have different meanings or connotations depending on the perspective of each government. For example, universality is a value the WHO promotes (2010). However, while universality has been prioritized as a key goal, there is no consensus on its meaning and scope (Urriola 2006). Fieldwork in Abu Dhabi’s heritage ecosystem showed that universality can be translated as the aim of achieving the best heritage practice for all according to their needs. This aim is founded on the sense of belonging as an area of policy support closely related to personal well-being and its enhancement through heritage practices and heritage drivers.

Abu Dhabi’s residents develop a strong sense of belonging to the emirate of Abu Dhabi, producing a sort of unity in diverse backgrounds and experiences. This diversity testifies to the potential that the value of solidarity holds in creating space for the inclusion of different voices across generations, time, and cultures. The emotions expressed by the interviews in relation to their belonging to Abu Dhabi are related mostly to nostalgic feelings but also pride:

"The UAE is where the brand was born and for the UAE. I was inspired by the market, the silk; it is part of the Silk Route. It is where the trade happened. It is where India, China, and everyone passed through the UAE for trade. So, it is the base, the center, and the nucleus of the fabric." (Interview with a Lebanese designer)

Abu Dhabi’s multiculturalism is then observable in practices and objects related to cultural heritage. The interviewees who conducted heritage practices and produced heritage objects that are considered intrinsic to Emirati identity saw themselves not only as the main keepers of traditions but also as innovators in the heritage ecosystem. The interviewees highlighted that there is a need to preserve symbols of Emirati culture in a young country like the UAE, where modernization is taking place at a fast pace:

“Since we are a country like 52 years old, we jumped from 1971 till now, and there has been a big change in the UAE, a huge jump. We are number one in the world in many things. So, I think the past and the future are very close to each other. I think this affects the style, the thinking, and artistic minds, who can combine both the past and the future in one element.” (Interview with an Emirati designer)

The heritage drivers related to the values of universality and quality arose especially from younger generations trying to adapt themselves to a rapidly changing social and work environment and, in some cases, overcome negative emotions such as a sense of exclusion and personal identity crises:

"We sometimes drift away from practices that our grandparents used to do, but we find ourselves coming back to them, as they are not just a relic of the past; we realize that they are parts of our identity." (Interview with an Emirati visual artist)

Re-evaluating traditional practices involves keeping traditional symbols alive and adding new meaning to everyday objects, practices, and lived experiences (e.g., tailoring traditional kanduras using AI tools). Thus, the interviewees express the importance of adapting tangible and intangible aspects of living heritage to changing trends and habits. Figure 2 below illustrates the interviewees’ perceptions concerning their sense of belonging to Abu Dhabi:

Fig. 2
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Interviewees’ perceptions of the sense of belonging to Abu Dhabi.

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Innovation that is not rooted in locality is not seen as sustainable. Similarly, the repetition of traditional practices that do not follow the dynamics of a rapidly evolving society does not seem to inspire a sense of belonging. However, the synthesis of collective memories and traditional know-how and innovation, both technologically and societally, is perceived as stimulating, as it offers equity in the expression of heritage value. This synthesis between tradition and innovation is strongly associated with the sense of belonging to Abu Dhabi and individual capability to practice heritage, subsequently improving personal well-being and sense of self and identity.

In this perspective, several interviewees expressed an urge to ‘give back’. The heritage practitioners who left the emirate at a young age to pursue their careers abroad tend to come back to Abu Dhabi with the intention of encouraging and training other practitioners:

“As Emiratis, we have credentials, knowledge, and expertise. We are sick of living in London, Italy…We want to come home and give back”. (Interview with an Emirati fashion designer)

This change in attitudes reflects a social transformation as well. This practitioner left Abu Dhabi because of limited education and training opportunities in the emirate at the time. Since then, rapid socio-economic changes created a stronger educational environment, allowing those who left to return and participate in these transformations. This internal and global mobility generates new valuation patterns for Abu Dhabi’s heritage, benefitting communities and building networks of knowledge exchanges that would then contribute to social and economic growth.

Governance values in Abu Dhabi’s heritage ecosystem

In the healthcare domain, governance values do not, on their own, achieve other goals or the materialization of the right to health, but their presence in the policy decision-making process allows citizens to ensure that core values are considered in each policy decision (Abiiro and De Allegri 2015). In Abu Dhabi’s heritage ecosystem, governance values - both public and authority-focused - refer to how political actors within the heritage domain and the local networks interact to support heritage. The predominant policy-making area that supports governance values is focused on grassroots family and business networks that do not achieve the realization of heritage values per se. However, it ensures the interconnection of the core heritage stakeholders with initiatives linked to the administrative and regulatory sectors.

Specifically, some heritage practitioners claimed that there exist two types of grassroots networks supporting Abu Dhabi’s living heritage. These include (1) family networks anchored in generational transmission and (2) entrepreneurial networks that consider living heritage as a cornerstone for creating products and services “made in Abu Dhabi”. These two types of networks often intersect.

Some interviewees recalled observing their relatives in the act of making objects by hand (through embroidery, for example) before the existence of mechanical and automated tools:

“When we lived in the old traditional houses with our grandparents, we saw them making things with their own hands before machines were brought in. For example, Chami cheese (a type of cottage cheese) can be made using Siga (a leather bag made of cow or goat skin, used to stir milk)”. (Interview with an Emirati designer)

Embroidery techniques are another example of skills passed down from generation to generation – the foundation of an original connection to the past. The result is a product combining tangible and intangible elements of Abu Dhabi’s culture, evoking family histories, legends, landmarks, people, and regions.

The entrepreneurial systems linked to cultural heritage in Abu Dhabi seem to constitute another important type of network in which practitioners help other practitioners become involved in the field of cultural heritage, unlock their entrepreneurial potential, and equip future heritage practitioners with learning opportunities for skill development. The partnerships resulting from the interactions within these networks allow for an exchange of practices, consolidating new skills and knowledge flows, even when negative emotions are prevalent:

“So, I have pricing for this outfit, and there is another girl like she just started. She has one tailor in the house, goes to the exhibition, and has the same pricing. So. this will affect my business. It is unhealthy to have that level of comparison of pricing for different brands.” (Interview with an Emirati designer)

In this instance, the interviewee referred to this direct competition strategy as ‘unhealthy’ for the whole ecosystem. When asked how she would solve this problem, she unexpectedly did not reply in an antagonistic way but expressed the need to share knowledge with younger generations to solve this competition issue:

“I believe that the new generation really needs guidance. Maybe there should be a board to bring the good students with good grades or big projects. We select the best three, bring them, and build them. Maybe we can also support them financially and with consultation. They make and produce their own collections, and then they can have them in one exhibition. This is the kind of big support for students and small businesses.” (Interview with an Emirati designer)

This interviewee suggests support for younger generations, through the form of financial assistance and knowledge transmission, to create market opportunities and achieve fairer competition. These statements also highlighted the relevance of governance values, where community support and interactions can be favored by the implementation of initiatives linked to the administrative and regulatory sectors.

The snowball selection technique used as part of the research methodology allowed the identification of heritage practitioners who were not officially registered as such but were clearly recognized by members of their networks. These heritage practitioners tended to treat their activities as hobbies and were hesitant to sell their creations on the market or claim some kind of authorship. This reluctance is often associated with frustration and pessimistic perceptions of local competitiveness:

“I mix traditional oil perfumes and remedies for my family members and sell to my connections as well, but I never wanted to make a profession from it – it will never provide enough revenue, and I cannot compete with the big local brands (…) registering is quite cumbersome, why add new problems to my life?” (Interview with an Emirati home-based perfume maker)

Further support for official recognition of Abu Dhabi heritage practitioners at a local and international level is interrelated with authority-focused governance values, such as responsiveness (Vélez et al. 2020). Besides, public-focused governance values such as social participation in grassroots heritage networks, both family and business, seem to be important tools for overcoming personal frustration and reinforcing inclusivity in the community.

Situational values in Abu Dhabi’s heritage ecosystem

Situational values become relevant when favorable circumstances for their development arise. This broad category of values reflects legacies, changes in the balance of organized forces and interests, changes in the social mood, international recommendations, or requirements in relation to healthcare systems (Vélez et al. 2020). In the case of Abu Dhabi’s heritage ecosystem, situational values need to be incorporated into technical or governance categories to ensure constructive interrelation between the heritage practitioners and the broader territorial actors (e.g., urban planning councils, national and international granting bodies, expert boards, philanthropic structures, etc.).

According to Andy Pratt (2015), businesses and facilities located in a clustered environment foster creative ecosystems’ stability. In Abu Dhabi, territorial proximity and urban clustering may contribute to a prevalence of situational values that support the sustainability of living heritage ecosystems and maintain local elements anchored to those territories hosting creative hubs.

Collaboration among Abu Dhabi’s heritage practitioners is entrenched in the valuation of specific urban areas; this valuation is expressed through the prism of collective memories, nostalgia, and critical vision of the current urban development projects. The fieldwork showed that communities come together at places such as the Cultural Foundation, Mina Zayed, the Souq Al Qattara, the Al Ain Oasis, the Al Ain Souq, the Al Ain Industrial Area, or Green Mubazzarah, where practitioners interact and showcase their work and skills to the public:

“We want to be adjacent to other potential partners: we are part of a creative district for a bigger impact because we do not see ourselves as offering one service, we complete, and we complement.” (Interview with an Emirati entrepreneur)

These creative districts consist of communities of heritage practitioners but also of the public (Emirati and non-Emirati residents, tourists, etc.) interested in socialization, consuming heritage products, or learning more about heritage practices. This circulation of ideas, skills, and resources generates synergies between production and consumption, thereby enhancing the sustainability of the ecosystem.

Situational values were also identified through negative emotions that testified to transformations in trends and moods (e.g., individual opportunities for women to own and manage a business). For example, this interviewee shared her experience as a female heritage practitioner:

“There are a few local people who have pursued being a chef as a full-time career. And I feel so happy when I see that because it feels like you open the door, and it is going bigger, and everyone is pursuing it, and there is no shame.” (Interview with an Emirati baker)

This statement refers to two emotions that can be considered contradictory and even negative (happiness and shame). When asked for clarifications through follow-up questions, such as: “Why shame? Could you please explain that to us?” this interviewee explained:

"When I look back at when I first started 12 years ago, it was not normal to see a local woman working in the shop. It was a huge cultural shock.” (Interview with an Emirati baker)

This elucidation provided a more nuanced interpretation of the emotions expressed by the interviewee. Through the mention of shock, the response also allowed for an attribution of social meaning to the recounted experience. More specifically, the response pointed out the dramatic changes in Emirati society, where, not long ago, women could not own businesses, highlighting a stark contrast to the current times.

Thus, follow-up questions helped keep the conversation focused on concrete descriptions of the experience rather than abstract discussions. In this way, it was possible to construct additional meaning related to the interviewee’s personal background and the wider social context in which they lived and worked, integrating those contradictory emotions capable of affecting the transformations of situational values.

Technical values in Abu Dhabi’s heritage ecosystem: towards an integrated statistical indicator system

Technical values like effectiveness, evidence, feasibility, planning, prioritization, rationality, or sustainability are essential elements to the extent that they help to organize the health system to be durable over time (Vélez et al. 2020). In healthcare and heritage domains, statistical indicators represent transversal tools to assess this effectiveness; they must consider the particularities of local and extra-local contexts of policies’ implementation. At the same time, in order to facilitate comparison, consistency, and coherence across cities, regions, and countries, statistics should follow global benchmarks and frameworks such as the UN SDGs.

This harmonization process necessitates “constant navigation between country-level measures, grounded in specific political and historical contexts, and global standards” (Gill et al. 2019). In other words, the statistical variables are defined in common, and then each country measures them according to its own means. To measure the impacts of cultural policies locally and in the context of international competitiveness, the culture indicators should be comparable internationally and anchored in the local setting. In this way, creating a “common language” through statistical harmonization would be possible with the ultimate scope of fostering debates on relevant social issues (Desrosières 2000).

This research suggests a conceptual approach to Abu Dhabi’s living heritage based on the exploration of statistical indicators building and the data population. This approach is not claimed to be exhaustive. The aim is to demonstrate an inductive logic that ties together (1) empirical evidence observable in the field, (2) related policymaking areas, and (3) statistical indicators that can contribute not only to measuring policy performance but also to the gradual operationalization of the UN SDGs. Even though, at the current stage, the study cannot create exhaustive protocols for each of these phases, it can identify the principal milestones that need to be met. Below, each of these milestones will be discussed in more detail.

Mapping heritage drivers against their predominant value categories

Table 4 below provides an example of crosstabulation of (1) the individual heritage drivers derived from the discourse analysis and (2) predominant areas of regulation and value categories derived from the contextual analysis, as each heritage driver is assessed against the predominant decision-making area. Consequently, the table synthetically represents the logic of the analysis described in the previous section:

Table 4 Assessment of individual heritage values (discourse analysis) against value-based living heritage policymaking areas (contextual analysis).
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Even though this assessment cannot be considered exhaustive, the interview data and empirical knowledge of the existing Abu Dhabi policies and initiatives in the heritage domain allows for an approximate mapping that should be improved regularly as part of evidence-based research and policymaking initiatives, expert meetings, stakeholder focus groups, etc. The table above demonstrates an example of such reasoning that needs further testing and refinement.

Proposition of indicators

In Abu Dhabi, culture statistics are constructed from two main sources: statistical registers and surveys (e.g., the biennial Culture Population Survey supported by the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi). These sources progressively cover the culture sector with an increasing level of precision. Abu Dhabi’s public management integrates the elements of a neo-liberal logic: the state is “thought of as a set of administrative poles whose relations are negotiated, contractually and regulated by law” (Raevskikh et al. 2021). Political decision-making is partly based on the evaluation of performance and rankings based on quantified indicators. Instead of covering a homogeneous collection of performance indicators for every sector, the statistical indicator systems cover a heterogeneous set of variables connected to one another.

Consequently, each policymaking area defined above can be partially operationalized through the relevant set of indicators. Here, the interviewees’ emotions – both positive and negative – can become criteria for choice and prioritization of indicators. For example, if an individual heritage driver (e.g., personal history transmission) accumulates mostly negative emotions (e.g., frustration because of the lack of heritage awareness among younger people), statistical indicators focused on heritage awareness should be prioritized. This operationalization can also be mapped against the UN SDGs. Such mapping would allow the primary assessment of the existing gaps both in policies and data collection and further structuration of the value-based indicator system. Table 5 below illustrates an example of this approach:

Table 5 Proposition of indicators considering the existing Abu Dhabi data sources and the UN SDGs.
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As seen from the analysis presented above, the heritage-related indicators that operationalize support territorial proximity and urban concertation decision-making are potentially able to support internationally compatible metrics for SDG11 focusing on Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 9 on Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, and SDG 4 on Quality Education. Enhancing the family and business grassroots networks of living heritage can contribute to the assessment of SDG 9 on Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure and SDG 10 on Reduced Inequality. A sense of belonging to Abu Dhabi correlates with SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth, SDG 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities, and SDG 4 on Quality Education.

Definitions of living heritage indicators and further adjustments

Identifying, selecting, and mapping living heritage indicators need to be associated with the indicator development and construction process. For this purpose, each culture indicator chosen needs to be summarized in a formalized template that describes its main features, such as data requirements, data sources, methods of collection, and formulas, in compliance with international standards.Footnote 6

Implementing new data collection processes is also crucial for the population of the relevant indicators. Data collection processes must adhere to three fundamental steps: 1) creating lists of “imperative data” to bridge the gaps in the primary framework for cultural statistics; (2) sourcing and sharing data with Abu Dhabi-based organizations, businesses, administrative units, etc. that possess pertinent cultural data; and (3) gathering missing cultural data through additional fieldwork research (Raevskikh et al. 2021).

In this way, the steadily evolving cultural indicators of Abu Dhabi can serve as a reference for those countries in the MENA region that are still creating and finalizing their cultural statistics systems. They could also contribute – conceptually and empirically – to the operationalization of the UN SDGs at a global level.

Conclusion

This study highlighted the lack of methodological reflection on value-based conceptual frameworks that can offer a wider understanding of heritage and its integration into innovation, economic development, and societal change. It is not a question here of proposing a turnkey solution but rather of interrogating openly the relevant dimensions of the living heritage as an object of knowledge and the levels of analysis most suitable for explaining the construction of the living heritage ecosystem.

Borrowing its value-based policymaking approach from the healthcare literature, this study has also addressed the existing methodological gap in qualitative surveys focusing on Abu Dhabi’s cultural landscape, characterized by ongoing transformations. The UAE’s current social, economic, and political conditions continuously shape Abu Dhabi’s approach to using its rich tangible and intangible heritage as a catalyst for new articulations between the ‘local’ and the ‘global’.

Primo, the present research suggested a value-based pragmatic methodology for understanding Abu Dhabi’s living heritage. Values are neither objective nor subjective nor arbitrary: they are triply motivated by the affordances that an object offers to valuation, by the collective representations undertaken by actors, and by the possibilities offered by the contexts in which these representations are activated (Heinich 2021). Such an approach to values implies a multilayer (millefeuille) interview analysis that considers the motivations and emotional attachments as core elements that allow for a better understanding of the valuated heritage objects or practices, the interviewee’s actions, and the broader social contexts in which these actions, skills, and ambiances are embedded (Silver and Clark 2016).

Secundo, another obvious implication stems from our research methodology that connects the underlying, micro-scale aspects of policies’ application and policies as parts of broader regulatory processes. More specifically, the emotional attachment to cultural heritage and the ways in which this heritage is consistent with one’s identity and daily practices informed part of this study’s analysis. Individual heritage values (drivers) derived from the thematic analysis were mapped against their broader social, economic, and historical contexts and policymaking areas that regulate these environments.

Tertio, this study responded to the importance of measuring the impact of living heritage regulations and their relevance to grassroots ‘heritage drivers’ at a local scale. It also addressed the need to report on UN SDG achievement on a global scale. The precision of the statistical tools that seek to identify and understand sectorial patterns and trends is relative. It depends on the data’s quality and granularity, the scope of considered variables, and the relevance of applied methods, concepts, and frameworks. Yet, it is better to employ an inaccurate evaluation tool rather than to have no evaluation framework at all: even with imperfect indicators, it is still possible to gradually improve their relative reporting capacity. This highlights the crucial position of continuous indicator development and adjustment.

As stated earlier in the article, this study is exploratory in nature. Future research could expand this study’s regional and international focus, providing supplementary cases for comparison and leading to the creation of an open-access knowledge platform to support researchers, policymakers, and other relevant stakeholders. Besides, the perspectives of different key territorial actors need to be progressively included in research to embrace a broader ecosystem and evolve from the description of the values set towards a wider understanding of the heritage value system.

A new research project, started in March 2024, is currently exploring the role of fashion in Abu Dhabi’s living heritage ecosystem and the interrelations between the two. Through the involvement of additional territorial actors (i.e., directors of fashion institutes, design students, and heritage intellectuals), this study aims to understand how fashion influenced (and continues to influence) cultural heritage and identity in the emirate.

Finally, even if the epistemological approach suggested in this paper is far from exhaustive, it has practical implications that may be useful for international researchers and policymakers working in related fields. As this line of inquiry was initially based on value-based decision-making approaches in the healthcare domain, it can also contribute to advancing dialogues between different disciplinary fields.