Mapping heritage values: A critical discourse analysis of conserving the transboundary Lake Ohrid World Heritage
Mapping heritage values: A critical discourse analysis of conserving the transboundary Lake Ohrid World Heritage

Summary/Abstract: The Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid Region is a transboundary mixed World Heritage Property (Lake Ohrid Region WH) located in Albania and North Macedonia. At the time of inscription, in 1979, it covered the Macedonian share of Lake Ohrid and part of its watershed. It was extended in 2019 to cover the Albanian part of the lake and a small strip of land along the western shoreline, with the rest of the Albanian share of the watershed added as a buffer zone. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WH Centre) and its Advisory Bodies guided the Albanian authorities in the preparation of the nomination file for the extension in the frame of the Towards Strengthened Governance of the Shared Transboundary Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Lake Ohrid Region project (LOR Project). Using the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this paper focuses on the approaches the project used to identify, understand, and communicate Lake Ohrid region’s natural and cultural values. The analysis identifies two complementary perspectives of values (instrumental and intrinsic) that are informed by the values that over the past several decades have shaped the modern heritage discourse. The study also documents examples of how the concepts generated by the value discourse were operationalised in social processes and practice.

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