The Role of Participation in Identification and Sustainability of Heritage; the Windmill of Heybeliada

Cultural heritage, when considered as a unique and perpetual social structure, humans are likely to be the main determinant of all constitutive elements, and therefore the most prominent factor of conservation practices. This point of view also makes it possible to envision a composite relationship between cultural heritage and locally-related communities where all parties generate, nourish and enhance one another. In this sense, 'creation' of the heritage, depends not only in the physical space specified by concrete conditions, but also in the resources and potentials of the people or communities associated with it. Accordingly, the possibility of inclusion, where communities play an active role in the conservation of cultural heritage, is becoming increasingly important within the quest for wholeness, perhaps even a common future agenda through these various interconnected elements. In the scope of the paper, a more participatory and inclusive heritage practices based on an interactive learning and exchange of knowledge is discussed in accordance with the experience gained from a heritage workshop conducted by the authors