Heritage, Transmission, and Design : Sustaining Living Heritage

Abstract

This editorial introduces DEED Issue 3, dedicated to the theme VIVA – Heritage and Participatory Dynamics: Valuing, Imagining, Aiming, Learning and Innovating for a Living Heritage. It argues that heritage should no longer be viewed merely as a collection of assets to be preserved, but rather as a living process of transmission, reinterpretation, and transformation. Within this perspective, design plays a distinctive role as a mediator capable of constructing narratives, revealing memories, making knowledge visible, and supporting the evolution of cultural inheritances.

The editorial emphasizes that heritage responds to a dual challenge. On the one hand, it provides individuals and communities with a sense of identity and belonging. On the other hand, it constitutes a resource for the future, capable of nourishing projects, learning processes, and social transformation. Across the six contributions gathered in this issue, heritage emerges not as a fixed object, but as a dynamic reality continuously reinterpreted, negotiated, and transmitted.

The articles explore different forms of heritage, ranging from institutional recognition policies to inhabited, artisanal, territorial, and digital heritage. Despite the diversity of contexts and case studies, a common conclusion emerges: preserving heritage depends primarily on the practices, uses, narratives, and human experiences that give it meaning. The editorial concludes by stressing that heritage can only remain relevant in the present and future through processes of transmission, mediation, and learning, positioning design as a key actor in sustaining cultural continuity and living heritage.