Integrity in Cultural Heritage conservation. Unveiling the Challenges

Integrity holds a central position in the discourse surrounding cultural heritage preservation. Along with authenticity, it serves as a primary criterion for nominating, monitoring, and safeguarding heritage sites. However, while integrity is widely discussed and granted importance in conservation charts and policies, its effectiveness in guiding complex preservation decisions might be more limited than commonly assumed. This chapter aims to address two fundamental questions: first, the role that the notion of integrity plays in the framework of the UNESCO World Heritage Program, and second, whether it effectively fulfils the functions it purports to serve. To explore these questions, the chapter delves into the definition of integrity as provided in the UNESCO Operational Guidelines for World Heritage Preservation and examines the challenges it faces in different cultural heritage conservation contexts. The primary objective is not to outright discredit the usefulness of integrity but to acknowledge its limitations and intricacies, creating awareness about its diverse facets in the heritage conservation field.