Cultural heritage enriches our lives, shaping the ways we live and work and the places where we live, and contributing to our identities. It is a shared source of inspiration and prosperity, as well as providing social cohesion to our communities. Rooted in specific landscapes and seascapes, tangible and intangible heritage such as historic buildings, stories, traditions, language, and cultural practices connect people to each other. We inherit our heritage from the past, and it is our legacy to the future. Thus, the ways by which we understand, conserve and use our heritage matter greatly for our quality of life.

Approaches, methods and tools are needed that can address heritage in an integrated way, and this handbook seeks to provide an illustrative overview.