Envisioning the Future of Post-Agricultural Rurality through Heritage Preservation: Patrimonial Labelization and Ecomuseum in France

Many rural areas in Europe have reinvented themselves through tourism for sustainable territorial development and turned to vernacular heritage as an endogenous resource to ensure their future. Various models of heritage preservation and valorization have emerged and been adopted throughout rural areas when small-scale agriculture is no longer viable. Among those models, both the ecomuseum and territorial labelization schemes attempt to transform rural heritage into an economic resource at the same time as they are concerned with cultural and architectural preservation and identity transmission to future generations. Both have encountered criticisms, as they are often decried as leading to the museumification and mythification of the rural, in effect holding rural areas turned towards an imagined and romanticized past rather than providing a vision for the future.

This paper engages with these preservation models through the Association of the Most Beautiful Villages of France label and the Ecomusée d’Alsace to investigate how they challenge critics by proposing their respective understanding of the future of rurality, their role in promoting sustainable rural communities, and responses to tensions that may emerge between valorizing the past and a forward vision for development in the countryside.

Ethnographic work leads this research: Interviews with officers from both organizations and on-site observations reveal the ways in which the two models apprehend the sustainability debate and intend to face the demands of 21^st century habitat. Findings show paradigm shifts from traditional habitat preservation to future-oriented architectural pedagogy in one case while operational exigencies mitigate opportunities in the other.