Cultural heritage policies and management in Türkiye: Site management as a policy transfer and site management directorates

Site management refers to a multi-stakeholder management model that envisions the management of cultural heritage areas within a site management plan prepared using participatory methods. This study examines the process of adopting the "site management" approach, which is characterized by multi-actor and multi-disciplinary features in the protection and management of cultural heritage sites, as a policy transfer in Türkiye. In this study, this model, which is an approach recommended by UNESCO for implementation in sites included on the World Heritage List, is considered as a policy transfer in terms of conservation policies in Türkiye, and the process of its adoption by Türkiye is analysed in terms of the actors, reasons, sources, the degree and success of the transfer, and the conditions that facilitate and hinder the transfer. Additionally, the study investigates the general overview of site management in practice and the institutionalization processes through Site Management Directorates. The unique organizational forms of the site management in Türkiye are addressed within the framework of Post-Fordism and local governance. A new typology is developed regarding the organization of the site management through the site management directorates. In this context, the differences in establishment and operation are presented comparatively through interviews conducted with three site management directorates of the three types identified.