The Status of Vernacular Heritage in the Kibbutz: Attitudes to its Development

During the last decade the concept of cultural heritage has become part of a wider movement of sustainable development. Since the 1990s the kibbutz in Israel has undergone significant identity-shaping changes that have influenced the kibbutzim's existing "built heritage". The purpose of this paper is to combine these two phenomena; on one hand to examine the status of vernacular built heritages in the kibbutz in terms of the attitude of the kibbutz population to its heritage sites and their values, and on other hand, to analyze the contribution of these sites to the development of the Kibbutz. In order to deal with this matter the discussion will focus on the location of built heritage and its potential for tourist development.