Summary:
The valorisation of any type of property assumes the existence of something possible to own, whose value is believed absent or below what could be attributed by an appraisal. This definition, when concerning cultural property, inevitably leads to the question of knowing what value is being spoken about. Is it a matter of placing a cultural value on the property and reinforcing it when already present or is the goal extracting a commercial value from property whose cultural feature is renowned? Public authorities have long sought to make these two accepted ideas systematic. Their result is not the same since they emerge from distinct procedures. It would, however, be wrong to establish separate analyses of these two types of valorisation. Firstly, they can be combined; secondly, they can contradict each other. The presentations of the conference held at Toulouse on 21 October 2014 took stock of the tools used to place a value on local cultural property, while highlighting their challenges and implications. By comparing the experiences of France and Italy, this book invites the reader to contemplate a rapidly changing area of importance.