Encyclopedia of Heritage

Dear Colleagues,

Encyclopedia of Heritage is a curated, peer‑reviewed topical collection that maps contemporary and historical knowledge across the heritage field. We welcome concise entries that introduce core concepts, survey debates, and synthesize methods in accessible language without sacrificing rigor. Contributions may address new heritage approaches (integrative, digital, decolonial), a systemic understanding of cultural heritage as a dynamic network of actors, institutions, values, flows, and feedbacks, and the historical development of heritage as concept, practice and sector. We seek articles linking heritage with sustainable development and resilience, including climate adaptation, risk, equity and wellbeing; clarifying heritage values and assessment; and offering critical reflections on power, representation and the Authorized Heritage Discourse. Entries may organize typologies (tangible/intangible; cultural/natural; urban, rural and landscape; industrial; digital), and examine democracy, participation, co‑creation and rights‑based approaches. We also invite authoritative definitions of key terms—authenticity, integrity, ensembles, setting, significance, and related terminology—cross‑referenced to complementary pages. Formats include definitions, overview essays, method notes, and short case exemplars with recommended readings. The collection aims to provide a reliable reference for scholars, practitioners and policy makers, while stimulating new, systemic perspectives on safeguarding, use and change. Submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis and updated to reflect evolving scholarship and practice.

We invite concise, rigorously referenced entries for the Topical Collection “Encyclopedia of Heritage”, which maps the state of knowledge across contemporary and historical dimensions of the heritage field. We particularly welcome contributions that: present new heritage approaches (integrative, transdisciplinary, digital, post-/decolonial); articulate a systemic understanding of cultural heritage (heritage as a dynamic system of actors, institutions, values, flows, and feedbacks across scales); trace the historical development of heritage as a concept, practice, and sector; link heritage with sustainable development and resilience (SDGs, climate adaptation/mitigation, risk, equity); clarify heritage values and value assessment; offer critical reflections (e.g., Authorized Heritage Discourse, power and representation); organize heritage typologies (tangible/intangible, cultural/natural, urban/rural/landscape, industrial, digital); address democracy, participation, co‑creation, and rights‑based approaches; survey contemporary debates alongside historical perspectives; and define key terms (e.g., authenticity, integrity, ensembles, setting, significance, conservation vs. preservation, heritage communities). Entry types may include definitions, overviews, methods notes, short case exemplars, and state‑of‑the‑art syntheses. Entries should be written in a neutral, accessible style; include cross‑references and a short list of recommended readings; and follow Encyclopedia’s citation and formatting guidance.

Dr. Matthias Ripp
Dr. Manal Ginzarly
Prof. Dr. Christer Gustafsson
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the collection website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Encyclopedia is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• heritage governance
• adaptive reuse
• heritage values
• authenticity
• integrity
• ensembles
• setting
• critical heritage studies
• democracy and participation
• rights-based approaches
• sustainable development
• resilience
• risk and climate change
• historic urban landscape (HUL)
• FARO convention
• intangible cultural heritage (ICH)
• heritage economics
• policy and law
• typologies
• digital heritage
• heritage and AI
• assessment methods
• significance
• conservation management