Safeguarding Living Heritage through Emplacement: House of Batana and Mediterranean Foodways

The Convention for the Safeguarding of Living Heritage recognizes the essential role of cultural spaces in ensuring its meaningful transmission. Building on this, the concept of emplacement, developed in anthropological theory, emphasizes that heritage is not only practiced by people but also deeply shaped by the environments in which it is enacted. It is through place that knowledge, skills, and meanings are embodied, transmitted, and experienced. Therefore, in developing safeguarding practices, careful consideration should be given to the cultural spaces that sustain these processes.

The Ecomuseum House of Batana in Rovinj–Rovigno offers an exemplary model of how emplacement can guide heritage safeguarding within a tourism context. Recognized by UNESCO as a Good Safeguarding Practice, this community-driven initiative connects maritime traditions, local craftsmanship, music, and culinary practices within a living cultural landscape.

The pilot activity of the House of batana focuses on local foodways as part of the broader framework of the Mediterranean diet, itself inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The project explores how local ingredients, preparation techniques, and shared meals embody a deep relationship between people and their coastal environment.

At the heart of this approach stands the Spàcio, a small traditional tavern once common in Rovinj’s fishermen’s lives and today a social and spatial hub where songs, stories, and food are shared, transmitting values of belonging and hospitality. Here, food practices are not staged performances for visitors but living encounters that link place, people, and social memory.

By integrating the concept of emplacement into its safeguarding strategies, the Batana initiative tries to avoid the pitfalls of decontextualization and commodification. Instead, it promotes context-sensitive experiences that sustain both community well-being and visitors’ understanding of local culture.

This approach aims at redefining sustainable tourism, from consumption of heritage to the participation in its living expressions. Through the sensory, embodied experience of food, song, and place, the House of Batana demonstrates how safeguarding can strengthen cultural identity, foster social cohesion, and contribute to the continuity of heritage in the everyday life of Mediterranean communities.