The Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (Faro Convention, 2005- emphasizes the important aspects of heritage as they relate to human rights and democracy. It promotes a wider understanding of heritage and its relationship to communities and society. The Convention encourages us to recognize that objects and places are not, in themselves, what is important about cultural heritage. They are important because of the meanings and uses that people attach to them and the values they represent.

A heritage community is a group of persons engaged in reviving out they decided to be "heritage". They create links between the voids and the complete parts of a territory and participate in the democratic life. This shared vision of heritage functions only when dialogue between stakeholders is possible.