Sustainability, Heritage Conservation and Sheltering the Social Economy

Abstract

Many social economy organizations either operate out of, or own and manage, heritage buildings in urban and rural places. These heritage buildings provide a variety of functions from the provision of affordable housing and safe-houses to artist co-operatives and studio space for cultural groups. Others house social and human services organizations, treatment centres, retail co-operatives and office space for the non-profit sector. This project had the following objectives: To critically assess the relationship between heritage conservation (ideational and built) and social economy organizations’ needs for shelter; and to critically asses the concept of sustainability as it relates to heritage buildings, including the concepts of a ‘built heritage’ of social democracy and an architecture of the social commons.