Community engagement and public education in northwestern part of Bangladesh: A study regarding heritage conservation

Heritage management is important to conserve the identity of history and culture, which can generate economic activity, enhance aesthetics, increase surrounding land value, and transfer knowledge from generation to generation. Bangladesh is a land that belongs to various forms of heritage, and Rajshahi city is not an exception with different cultural and natural heritage. Overpopulation growth, unplanned urbanization, poor infrastructure, and weak urban management are imposing risks on deteriorating heritage in current days. This study was conducted to rummage the involvement of community people in imperishability and management of heritage in the Rajshahi City Corporation of Bangladesh. To fulfill the objectives, 205 individual surveys, 3 Focus Group Discussions, and 10 Key Informant Interviews were conducted to ascertain public engagement and their visualization in respect to predicament of heritage, conservation, and the way for the future. Findings reveal that 95% of respondents thought that all the heritages express the identity of Rajshahi, where around 30% of people identified some heritages as directly or indirectly related to their family. Besides, 56.67% of people strongly expressed their views that they want to conserve their heritage through the development process, while 34.17% usually accept this argument. This research also shows a Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat (SWOT) matrix regarding heritage management, where a priority and decision matrix have been carried out to a certain internal and external factors for heritage conservation. This research thus expected to help different people from government, non-government and local people take action regarding different forms of heritage conservation in Bangladesh.