To understand the contribution that world heritage properties can make to society and to local a d national economies is all the more urgent as greater importance is given to sustainable use benefit-sharing for heritage. In recent years, as a result of major phenomena such as globalization, demographic growth and development pressure, the cultural heritage sector has stared to reflect on the relationship between conservation and sustainable development. This was triggered by the realization that, in the face of these new challenges, heritage could no longer be 'confined to the role of passive conservation of the past', but should instead 'provide the tools and framework to help shape, delineate and drive the development of tomorrow's societies'. It reflected, as well, a tendency to consider 'living' sites as part of the heritage, rather than only monuments. These living heritage sites are considered important not only for what they tell us about the past, but also as a testimony to the continuity of old traditions in present-day culture and for providing implicit evidence of their sustainability