Cultural heritage sites provide an interesting arena for the research of
governance processes in the multidisciplinary field of their protection and
planning. The need for the preservation of cultural asset on the one hand,
and the requests for development of activities (tourism, agriculture,
housing), on the other hand, are in constant conflict. Attempts are being
made to overcome disagreements between a number of actors using different
mechanisms, both formal and informal. The formal planning system in Serbia
plays an important part in the protection of cultural heritage. However,
informal practices are not rare and they interact in an important way with
the formal planning system to bridge the gap between actors and disciplines.
This paper, using three archaeological sites in Serbia as a case study (Belo
Brdo-Vinca, Caricin grad and Medijana-South), researches plans and policies,
institutional and methodological solutions, and the relationship between the
public, private and civil sectors in the areas of cultural heritage sites.
Through the analysis of documents and procedures, interactions between
actors, interrelations between formal procedures and informal arenas,
recommendations for future planning and preservation practices are given.