Which groups have been silenced by the production of colonizing and whitewashed narratives? How can heritage education contribute to preserving the memory of invisible groups? In countries that were colonized, it is clear that material heritage is mainly related to the presence of colonizing groups, given that most of the buildings and assets of indigenous populations were destroyed and erased. Therefore, the objective of this article is to present a roadmap/route taken in the city of São Paulo as a way to reflect on and promote a proposal for critical heritage education on the heritage of the Black diaspora. This will contribute to and provide society with access to the presence and memories of Black populations in the city.

Drawing on Actor-Network Theory, this study explores how industrial heritage is maintained as a dynamic “matter of concern” rather than a stagnant “matter of fact.” Based on longitudinal fieldwork at the site of Akabira coal mine in Hokkaido, Japan, it examines the shifting roles of tourism-related actors in heritage preservation.
The findings reveal a shift through three stages: initially, grassroots tourism functioned as a “matter of concern” that galvanized community engagement. Subsequently, when tourism shifted toward a top-down developmental discourse, it triggered citizen resistance, redefining the site as a space of political contention. Finally, recent institutionalized operations have rendered heritage a “matter of fact,” potentially weakening active community engagement.
This study concludes that “memory of livelihood” is a crucial mediator for sustaining heritage as a “matter of concern.” It contributes to critical heritage studies by highlighting the double-edged role of tourism in weaving—and unweaving—relational heritage spaces.

Taiwan’s military dependents’ villages are unique Cold War heritage sites embodying veterans' collective memory. Despite their significance, the Statute for the Renovation of Old Military Dependents' Villages has caused severe spatial and social disruptions. Using a qualitative multiple-case study of Beitou Heart Village, Huwei Jianguo Village, and Fongshan Huangpu Village, this paper examines the revitalization of these "layered heritage" sites featuring Japanese-era architecture.

The analysis reveals distinct models: an “Unwalled Museum” in Beitou, creative clusters in Huwei’s rural military landscape, and a “maintenance-through-residency” strategy in Fongshan. The study argues that revitalizing such heritage must transcend material conservation. Through a social design lens, it conceptualizes activation as a process of repairing social ruptures and translating war memory into social resilience, fostering dynamic coexistence between cultural heritage and sustainable urban futures.

Through a comparative analysis of Les Pyramides in Évry-Courcouronnes and Le Vele di Scampia in Naples, this study examines how heritagisation can operate as a socially mediated form of placemaking in marginalised urban contexts shaped by stigma and neglect. Conceived in the post-war period as experimental housing projects with strong social ambitions, both estates were later reduced to dominant narratives of urban failure. The paper contrasts two distinct yet complementary modes through which architectural value was reactivated: the institutional labelling of « Patrimoine du XXᵉ siècle » in France, and a bottom-up, culturally mediated process in Naples shaped by cinematic representation, media-circulation, and local cultural practices. It argues that art and naming function as social mediators, reshaping collective imaginaries, reactivating place-based attachments, and generating ambivalent but meaningful effects on belonging and social cohesion. The comparison ultimately challenges future-oriented urban strategies to engage heritage as a relational and socially embedded practice.