Editorial

Abstract

When trying to find out what conservation is, one definition that is often put forward is that ‘conservation is the preservation of cultural heritage for future generations’.Footnote1 In the first contribution to this issue, ‘Beyond lifetimes: who do we exclude when we keep things for the future?’, Jane Henderson makes an urgent call for the re-evaluation of this commonly held assumption by those both outside and inside the profession. Henderson’s insight is that by focussing on this imagined public we actively reinforce some of the exclusion and invisibility of parts of the present-day public in what should otherwise be a more inclusive heritage sector.