Advisor: Prof. Tawfiq Abu-Ghazza
Co-advisor: Prof. Rami Daher

Abstract:
This study examines the topic of public participation as a tool used in conservation and development projects. It argues that the public should assume the status of real stakeholder. Three contrasting case studies were analyzed, each representing a different type and level of participation, using a critical evaluative approach to test the coherency of declared aims with what is applied in reality.
This study argues that, heritage and host community exploitation processes are a result of an up-bottom process, in which the public-instead of being the initiator, planner, decision-maker and executor ­ is forced to accept plans already formulated by others, thus transforming the public into a recipient. It further discusses that, a critical approach into conservation, which feeds opposition as an attitude against all forms of exploitation and domination, results in genuine community development. When public participation stops being used as a cover to meet foreign aid requirements, but otherwise is genuinely applied, then live sustainable conservation and development projects are achieved, existing modes of life are dynamically conserved, identity is generated and cultural continuity is realized.
The researcher concludes that the current approach to conservation should be replaced by a community-based approach. It is recommended to make a shift in emphasis from the economic profits generated from conservation projects towards a greater emphasis on social ethics, in which more weight is given to the public as a real active stakeholder.