Heritage, Innovation, and Sustainability: Discourse from Sragi, Pekalongan, Indonesia

Abstract

This article addresses heritage issues within the context of sustainability, highlighting the integration of efforts to preserve the past with considerations for the future. In Indonesia, several industrial heritage sites, which remain active and serve as repositories of societal history and knowledge, are currently under threat due to political and economic pressures. Despite its efforts to survive, the Sragi Sugar Factory continues to hold economic value and generates a multiplier effect on the surrounding communities. Several incremental initiatives have been trying to revitalize several heritage buildings with new functions, but these innovations have not yet received comprehensive policy protection.  Here, heritages are seen as a representation of the social struggle to maintain the historical values of the societies. The sustainability transition approach encourages an economic perspective that is more pro-innovation rather than a transactional neo-classical perspective, enabling heritage sites to be valued and considered through various incentives and empowerment programs as long-term investments.