Heritage safeguarding for sustainable development of Tierrabomba island in Colombia (La proteccion del patrimonio para el desarollo sostenibile de la isla de Tierrabomba en Colombia)

This paper proposes a new synergistic development strategy that go beyond the traditional approach of heritage preservation and safeguarding. The static definition of heritage as a place or an artefact or as memory of past is here converted into a driven force for the sustainable development across all over its environmental, economic and social dimensions. This new approach is applied to the safeguarding of Tierrabomba Island located within the bay of Cartagena de Indias in Colombia by means the establishment of an archaeological, historical and cultural park. Tierrabomba Island is one of the richest areas in ruins and colonial buildings, with lots of archaeological, pre-Columbian, colonial and republican areas. Nowadays, the island is in a state of complete underdevelopment that not only prevents the wellbeing of population of about ten thousand inhabitants but also threatens to irreparably compromising its huge cultural and natural heritage. The chosen case study allows highlighting the significant contribution of heritage safeguarding to sustainable development.