ASRAV, EMINE CIGDEMBILGIN ALTINOZ, AYSE GULIZ2024-04-262024-04-26201910.7275/3bwk-ef67https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14394/30590EMINE CIGDEM ASRAV received her Bachelor degree of Architecture in 2011 from the Department of Architecture in Middle East Technical University (METU). She got MSc degree from the Graduate Program in Conservation of Cultural Heritage in METU in 2015 with the thesis titled ‘Place and Community Driven Conservation and Empowerment in Historic Rural Landscapes: Principles and Strategies for Taşkale Village, Turkey’. Currently, she is PhD Candidate in the Graduate Program in Architectural and Landscape Heritage in Politecnico di Torino where she also works as teaching assistant. Currently, she is writing her PhD thesis with the title ‘Assessing Cultural Values of Historic Rural Landscapes: From Knowledge to Action’. In addition to the academic studies, she works in the Sagalassos Archaeological Research Project since 2010 as conservation architect in the documentation, on-site conservation and conservation management studies. A. GULIZ BILGIN ALTINOZ, received her bachelor’s degree in architecture, and master’s and PhD degrees in restoration from Middle East Technical University. Her main academic and professional interest areas are conservation, management and planning of urban, rural and archaeological sites; multi layered towns and urban archaeology; information management, decision support systems and GIS in heritage conservation.Taşkale village, located on a valley, has been formed by having direct relations with nature within its own dynamics. In its historical continuum, there has always been active and continuous use of places even though functions change in time. The initial settlement starts in rock-cut spaces, then the settlement moves towards the slope of the valley in front of the rock formation. The rock formation has been used for various purposes of inhabitation, storage and worshipping since prehistoric times onwards. The church carved in the rock is still in active use today as a mosque and the rock-cut granaries are used to store agricultural products. The surrounding landscape is also actively used by the inhabitants for agriculture and husbandry purposes. In addition to the active use of the landscape, there are strong intangible relations by inhabitants with nature and their living environment. This is mainly because ongoing life is dependent on nature both for economic and socio-cultural activities. To conclude, Taşkale Village embraces multiple historical, cultural, socio-economic and spiritual values. However, after the recognition of these multiple local heritage values, conservation site decisions are designated by the central government. Even though these decisions are given for the sake of conservation, the regulations prevent the daily use of these places and abide the conservation actions into set of rules that are contradicting with the ongoing local lifecycle. Besides, state visions about development and economic-benefit oriented tourism policies affect the physical and also socio-economic structure of the village. In the end, contradictions occur between the local values and top-down conservation and development priorities. Due to these contradictions, the inhabitants, who are the active users and guardians of their living environment start to abandon these places, mainly because they cannot continue their daily life activities. Consequently, these places are degraded and lost in time. Within the content of this paper, contradictory values and priorities between locals and decision makers that affect the future of the rural landscapes will be open to discussion deriving from the experiences learnt from the case of Taşkale Village.local heritage valuestop-down decisionstop-down conservation prioritiescommunity-driven conservation strategiesArchitectural History and CriticismHistoric Preservation and ConservationUrban, Community and Regional PlanningPaper Panel