According to The Dublin Principles, it is important to have interdisciplinary guidelines to document and understand the values of tangible and intangible heritage in the context of socio-economic and industrial histories through a diverse set of methodologies. In order to protect the integrity and authenticity of a site, appropriate policies, legal and administrative measures are required to develop an integrated inventory, identifying specific characteristics while meeting contemporary built environment-related requirements at the same time. The conservation authority also needs enhanced power to promote the integrity and authenticity of the site. Physical intervention should be reversible and if a heritage could not be retained, thorough documentation should be done.
Industrial heritage item should be recognised as a valuable educational resource for multi-dimensional learning about history, social science and STEAM subjects for students as well as for professionals, corporate sectors, NGOs and the general public.
Strengths
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Landscape, though transformed, remains rather intact
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The integrity of the historic structures at the mine allows revitalisation and re-opening of some sections of the mining tunnels.
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There are rich social capital and collective memories in the MOS Iron Mine and surrounding landscape.
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There are clear socio-cultural, ecological and religious story-lines that connect the mine to local, regional and global histories.
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There are enthusiastic local advocacy groups to promote the values of the MOS Iron Mine.
Opportunities
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MOS Country Park and MOS Park nearby provide enough space for exhibiting the stories of the mine.
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There is development potential in MOS, providing possible opportunities for partnership between the private sector and civil society.
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Cooperation of the local advocacy groups with other conservation-centred NGOs.
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There are growing public interests towards the iron mine and its landscape.
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Technological advancement such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) can be used to communicate the values and significance of the site.
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The digital era provides multiple platforms for public engagement.
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Policies for conservation and creative arts are developing.
Weaknesses
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Accessibility of the conservation site has to be improved.
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Vulnerable environment has limited carrying capacity (e.g. natural disasters such as landslide).
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There is a lack of resources for conservation (e.g. financial, technical support, human resources).
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Existing community members may not know about the values of the MOS Iron Mine.
Threats
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Micro-climate accelerates the ageing of the remaining structures.
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The awareness for protecting and leaving-no-trace in the heritage site has to be improved (e.g. plastic bullets, probably a result of playing war games, are found near the remaining structures of the MOS Iron Mine from time to time).
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The current conservation policy is rather inadequate, providing little policy, financial and technical support to conserving industrial heritage in Hong Kong.