Sustainability communication through interpretation in built cultural heritage sites: a comparative assessment of the ark palace (Bukhara, Uzbekistan) and Bratislava castle (Slovakia)

Heritage interpretation is widely regarded as the principal mechanism for conveying sustainability values to visitors, yet whether sustainability information is present in what heritage sites actually interpret has rarely been measured. This study applies an original sustainability technical communication (STC) framework, comprising 36 variables across four dimensions (interpretation technical conditions, environmental, socio-cultural and economic sustainability), to two typologically comparable fortified palace complexes now operating as public museums: the Ark Palace in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Centre of Bukhara, and Bratislava Castle, Slovakia. Every variable receives an Overall score recording the attribute as observable at the site and, where an interpretive means carries it, a message-category tag: informational, awareness raising, educational, participatory or promotional. The Present score is the sum of tagged variables, so the difference identifies sustainability information that exists on the ground but never reaches the visitor. At the Ark Palace 19.41 of 36 points (53.9%) were present in interpretation against an Overall score of 27.31 (75.9%); at Bratislava Castle, 21.91 (60.9%) against 27.61 (76.7%). Waste management, energy saving and carbon footprint reduction were absent from every interpretive means at both sites. Informational content accounted for roughly half of everything present and participatory content for none. Three interventions follow: sustainability interpretation plans aligned with Principle Five of the ICOMOS Ename Charter, operational environmental content in existing interpretive means, and a shift from informational toward participatory and awareness-raising registers.

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