01858nas a2200205   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002653002400043653002300067653001300090653002400103653002000127100001800147245011700165856015400282300001200436490000700448520117700455022002001632                                       d10aintangible heritage10acultural landscape10afriction10aheritage management10aLiving heritage1 aGraeme MacRae00aUniversal heritage meets local livelihoods:  awkward engagements  at the world cultural heritage listing in Bali  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85028756035&doi=10.1080%2f13527258.2017.1339107&partnerID=40&md5=c4baa7b75d505a0640fc9806083ce2af  a846-8590 v233 aIn 2012 the UNESCO World Heritage Committee added to its World Heritage List the ‘Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the subak system as a manifestation of the Tri Hita Karana Philosophy’. Barely a year later, UNESCO had become sufficiently concerned about reports of various problems that it advised the Government of Indonesia of these concerns. Through ethnographic study of the initial implementation of the listing, this article reveals problems of uncontrolled development, and disputes over the allocation of benefits to local communities, and challenges to effective governance. It focuses on two key locations of the site, offering an analysis of problems, their causes and effects. Beginning with the premise that the gulf of understanding between the global World Heritage system and local communities often creates a range of unintended consequences, this article reveals the many ‘awkward engagements’ that have emerged ‘on the ground’ in Bali as local agencies of government are left to their own devices to manage the World Heritage site. © 2017 Graeme MacRae. Published with licence by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor \& Francis Group.  a13527258 (ISSN)