| Summary: | Since the creation in 1985 of the label ‘Villes et Pays d'art et d'histoire’ (towns and territories of art and history), a new profession has emerged around the certification convention that binds the Ministry of Culture and local communities: the ‘animateur de l'architecture et du patrimoine’, the local architecture and heritage coordinator. The aim of the present article is to measure the impact of the introduction of this new stakeholder into the local administration. The legitimacy of this new position is examined, and its room for manoeuvre between other local services dealing with cultural heritage, such as tourism, culture or town-planning. The analysis is based on interviews with local stakeholders and the study of legal texts. It suggests a double strategy, with standardisation on a national level but an ambiguous place at a local level. Consequently this new profession must claim a specific skill, that of ‘interpretation’. This notion, derived from the new museology, illustrates new strategies of communication around the heritage giving a central place to the visitor.
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