In this text, we present a conceptual model for discussing and analysing what happens when culture, in the form of heritage, and regional development, in the form of entrepreneurship, is juxtaposed (=heritagepreneurship). By comparing case studies from Mexican and South West Scandinavian regions our ambition is to elucidate potentials and limits in different ways of working with regional development using heritage as a mean.

Our case studies showed that heritage becomes staged, enacted, and perceived in very differing ways depending on the ways memories are embraced, constructed or repressed in the heritagepreneurship process. Different meanings thereby give different societal effects, influencing the heritagepreneurship process.

The strategies used in these case studies tend to be located “in the extremes”, from unconscious ignorance or a conscious effort to forget, to efforts to provide full attention and an active awareness of what has happened. We believe that more nuanced strategies for more long-term sustainable heritagepreneurship and regional development are located in-between these extremes.