The Occitan language and culture now play an important part in the cultural development programmes of organized public areas, such as a regional natural park and rural districts, in the South of France. Many initiatives have been taken for the protection and valorization of the living memory of a traditional popular culture ; their implementation may benefit from news regulatory and financial measures from the Departments, Regions as well as from European programmes. At the same time, the (material as well as immaterial) heritage has been acknowledged as a major axis of sustainable development by International Institutions ; indeed, they recommend its valorization as an ident marker that facilitates social cohesion.--- From this point of view and through a systemic review of the international founding texts, European programmes, policies of the local authorities, charters and action plans of regional natural parks, cultural events and netwworks of local actors, the thesis, Local development and Occitan culture, analises the forces and weakness of the established parternships, and declineates the Occitan imprint on the local development.
