Round Tables

Theme 1

Summary of Comments

• Cultural heritage is a concept that gives structure to our work and all it entails in terms of continuous study and the ongoing exchange of ideas. A traditionally narrow concept of cultural heritage does not leave room for many ideas. However, the current trends seem to indicate the need to study the subject in greater depth and broaden the concept. The trend toward a growing concept of heritage can be found in many aspects of social and economic life. It can be found in national, regional and local development plans, in urban planning, as well as in economic programs, investments, tourism development and in the promotion of citizen participation. The trend is also found in the preservation through a number of derived or associated activities. Finally, it can be seen in the improved quality of life of the majority of the people.
  - Rafael Tovar, Mexico
  
  
• Recently there has been an evolution in thinking with respect to cultural heritage. People are becoming more interested in recent cultural heritage. There is a need to develop methods for protecting and placing value on this dimension of cultural heritage for two reasons. First, the cultural heritage of the 20th century touches on the everyday lives of citizens and their immediate memories and second, it is a factor involved in social integration and economic development.
  In order to interest as wide a range of people as possible in cultural heritage we cannot overlook the value of our industrial or economic heritage and the importance it holds for large sectors of the population.
  - Catherine Tasca, France
  
  
• There is a need for more education in the schools in order to increase the consciousness of local cultural heritage. The key to strengthening cultural policy lies at the local level. Culture experts need to be more involved with regional development plans and regional politicians need to attach greater importance to culture. One method to do this is to focus on the cultural heritage that is connected to women, industry and the working class, which forms a very important part of our common heritage.
  - Marita Ulvskog, Sweden
  
  
• One area that the INCP could focus upon in the area of built heritage is capacity building and skills transfer. This is an area of concern particularly amongst INCP members from developing countries who do not possess sufficient human resources to preserve their extraordinary tangible cultural heritage.
  With regard to intangible heritage, numerous languages of the world require attention in order to prosper and in some cases survive.
  Another crucial aspect of intangible heritage is the skill and expertise that is passed through generation to generation. It is the traditions of craft making, music and story telling that are critical to people's economic and cultural prosperity. Ensuring that traditional skills are not lost in the process of globalization is important to guaranteeing our cultural diversity internationally.
  - Bridgett Sylvia Mabandla, South Africa
  
  
• Cultural heritage is in many ways a documentation of historical ties between people in different countries and even on different continents. It may allow for building new contacts and visible cultural bridges between nations and regions.
  - Ellen Horn, Norway
  
  
• New information technologies offer excellent opportunities to promote cultural diversity and facilitate access to a country's inaccessible tangible cultural heritage. With respect to intangible cultural heritage, there must be an effort made to protect the tens even hundreds of languages in danger of disappearing.
  - Mamadou Diop, Senegal
  
  
• Cultural heritage, whether tangible or intangible, can be used to stimulate social and economic development. It is interesting to talk about tangible and intangible elements and it is hard to separate them really, because there is such an interdependence between tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
  - Charles Furey, Newfoundland, Canada
  
  
• As ministers of culture, we are always aware of the negative aspects of globalization. These meetings give us the opportunity to see the positive aspects of this phenomenon.
  With respect to cultural heritage we are constantly faced with the question of creating a legislative and financial balance between what has been created over centuries, what we call our heritage, and new creation that is happening today.
  We see cultural heritage as a stabilizing and integrating political and social factor as well as an ethnic ideology upon which to build our nation.
  - Karina Peterson, Latvia
  
  
• Cultural heritage should bridge or link to the contemporary arts. Ministers and authorities should be aware that in the future we will not be judged on how we interpreted Bach or Mozart, but on how we handle our contemporary artists.
  - Norbert Riedl, Austria
  
  
• We should stress the link between cultural heritage and democratic development. In this case we need another distinction in addition to tangible and intangible culture, and that distinction is between conservative and non-conservative culture. In other words a culture which shows the way for political and cultural development or a culture which is conservative. This network must be aware of this distinction because in most former socialist countries and countries in transition, culture often works as the state culture. This state culture focuses only on the positive and is not critical or active in promoting change.
  - Antun Vujic, Croatia
  
  
• There is one thing that unites us: the future. Who is the bearer of the future? It is our youth. In terms of tangible and intangible heritage, we have to be aware that if youth is not involved in whatever we think would be advisable in terms of preserving our heritage then we are wasting our time.
  - Sveinn Einarsson, Iceland
  
  
• It is of utmost importance now that Russia exists outside of the former Soviet Union, it has to stress its own cultural heritage and a lot of attention has been paid to this subject.
  The issue of national languages is also a very real concern for Russia. Russia has scores of nationalities and national languages and it is extremely important that all the elements in our laws and constitution about giving them equal rights are translated into practice.
  - Leonid Markarchenkov, Russia
  
  

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