Cultural Heritage Legislation

Southeast Europe

Welcome to the website of Svetozara Petkova, international policy fellow of the Center for Policy Studies affiliated with the Open Society Institute and Central European University.

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The present research conducted with the support of the International Policy Fellowship will provide a comparative analysis of legislation in the area of cultural heritage of the Balkan states thus setting the basis for the modernization of their laws in line with the contemporary trends in this field. All new democracies of the Balkan region are currently reforming their national legislation by introducing modern approaches for the preservation and management of cultural heritage. The research is based on the concept that co-operation and coordination between these countries’ efforts at reforming their legislations would speed up this process and make it more efficient. It could also set a favourable basis for future dialogue and co-operation in the promotion and utilisation of cultural heritage and the development of common projects in the area of cultural tourism, promotion campaigns, etc. A common regional approach to the protection and promotion of cultural heritage would constitute one way of transforming some of the entrenched political attitudes that have divided the Balkans. In turn, cooperation in this area can be a vehicle for advancing the notion of the Balkans as a common cultural region.

The objectives of the project are to:

conduct a comparative analysis of the legislation of Southeast European states in the area of cultural heritage;
interact with experts from the specialized agencies, the Ministries of Culture, and non-governmental organizations in analyzing legislation;
explore the extent to which the studied countries have implemented their obligations under the UNESCO and Council of Europe conventions in the area;
create a systematized regional comparative information resource providing a methodological tool for analyzing the development of cultural heritage legislation in the project countries;
formulate policy recommendations for future legal reform and regional cultural heritage policies; and
write a research and policy paper in coordination with mentors that assists the Ministries of Culture and legislative drafting committees in the relevant states in their work on legislation and strategies for the protection and management of cultural heritage.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.