Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is a value in all its manifestations. It is an integral part of the local, regional, national and European identity, it represents the quality of the living environment, and it is a key source for balanced regional development in Slovenia. Heritage is the foundation of Slovenia’s cultural diversity, which is interconnected with its exceptional landscape and biological diversity. It also underlies the attractiveness of the country for its citizens and forms the basis for education, development, artistic creation, tourism and other economic activities. Cultural heritage also enhances the visibility of Slovenia in the international community.
In the Eurobarometer survey of 2017, 92% of Slovenians said that cultural heritage was important for our country and 76% of respondents were proud of our common heritage.
Integrated cultural heritage conservation
An integrated conservation of cultural heritage can be achieved through a more coordinated cooperation among all the public, institutional and private actors concerned. The right to heritage is one of our human rights, as the conservation and sustainable use of heritage stimulate the social and cultural development of people and improve the quality of life. Heritage plays an important role in building a more cohesive, peaceful and democratic society, accelerates sustainable development, and stimulates cultural diversity and modern creativity.
The protection of cultural heritage includes identifying heritage, recording, studying and interpreting it, conserving it in a comprehensive manner and including it in modern life, developing the awareness of its value, facilitating access to it, informing and educating about it, recognising its potentials for economic, social and sustainable development, and continuously including it in development projects at local and regional levels. We include knowledge of heritage in education and training at all levels and try to manage heritage protection and conservation in dialogue with all stakeholders.
Long-term objectives concerning cultural heritage
Slovenia's long-term objectives concerning cultural heritage are wide-ranging. We aim to raise the awareness of the social values of heritage and increase its accessibility, stimulate the participation of individuals, communities and other stakeholders in heritage activities, and achieve greater visibility of heritage in Slovenia and internationally. Our objectives with regard to development are to stimulate a diverse use and reuse of heritage and the exploitation of its potentials, increase the effectiveness of the legal and financial framework for heritage protection and conservation, ensure greater competence and efficiency of the public heritage protection sector, and improve inter-ministerial cooperation and quality of life by conserving heritage and promoting heritage activities. We pay attention to increasing the level of knowledge, skills and values related to heritage and promoting quality heritage research. We also recognise the importance of including heritage in the information society.