Rethink Heritage

The policy for heritage management inPoland is recorded in the “National programme for the protection and care of monuments”, passed by the Council of Ministers and implemented under the supervision and direction of the General Inspector of Monuments (Secretary or Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage) in close collaboration with the institutions in charge of its implementation. The national government is responsible for providing legal, organizational and financial information for the conservation, management and maintenance of heritage, monitoring its state of conservation and use and carrying out protection tasks involving territorial planning. All these activities are carried out by the local Inspectors of Monuments, dependent on the General Inspector of Monuments, under the control and consultancy support of institutions at central level.

The General Inspector of Monuments is in charge of drawing up and implementing the national programme for the protection of monuments, overseeing compliance with the Law for the protection of monuments, as well as supervising the activities of the Inspectors of Monuments of the Voivodship. The inspectors of monuments of the Voivodship are appointed by the Voivod with the approval of the General Inspector of Monuments. These inspectors are in charge of implementing the national programme for the protection and care of heritage; planning financial support for its protection; keeping a register and inventory; controlling the restoration, conservation, research and architectural work in the monuments and archaeological sites recorded; verifying compliance with the Law for the protection of monuments; drawing up protection plans; and promoting knowledge and cooperation with public administration bodies. This system of local inspectors therefore works under the General Inspector. The central body under the General Inspector of Monuments is the National Heritage Board of Poland, which is in charge of compiling and disseminating information on heritage; establishing and implementing standards for its protection and conservation; supervising the National Register; establishing new techniques for research and scientific documentation and supporting local inspectors; as well as supervising periodic reports on Polish sites and objects included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and coordinating the procedure for applying for the presidential title of “Monument to History”.

Furthermore, the National Institute of Museology and Public Collections, attached to the Ministry of Culture and Cultural Heritage, is in charge of drafting and implementing the national policy for museums, offering them assistance.

 LEGAL FRAMEWORK

• The Act of 23 July 2003 on the protection and the care of monuments
• The decree on information sign to be put on registered monuments
• The decree on rewards for discovery or finding a historical objects or historical archives
• The decree on organization of the Voivodship Inspector of Monuments
• The decree on exportation of historical objects and monuments abroad
• The decree on conservation, restoration, building works, conservation, architectural and archaeological research of registered monuments
• The decree on monuments protection in case of armed conflict event
• The decree on subsidy for archaeological research
• The decree on the national register of the lost cultural goods
• The decree on the templates of documents indicating the time of the object’s origin, it’s valuation, valuation of the monument and confirmation of its entry into the Republic of Poland territory

 RATIFIED INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

Council of Europe:

• Granada, ratified in 2011
• Valetta, ratified in 1995
• Florence, ratified in 2004
• Faro: in progress.

UNESCO:

• 1954, Hague - protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict, Convention and the I Protocol, ratified in 1956
• 1970, Paris - illicit trafficking of cultural property, ratified in 1974
• 1972, Paris - protection of the world cultural and natural heritage, ratified in 1976
• 2003, Paris - protection of intangible heritage, ratified in 2011
• 2005, Paris - protection and promotion of diversity of cultural expression, ratified in 2007.
• 2001, Paris - Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage: in progress

Information regarding legislation is based on Council of Europe's data: https://www.coe.int/en/web/herein-system/poland