THE PROTECTION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

Cultural heritage is seen as a common good of paramount importance, and also a prerequisite for building social cohesion and developing individual and group identity. Inherent to Poland's national heritage is the heritage of various national, ethnic, ethnographic and religious groups, etc.

The record-keeping, and defining of standards for the protection of tangible and intangible heritage within the territory of Poland is the responsibility of the National Heritage Board of Poland (NID), a body appointed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. The NID carries out its tasks of promoting and protecting Poland's multicultural heritage by accumulating and disseminating knowledge of the heritage, coordinating voluntary measures (as part of the "Volunteers for Heritage" programme), raising social awareness of the cultural heritage, monitoring and analysing threats to the heritage and implementing rules for the sustainable protection of monuments. The NID handles the nationwide coordination of the European Heritage Days, whose main objective is to promote cultural diversity and multiculturalism, with special emphasis on the regional cultural heritage, intercultural dialogue and the contribution of various cultures to the European heritage. The NID also participates in conferences (e.g. the 13th Polish-German Conference and Study Visit “ANTIKON 2012 Half-Timbered Architecture – Common Heritage”) and working groups on the promotion and management of the multicultural heritage
(e.g. “Spiritual values of protected areas of Europe”). The NID extends its patronage to a variety of events, including conferences (e.g. the national conference on “digitisation in sciences of history and heritage protection – an analysis of potentials and threats” held in 2015) and festivals (e.g. the Open Gardens Festival). The measures also include the putting together and rental of themed exhibitions which aim to expand familiarity with Polish culture and other cultures associated with the territory of Poland.