The Monitoring Group on Cultural Heritage in the Baltic Sea States

Chairperson: Alfredas Jomantas
Coordinator: Marianne Lehtimäki

The joint cooperation between the national boards in charge of cultural heritage in the Baltic Sea States has been functioning since 1998. Responsible for the work is a working group of senior heritage experts called the Monitoring Group. The cooperation takes place under the umbrella of the Council of the Baltic Sea States. The respective Ministries of Culture have appointed the Monitoring Group members from all the Baltic Sea States, including Norway and Iceland, except Russia.

The task of the Monitoring Group is to promote and further develop regional cultural heritage co-operation. This is done identifying fields where Baltic Sea co-operation is needed, by initiating and supporting networks, by organizing seminars and writing publications, and by providing information on Cultural Heritage co-operation through seminars, Forums and the WEB. The Monitoring Group reports about the progress to the Ministers at their common meeting.

To execute the work, the Monitoring Group has initiated four Working Groups which have covered the fields of Underwater Heritage, Coastal Culture and Maritime Heritage, Building Preservation and Maintenance in Practice, and Sustainable Historic Towns. During the ongoing mandate, the Monitoring Group focuses on promotion of better accessibility to cultrual heritage within themes children and cultural heritage education, the digitization of cultural heritage, cultural landscapes and historic gardens as well as cultural heritage and tourism.

The Monitoring Group is also responsible for organizing Cultural Heritage Forums on different topics. The 3rd Forum took place autumn 2007 in Vilnus enhancing sustainable cultural tourism. The 4th Forum with the theme "Cultural heritage - contemporary challenge" will take place 8-11 September 2010 in Riga, Latvia. More information online at the address mantojums.lv.

Participants and Work Periods

2009 -		Participants and Meetings
2005 - 2008		Participants and Meetings
2003 - 2005		Participants and Meetings
2001 - 2003		Participants and Meetings
1999 - 2001		Participants and Meetings
1997 - 1999		Participants and Meetings