Recommendations for an improved cultural heritage preparedness

Cultural heritage preparedness is civil preparedness is total defense.

This became more than clear during the high level seminar on cultural heritage preparedness, which took place at Hanaholmen on the 28th of May 2026.

During the seminar the national and international experts, including Estonia´s minister of Culture Heidy Purga, presented several important recommendations on how to improve cultural heritage preparedness in our region.

We drew up a list of five of the concrete guidelines:

1. Recognize cultural heritage as critical infrastructure

Cultural heritage should be recognized as critical infrastructure that strengthens societal resilience and the will to defend our societies. It constitutes our collective memory, reflecting our values, identity, and historical continuity.

2. Strengthen and concretize the Nordic-Baltic Declaration
The declaration should be updated with more concrete and action-oriented advice on how cultural heritage preparedness should be managed in practice.

3. Establish a Nordic-Baltic heritage preparedness working group
The Baltic Region Heritage Committee should establish a permanent working group which should be tasked with developing common guidelines for regional cooperation and mutual assistance in a crisis situation.

4. Digitalization of cultural heritage
Experience from all over the world, not least the restoration of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, shows that digitization of heritage and the creation of 3D copies play a crucial role in protecting and preserving heritage during crises.

5. Joint training and education
Joint Nordic-Baltic exercises are crucial for cultural heritage preparedness to function in a crisis.