Advocating the Policy of Cultural Heritage

Abstract

The necessity to establish a culture of public policy at all levels of state organization in Bosnia and Herzegovina stems from the dissatisfactory position of culture in society, as well as its marginalization. This paper focuses on the creation of a cultural heritage policy. Cultural heritage policy was chosen due to the importance of cultural heritage for Bosnia and Herzegovina and its population but also because of a non-existent solution for the prevention of its decay, devastation, and looting. Cultural heritage policy may be defined as a systemic and planned attitude of the state and its authorities towards the sector of cultural heritage. There is a need to create a cultural heritage policy, as a public sector policy arises in a moment of increased interest among international and national organizations of culture for studying the phenomenon of heritage. The importance of heritage is further increased due to its connections with the economy and tourism. The paper emphasizes that the creation of cultural heritage policy is conditioned by the existence of state/parastate authorities for the sector, by passing the regulations to arrange the sector of cultural heritage, by determining the model for financing the sector, and by adopting strategic documents determining the guidelines for the development of the sector.