The fourth part of the training: "Protection and management of archaeological heritage"

The fourth part of the course Protection and management of archaeological heritage was aimed at discussing issues directly connected with the protection and management of archaeological heritage. It provided a systematic overview of these international conventions and regulations that had and remain to have significant impact upon archaeological heritage and its protection and management. During the latter half of the 20th century, the number of international charters and conventions dealing with the conservation and preservation of cultural heritage was prepared and approved both by world (e.g. UNESCO or ICOMOS) or European (mainly Council of Europe) bodies. The charters and standards provided guiding principles towards defining an appropriate response to particular conservation and heritage issues. These conventions and charters had an important effect on education and practice in the domain of protection and management of cultural heritage. On the political level, they proved to be important documents for the conservation of cultural property and an indication at the international level of governmental responsibility for the conservation of cultural property.

Over the last few years the concept of sustainability has been translated to the cultural field. Under the pressures of globalisation and general economics it is feared that cultural diversity is under threat. If we want to keep a degree of cultural diversity we actively have to engage with the management of the landscape in a sustainable manner. This module delved into the concept of sustainability and the way in which it applies to cultural resources. This  fairly new development in cultural heritage management to deal with sustainability and its affects in the archaeological practice was brought to the fore. There is always a constant balancing act between conservation and development.

This part of the training further discussed numerous facets and pitfalls of commercial archaeology (e.g. quality and standard of work, professionalism, ethics, etc.). Questions concerning which elements are of relevance for the evaluation of the role of commercial archaeology in archaeological heritage management were also explicitly debated.