Mandt speech at 25 BSPC

Sonja Mandt presented her first report on Cultural AffairsShe pointed out that culture is an enormous area, and in her first report she had chosen to focus on coastal culture and maritime heritage, including underwater heritage. In particular she had studied the work of the Baltic Sea Monitoring Group on Heritage Cooperation, which was established already in April 1998, as a result of the 3rd Conference of the CBSS Ministers of Culture.She had observed that the national representation and participation of the Monitoring Group may vary a lot, most likely due to budget difficulties, and urged every country to contribute to this important work of heritage cooperation.She underlined that it is necessary to educate craftsmen and increase knowledge and competence both cross border and in the local community to safeguard buildings. Educational programme that seeks to spread knowledge cross border on traditional handicraft, should be supported. A particular area of work is the preservation of the Baltic lighthouses. It is only by finding suitable new uses for former lighthouses that we can hope to successfully preserve a greater number of them.She drew the attention to a major problem: If underwater heritage is located in territorial waters it is mostly protected by national laws. But some 40 percent of the Baltic Sea is divided into Economic Zones in which no effective heritage legislation can be applied. This is quite unsatisfactory and BSPC should take an initiative and work for a proper heritage legislation which cover the whole of the Baltic Sea.The coastal culture is threatened, not only by the crisis in the traditional coastal industries, but also by the pressure of different activities, and therefore should be further protected.He underlined that when transforming a harbour area to new uses we need to take care of the heritage and establish processes that can cope with contradictory values held by different stakeholders. The preservation of our historic ships should be a goal for all nations. We must secure the knowledge of using, building and restoring old ships, she saidRegarding the EU Strategy; Priority Area Culture, she reminded the conference that the Coordinators have emphasized the importance of a strong parliamentary support and involvement in the BSR Cultural dialogue, and she suggested that the BSPC explore the possibility to observe the work of the Steering group, and to participate at conferences and forums organised in the framework of the EU Strategy.Her full report: http://www.bspc.net/cultural-affairs-rapporteur-report-final-2016/