Roles in cultural heritage management
Instructions have been prepared for environmental management in Svalbard, which concerns the division of labour between the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment and its administrative agencies, The Governor of Svalbard and Longyearbyen lokalstyre.
The Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment has the overall responsibility for environmental protection management in Svalbard and a separate responsibility for coordinating environmental management.
The Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage is the authority responsible for cultural heritage management in Svalbard and has overall responsibility in the cultural heritage area. The Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage decides on exemptions for protected cultural monuments in Svalbard. This means that the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage has the authority to grant exemptions from protection orders for automatically protected cultural monuments and associated protection zones.
The Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage can decide to protect cultural monuments from after 1945 that have a particular historical or cultural value. The Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage is an advisory body to the office of the Governor of Svalbard and is the appeal body for cultural heritage decisions made by The Governor of Svalbard.
The Governor is the regional cultural heritage authority in Svalbard and is responsible for the day-to-day administrative work. The Governor of Svalbard prepares protection and exemption cases for the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage.
The Governor can decide on reducing protection zones for automatically protected cultural monuments. The Governor is also responsible for carrying out necessary projects on protected cultural monuments and, among other things, carries out maintenance work on protected buildings and archaeological excavations.