The main cultural assets of Sweden

The cultural heritage of Sweden is rich and diverse. The broad understanding of cultural heritage in Sweden encompasses all the physical and immaterial expressions of human impact, and spans from sites of historical, architectural or archaeological significance to contemporary public art and living traditions. The cultural policy in Sweden aims to promote a dynamic and independent cultural heritage as well as empowering cultural heritage activities as forces in the evolution of a democratic and sustainable society.

The legal framework on cultural heritage conservation

The management and conservation of ancient monuments, historic buildings, churches and the export of cultural objects is regulated by the Historic Environment Act. Public museums are regulated by the Museums Act (Swe). Regulations concerning cultural heritage can also be found in several other laws, including the Environmental Code, the Planning and Building Act (Swe) and the Forestry Act (Swe). The Archives Act (Swe) regulates the Swedish public archives.

The Swedish ministry of Culture is the governmental office responsible for matters concerning culture, democracy, media, the national minorities, and the language and culture of the Sami people. Cultural heritage management in Sweden is intended to promote:

• a sustainable society with a diversity of cultural heritage sites which are to be preserved, used and developed,
• people’s participation in cultural heritage management and their potential to understand and take responsibility for the cultural heritage,
• an inclusive society with the cultural heritage as a shared source of knowledge, education and experiences,
• a landscape management perspective in which cultural heritage is utilized in the development of society.

The Swedish National Heritage Board is the central administrative agency in the area of cultural heritage in Sweden. The National Property Board Sweden is the agency carrying out the management of the Swedish state’s properties, including nationally important buildings, parks and public open spaces; castles and royal palaces and county residences, theatres, museums and embassies. The Swedish Arts Council is the government authority supporting the living arts while the Public Art Agency Sweden is the governmental agency that produces and manages public art. The Institute for Language and Folklore is the government authority with the overall responsibility to safeguard Sweden’s intangible cultural heritage.

The 21 County Administrative Boards in Sweden are the state authorities responsible for the regional matters regarding the management of historic environment. The county boards carry out the majority of decisions concerning conservation at the local and regional level.

Since year 2000 the Church of Sweden is no longer a state church, but receives a yearly grant from the Swedish state to cover costs for preservation measures of the approximately 3,700 listed churches.

The cultural and natural sites on the World Heritage List

In Sweden, there are 15 cultural and natural sites listed on UNESCOs World Heritage List. The World Heritage activities are guided by a national strategy, developed by the Swedish National Heritage Board in close collaboration with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and The Swedish National Commission for UNESCO.

Sweden is a Member State of ICCROM since 01/09/1969

Mandates in ICCROM Council since 1958:

ICCROM Staff since 1959: - None -

Governmental Cultural Institutions

• The Swedish Ministry of Culture
• The Swedish National Heritage Board
• The National Property Board Sweden
• The Swedish Arts Council
• The Public Art Agency Sweden
• The Institute for Language and Folklore
• The Church of Sweden
• Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
• The Swedish National Commission for UNESCO
• Department of Conservation, University of Gothenburg

* ICCROM reserves the right to moderate the content provided by Member States for country profiles to ensure that they remain within the scope of ICCROM’s mission and pertinent to cultural heritage. However, ICCROM does not take responsibility for the accuracy and validity of the content supplied. The ideas and opinions expressed are those of the Member States.