”Vi kan inte sätta en skylt på hela Sverige”

Prioriteringar och utmaningar i kulturarvssektorns beredskapsplanering

Abstract

”We can’t put a sign on all of Sweden”. Priorities and challenges in the preparedness planning of the heritage sector

Following the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Swedish heritage sector started to plan for the eventuality of an armed conflict on Swedish soil. In this article the authors investigate how the protection of cultural property is organised and managed in Sweden. Except for documenting and reflecting on the ongoing work the article examines how heritage institutions plan to protect heritage and why they have chosen those particular measures. We also place today’s planning in a historical context. The aim is to give the sector more knowledge of the conditions for protecting cultural property. Our material consists of interviews, policy documents and observations. The empirical focus is on two tasks that so far have received most attention: the designation of objects to be protected according to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict; and the planning for evacuation of parts of collections to safer spaces. We conclude that what has largely been missing is plans for how institutions will be able to offer protection to their collections while also carrying on operations during high alert or war. Institutions will be expected to remain available to the public and not to close down. Broad educational efforts and much more comprehensive planning will be needed in order to prepare for such a scenario.”We can’t put a sign on all of Sweden”. Priorities and challenges in the preparedness planning of the heritage sector Following the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Swedish heritage sector started to plan for the eventuality of an armed conflict on Swedish soil. In this article the authors investigate how the protection of cultural property is organised and managed in Sweden. Except for documenting and reflecting on the ongoing work the article examines how heritage institutions plan to protect heritage and why they have chosen those particular measures. We also place today’s planning in a historical context. The aim is to give the sector more knowledge of the conditions for protecting cultural property. Our material consists of interviews, policy documents and observations. The empirical focus is on two tasks that so far have received most attention: the designation of objects to be protected according to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict; and the planning for evacuation of parts of collections to safer spaces. We conclude that what has largely been missing is plans for how institutions will be able to offer protection to their collections while also carrying on operations during high alert or war. Institutions will be expected to remain available to the public and not to close down. Broad educational efforts and much more comprehensive planning will be needed in order to prepare for such a scenario.