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Demokratiskolan
The Heritage & Traditions card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 58 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaCulture & everyday life
  • Centre of gravityCentral government
  • Points of influence3 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe general election
Culture & everyday life

Heritage & Traditions

Cultural heritage & behavior passed down

The rune stone at the edge of the forest, the station building from 1902 and the maypole on the meadow: cultural heritage is buildings, ancient remains and living traditions. The protection is to a high degree national, with the Swedish National Heritage Board (Riksantikvarieämbetet) as the expert agency and the County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen) as the decision-maker in the county. But what gets demolished or preserved in your town is often decided in the municipality's plans.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · detailed development plans & demolition permits · approx 35 %
  • Region · regional museums & culture funds · approx 15 %
  • State · cultural environment law & county board · approx 50 %

The central government protects the designated cultural heritage through the Historic Environment Act and the County Administrative Boards. The general election steers the law and the appropriations, but the municipal election decides how carefully your town changes.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe plans & the permits
The regionThe museums & the story
Central governmentThe law & the county board · centre of gravity
Who decides?
The municipal council (kommunfullmäktige), the building committee (byggnadsnämnden) and the city architect.
The regional council (regionfullmäktige) and the region's culture committee.
The Riksdag, the Swedish National Heritage Board (Riksantikvarieämbetet) and the County Administrative Boards' cultural environment units.
What do they decide?
Detailed development plans that can protect buildings, demolition permits, care requirements for rebuilding and municipal cultural environment programmes.
Regional museums with antiquarian expertise, financed through the cultural cooperation model together with the central government.
The Historic Environment Act: ancient remains are automatically protected, listed buildings are declared by the County Administrative Board and ecclesiastical heritage has special protection.
Where are decisions made?
In the building committee and in the detailed development plans' consultation.
In the region's cultural plan and in the museums' activities.
At the County Administrative Board in your county, with the Swedish National Heritage Board as the national overview.
Who pays?
The municipal tax carries the planning work. The property owners carry the upkeep of their buildings.
The regional tax plus central government funds from the cultural cooperation model.
The central government budget: the cultural environment appropriation and compensation to the Church of Sweden for the upkeep of the churches.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Statement in plan consultation, appeal of a permit if you are affected, the local heritage association.
Regional election Consultation on the region's cultural plan, involvement in the museums' friends' associations.
General election Anyone can raise the question of listing a building with the County Administrative Board.
EUThe EU has no formal power over Swedish cultural heritage, but EU funds can support restoration projects. The World Heritage Sites are designated by Unesco, not by the EU.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case The station building is saved from demolition
  1. State

    The Historic Environment Act sets the levels of protection

    The Riksdag's Historic Environment Act protects ancient remains automatically and lets the County Administrative Board declare valuable buildings as listed buildings. The responsibility for the historic environment is, according to the law, shared by everyone.

  2. Municipality

    The demolition application lands on the municipality

    The property owner wants to demolish the station building from 1902 and build new. The building committee examines the demolition permit against the detailed development plan, which lacks protective provisions. The threat becomes visible through the committee's documents.

    Point of influence

    The committee's documents are public. The person who watches them can raise the alarm early.

  3. State

    The local heritage association raises the question of listing

    Anyone can apply to the County Administrative Board for a building to be declared a listed building. The County Administrative Board can prohibit measures while the question is examined. If the County Administrative Board decides to declare the building a listed building, the owner can appeal to the administrative court (förvaltningsrätten), and further to the administrative court of appeal. If the County Administrative Board decides to declare the building a listed building, the owner can appeal to the administrative court (förvaltningsrätten), and further to the administrative court of appeal.

    Point of influence

    Here a single person can trigger a national protection examination. An application is enough.

  4. Region

    The county museum provides the knowledge base

    The regional museum's antiquarians document the building's history and values. Their statement carries weight when the County Administrative Board and the municipality make their assessments.

  5. Municipality

    The detailed development plan gets protective provisions

    Regardless of how the listing question ends, the municipality can protect the building in a new detailed development plan with a demolition ban and care provisions. The plan goes out on consultation where everyone can give their views.

    Point of influence

    The plan consultation is open to everyone, and written comments must be addressed before the plan is adopted.

  6. Your everyday life

    A café in the waiting room

    The station building still stands, now with a café in the waiting room. That it turned out that way was thanks to an attentive association, a national law and a municipal plan decision.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. Which building or place in your town would you miss the most if it disappeared, and do you know who protects it?

  2. Who should pay for old buildings to be preserved: the owner, the municipality or the central government?

  3. Are traditions like midsummer and Lucia celebrations also cultural heritage that the public should safeguard, or do they take care of themselves?

  4. When is it right to demolish the old in order to build the new?

  5. Whose cultural heritage is visible in your municipality's museums and memorials, and whose is missing?

Glossary

Kulturmiljölagen
A national law that protects ancient remains, listed buildings and ecclesiastical heritage.
Byggnadsminne
A building with high cultural value that the County Administrative Board has given a particularly strong legal protection.
Fornlämning
A remain from earlier times with automatic protection, interference requires the County Administrative Board's permission.
Rivningslov
A municipal permit required in order to demolish buildings within an area covered by a detailed development plan.
Varsamhetsbestämmelse
A rule in a detailed development plan that a building's character is to be preserved when it is altered.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.