The term cultural heritage often brings to mind artifacts (paintings, drawings, prints, mosaics, sculptures), historical monuments and buildings, archaeological sites and natural landscapes. All of these are considered part of the cultural identity of a society and are preserved and conserved for future generations. The concept of cultural heritage has also become broader to encompass a wide range of other evidence of human creativity and expression, such as photographs, documents, books and manuscripts. The concept is also used to refer to the broader environment of a culture, including its countryside and natural landscape, which are considered important parts of the cultural heritage as well.
The concept of cultural heritage evolved as a result of many different historical processes and reflects historically changing values that are recognized by different groups of people. Thus, the concept is quite flexible and can be interpreted differently by each individual or institution. It has also been influenced by events such as political transitions, war and conflict, and marginalization. It is therefore very difficult to establish a uniform definition of cultural heritage. However, UNESCO provides an internationally accepted standard for protecting and conserving cultural heritage: Monuments, buildings, works of monumental sculpture or painting, elements or structures of an archaeological nature, inscriptions and cave dwellings are considered to be cultural heritage if they are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science.
Cultural heritage conservation is an enormous challenge, given that it is a multifaceted and highly dynamic field of research. Nevertheless, it is a crucial issue because cultural heritage is not indestructible and can be damaged by various factors such as environmental, economic and man-made disasters. The damage to the cultural heritage caused by these threats can be very devastating for a community.
Besides preserving the tangible aspects of cultural heritage, there is a great need to safeguard intangible cultural heritage as well. This includes preserving music, dance, traditional skills and language, which are a vital part of the identity of a country. This type of cultural heritage can be preserved through the boom in digital technology, which allows digitized records to be stored for longer periods of time.
The emergence of the concept of cultural heritage has also led to a growing number of legal and international treaties and agreements regarding the protection and preservation of cultural heritage. Such protections include laws that prohibit activities that can harm cultural sites and the establishment of organizations like UNESCO to promote responsible tourism and protect cultural heritage globally.
There are several challenges associated with preserving and sustaining cultural heritage, which can be related to the lack of funding, poor destination management, environmental issues, illegal trafficking and conflicts. There is a need for more research to be conducted in this area so that the proper steps can be taken to preserve and protect cultural heritage for future generations.