Abstract:
Cultural heritage is an important factor that contributes directly and indirectly to the
development of contemporary society. Both those involved in the heritage protection process and society
as a whole should be aware of this. This requires education, a permanent training campaign for the
general population, and especially for those involved in the process of heritage protection and promotion.
Heritage education is very important, and the responsibility should be collective and individual. Through
heritage we perceive the past in order to understand the present. Heritage education must be carried out
according to a flexible and adaptable program, able to enrich knowledge, encourage the willingness to
know and appreciate heritage. There is a need for a real general campaign to educate the population and
various administrative actors in order to gradually form the correct mentality in society regarding
heritage and social memory. There are several institutions managing cultural heritage in the Republic of
Moldova and different categories of heritage are registered. We believe that specific education is
necessary for the employees of every institution in the field. Today, an education program is required for
those in the field of cults, who are responsible for the management of religious heritage. Otherwise we
will continue to have mutilated cult monuments, priests who do not realize the need to preserve and
restore the architectural monuments, aggressive priests when it comes to museumification of cult objects.
Lack of education in the field of architectural heritage, regarding the way of its use and advantages is
evident also at the level of central and local administration. At the central level there are several
ministries and agencies that are involved and should address heritage issues, but there is no effective
collaboration between them to develop cultural heritage. The Tourism Agency in collaboration with the
local administration bodies should organize Tourist Information Points in each locality that has a certain
tourist potential, immovable and movable heritage, in order to provide information on the possibility of
visiting heritage sites. It is necessary to organize an education process on heritage issues for the local
administration. Most of the local communities are not aware of the values of the cultural and historical
heritage that they have, are indifferent to it and are not involved in the process of its protection. Many destructive actions of the local administration are due to the lack of education. Periodic training is
needed for those who manage the architectural heritage locally.
A training program for those in the financial field is very necessary. Various financial incentives
for heritage protection need to be developed and practiced. Those who can build such mechanisms must
first be trained. It is necessary for financial actors to know what it means to protect the heritage and how
this heritage can be preserved. All this is related to the organization of educational programs for specialists in this field, who, of course, do not know the field of heritage, but this is an area that can be
decisively influenced and which is very important.
There is a need for education, for a minimum training program on cultural heritage that could be
based on concrete actions that could ultimately lead to the protection and development of cultural
heritage. It is through education that we can ensure in the future the creation of administrative and
economic mechanisms that would generate interest in heritage and its use for sustainable development.
