On an international level, the Netherlands participates in UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention (1972). The convention includes guidelines regarding the conservation of nature and the preservation of cultural properties. Countries that have signed the convention “are encouraged to integrate the protection of the cultural and natural heritage into regional planning programmes, set up staff and services at their sites, undertake scientific and technical conservation research and adopt measures which give this heritage a function in the day-to-day life of the community.”
An example of a regional initiative regarding cultural sustainability is the policy of the province Zeeland. Their recent cultural policy report (Provinciaal Cultuurbeleid 2017-2020 ) focuses on a sustainable future and mentions, among other goals, the environmental friendly restoration of cultural heritage in Zeeland.
On a local level, the many monuments of the municipality of Amsterdam are restored using sustainable techniques. The municipality also subsidises sustainable initiatives of cultural institutions, for example the sustainable restoration of the building of the Royal Concertgebouw. The Dutch institute for digital heritage (DEN) also deals with sustainability regarding digital information, ensuring the long-term usability of digital files. Another public actor, the Dutch Green Building Council, initiated the BREEAM-NL In-Use programme. Functioning as a monitoring instrument, the programme assesses the performance of existing buildings, for example cultural institutions, regarding sustainability.
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