About the Directorate for Cultural Heritage

The Directorate for Cultural Heritage is the Ministry of Climate and Environment’s advisory and executive body, and we advise the ministry on all matters pertaining to cultural heritage and cultural environments. The Directorate for Cultural Heritage is the primary authority regarding cultural heritage and is responsible for implementing the national cultural heritage policy. We are professionally responsible regarding the cultural heritage work that takes place in municipalities, county authorities, the Sámi Parliament, the Governor’s Office on Svalbard and the cultural heritage management at museums.

We are the decision-making authority for the protection of cultural heritage monuments and sites, and we are the administrative appeals body for decisions made by regional cultural heritage management, in the field of cultural heritage. The Directorate for Cultural Heritage has the authority to make an objection in planning cases.

Management of cultural heritage monuments and sites

As a general rule, the county authorities are responsible for managing protected cultural heritage monuments and sites. This means that the county authorities are the correct authorities to provide exemptions from the Cultural Heritage Act, and are responsible for safeguarding cultural heritage monuments and sites in relation to land-use planning. The Directorate for Cultural Heritage is administratively responsible for a variety of cultural heritage monuments and sites, including the medieval towns of Oslo, Tønsberg, Bergen and Trondheim. The cultural heritage monuments and sites that the Directorate for Cultural Heritage is responsible for are on a separate list.

The Directorate for Cultural Heritage is responsible for managing the cultural heritage assets associated with churches, and has a special responsibility in relation to Norway’s stave churches.

We are involved in strategy development and are responsible for special areas of focus within the field of cultural heritage. Our tasks also include guidance, skills development and working with key data on cultural heritage monuments and sites in public administration.

International cooperation

We also cooperate internationally regarding EEA and Norway Grants, research projects and World Heritage Sites. Norway is a member on UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee until 2022. The Directorate for Cultural Heritage leads the work for Norway’s delegation on the Committee, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Climate and Environment and the Norwegian Environment Agency.