Safeguarding the cultural patrimony of the Republic of Moldova

Civil society is one of the most important factors when it comes to cultural heritage management and protection. National and international organizations alike have a keen interest in preserving and protecting cultural heritage in the pursuit of historical continuity and community empowerment. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the tools and means through which the civil society involves itself in safeguarding cultural heritage in the Republic of Moldova. We follow the evolution of the civil society in the last 20 years, with an emphasis of legislative measures taken by authorities, and advocated by civil organizations, towards the protection and preservation of cultural heritage. The hypothesis we base our research on consists of the idea that the process of protecting cultural heritage is a complex and pervasive endeavour, and civil organizations, while having a big impact in constructing and implementing legislative and strategic documents, have little influence in the real act of safeguarding cultural heritage, in the absence of thorough collaboration with national and local authorities. From a methodological perspective, the research includes tools such as: literature review, document analysis, legal research and an overview of concrete actions conducted by civil society organizations in the Republic of Moldova, towards cultural heritage protection and promotion. The last offers an original perspective on civil society’s role in safeguarding cultural heritage, following three areas of action pertaining to cultural civil organizations: advocacy and policy making, education and raising awareness and research and development.