The HEREIN Project (European Heritage Network) has been implemented with the assistance of the Council of Europe and European Union, with the aim to include gradually all European countries in a united information network of the heritage.
In 1999 six countries (France, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, Spain and Great Britain) established HEREIN. In the next years, within the frames of HEREIN 2, the final number of participants became 34, including almost all countries from South East Europe - Bulgaria, Croatia, FYR of Macedonia, Greece, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia.

The main goal of the project is to execute monitoring of the results from the applying of the Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe (Granada, 1985), of the European Convention on the Protection of the Archaelogical Heritage (Valetta, 1992), as well as of the European Landscape Convention (Florence 2000). This important task was set in the lines of the Declaration for the cultural variety of the Committee of Ministers by the Council of Europe (07 December 2000), of the resolutions of the 5th Conference of the Ministers by the Council of Europe, responsible for the cultural heritage (Portoroge, April 2001), and the instructions of UNESCO in the field of ethics in information society.

The HEREIN project serves as a tool for encouraging the cultural variety on the background of the processes of globalization and is a tool providing practical forms of assistance among UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the European Union. It provides real opportunities for full-value presentation of the Cultural heritage in Europe, as well as good chances for international support for its preservation. It provides access to standardized resources of information on government level, offering complete, objective and periodical up-dated information for the cultural heritage of the countries-partners, for their cultural policy and active legislation in this field.
One of the most valuable contributions is the specially developed professional thesaurus in 11 European languages, amended with explanatory texts.

The HEREIN project is a contemporary, effective and necessary for the aims of united Europe mechanism for exchange of information and practical experience among administrators, professionals, research workers, associations and non-governmental organizations, by which the countries of South East Europe can unite their efforts for the preservation of their rich cultural heritage.

Mrs. Hristina Staneva
President of ICOMOS Bulgaria