In a new survey from Statistics Norway, 47 percent state that they are very or fairly interested in cultural heritage. This is an increase of nine percentage points from 2024.
More people are also actively involved in preserving cultural heritage and cultural environments than before, with an increase of two percentage points from 2024. A total of one fifth (20 percent) of the population is actively involved, in the form of membership of associations, voluntary work or other activities.
41 percent say they are somewhat interested, while only 10 percent say they have no interest in cultural heritage.
In general, men are somewhat more interested in cultural heritage than women, while younger women are more actively engaged than younger men. Residents of small towns with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants and big cities are the most active.
- It's fantastic to see that so many people are concerned about taking care of what we have," says Hanna Geiran, National Heritage Officer.
- "Many people think that cultural heritage is about things, but it's about people, our history and belonging. Cultural heritage tells the story of Norway, of who we are and where we come from," she says.
Small farms and apartment buildings, ships and factories, war memorials and cooking pits, landscapes and burial mounds are all different, but they all have in common that they are traces of people.
- Both volunteers and we in the administration are working systematically to get more people involved. We know that there are some topics that always catch people's attention, such as Viking heritage and the history of war, but we have a rich history that the community owns together. This heritage is a resource for society," says Geiran.
- Some of the increase in interest may be due to the fact that we live in troubled times," Geiran continues.
- As the world becomes more dangerous, we find that our own country also has great values to protect, and we seek security and belonging in our cultural heritage.
