Особливості дипломатії спадщини Європейського Союзу
Peculiarities of the EU’s heritage diplomacy

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to fill the gaps in the discourse onheritage diplomacy, especially concerning the EU’s efforts onheritage. Heritage diplomacy is a new term, the discussionsabout a more precise theorization of which are still ongoing.Thus, of particular interest was the question of the func-tions and defining features of the heritage diplomacy of theEuropean Union in terms of its internal (“domestic”) andexternal (“foreign”) dimensions.Considering this research question, the article focuseson defining the main functions and features of the Euro-pean Union’s heritage diplomacy activities through theirheritage-specific projects and initiatives, especially giventhe intensification of the EU’s heritage activities in recentyears. To do this, firstly, the concept of heritage diplomacywas analyzed and the role and place of heritage and heritage diplomacy in the EU policy was indicated. This article de-fines heritage diplomacy as the process of instrumentalisingthe tangible and intangible past (heritage) and the narrativesaround them to promote (geo-)culture and/or interculturalrelations. Then, a careful analysis of the EU’s initiatives andprojects on heritage (European Heritage Label, EuropeanCapitals of Culture, European heritage awards, UNES-CO-EU joint projects, etc.) was done, through which manyfunctions of EU’s heritage diplomacy were pointed out andcategorized within the internal (“domestic”) and external(“foreign”) dimensions. Among the functions were definedthe following: integration, creation and strengthening ofEuropean identity through making a European narrative,‘Europeanisation’, cooperation, raising awareness of otherissues (such as about the practices of sustainability), conser-vation, culture preservation, involvement of non-Europeancultures in the cultural dialogue (heritage as a platform),peacekeeping, etc.Although the two ought to be distinct, a blurring be-tween the two dimensions was pointed out, resulting in thenotion of the heritage diplomacy of the European Union asbeing mostly done on the level of the European Continent.

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