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This evaluation addresses the experiences of Norwegian support to the protection of cultural heritage in developing countries. The main emphasis of the paper is on institution-building and capacity building for the preservation and protection of cultural heritage. The paper notes that Norwegian support to the protection of cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, is organised in a multilateral programme. Additionally, support has been provided on a bilateral basis to a number of projects sponsored by Norwegian embassies in developing countries.

The paper indicates that Norway in the period 2000 – 2008 has supported 60 cultural heritage projects. The paper focuses on three cases from the project portfolio, studying them in detail. The paper finds that the lessons drawn from this evaluation point to the importance of current balance between multilateral and bilateral channels, and their relative usefulness in terms of achieving policy objectives.

The paper concludes that:

• tangible and intangible cultural heritage can be important components of economic innovation and local development
• local involvement and local ownership is a precondition for a successful project
• the issue of coordination is tied in with the issue of institution-building; coordination is primarily the responsibility of national authorities
• successful projects should be based on local definitions and local perceptions of cultural heritage
• the research and education sector should be recognised as a central stakeholder in capacity building and sectoral development projects for cultural heritage
• successful projects require broad partnerships of different kinds of knowledge and expertise.

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