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a. Heritage is the visible side of collective memory, a memory which, special and specific of each country, region or place, deserves to be preserved and given continuity.

b. It is through its heritage – natural, historical, artistic and linguistic – that a country recognizes itself as being the follower of a task initiated long ago. For this reason, heritage may be used as an instrument of consolidation, not just of historical memory, but also of faith in the future.

c. Through its heritage, a country or a region asserts itself in its specificity and diversity, thus opposing the trend towards levelling and homogenization. In an ever more global world, the “borders” which distinguish countries are, above all, those constituted by the different heritages.

d. When preserving or promoting its heritage, a country or a region is enriching the world heritage and consolidating one of the channels of approach amongst peoples, as has been insistently underlined by several international organizations.

e. The preservation of heritage represents, finally, a responsibility towards future generations, to whom it is not fair to deny the possibility of enjoying that which was inherited by the current generation.

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