European Cultural Heritage Strategy for the 21 st century „ Page 38 Recommendation K8 Guarantee the competences of professionals working on the listed heritage The heritage, in particular listed assets, requires the intervention of qualified professionals. In view of the disappearance of many crafts and given the many company closures, urgent measures are required to define standards, guarantee a given level of competences for any intervention, and increase quality by devising qualifications and certifications. Today, it is essential for there to be co-ordination and harmonisation at European level. Relevant challenges K1 K2 K3 K4 K5 Interfaces Courses of action „ Introduce arrangements to verify the competences of professionals working on listed assets „ Encourage elected representatives and local authorities to become involved „ Enlist the private sector and nurture a sense of responsibility among project originators and com- panies „ Ensure consultation between the competent departments: employment, training, enterprise, culture „ Adopt support measures (from local authorities) for high-quality companies Target audience: local, regional, national, European Example of action „ Construction crafts and small business federation, CAPEB (France) www.capeb.fr/ Recommendation K9 Develop study and research programmes that reflect the needs of the heritage sector and share the findings Heritage is constantly evolving. Its field of action and knowledge has grown considerably in recent decades. The plethora of knowledge produced relating to heritage is a result of several types of work: documentary, scientific, technical studies, etc., carried out by heritage professionals, university research in a variety of dis- ciplines (natural and physical sciences, humanities, social sciences, etc.), applied to a particular field or part of a programme, and activities undertaken by non-professionals. The problems change depending on the heritage issues in question. For the common good, support should be given to work that reflects the realities and needs of the sector, while ensuring that the independence of academic research is preserved. Multidisci- plinary research is needed at national and European level to satisfy the increasingly more complex demand for sustainable transmission to future generations. The results must be disseminated, shared and discussed and, as far as possible, be part of a process which will ensure sustainability. Relevant challenges K2 K3 K4 K5 Interfaces Courses of action „ Identify relevant leads for these research studies and topics (top-down and bottom-up approaches) „ Encourage an interdisciplinary and international approach to heritage „ Study how heritage can help meet the needs of other sectors „ Disseminate the results of studies and research to professionals, decision makers and users „ Evaluate and ensure the sustainability of studies and research „ Introduce thematic study programmes in several regions