I am grateful that the Cultural Heritage Committee of the Council followed this up, and established a working group on the role of voluntary organisations. This working group pointed to Norway as a natural venue for a conference on this topic, since we could boast the oldest voluntary organisation in the field, namely Fortidsminneforeningen . I would also like to thank Fortidsminneforeningen for accepting the challenge to be the technical organiser of the conference. It is our hope that the work of this organisation with its management of some of our most valuable objects of architectural heritage, its high quality publications and its active role as a critical watchdog may be an inspiration for others. At the same time we have a lot to learn from experiences in other countries.
Exchange of ideas is a necessity for development.
Another strong reason for hosting this conference in Norway is that the voluntary organisations have played important roles in building our democratic society. As you may know Norway drew up its still existing constitution in 1814, and, even having to share King and Foreign Service with neighbouring Sweden, we started to build a new nation from then on. In the 1840-ies we got the first big wave of voluntary organisations, and Fortidsminneforeningen , established in 1844, was a part of this. Since then the number both of organisations and memberships have increased enormously, as well as their place in the Society. It is no secret that for instance a substantial part of the Norwegian health system is the result of the effort and determination of dedicated voluntary organisations, a number of them woman s organisation.