Sustainability of Cultural Heritage-Related Projects: Use of Socio-Economic Indicators in Latvia

The main objective of the current study was to contribute to the creation of a practically usable set of heritage development project performance indicators and check their usage possibilities in the Latvian context. For this purpose, the authors have studied scientific literature, regulatory acts, international methodologies, as well as 22 EU co-financed projects related to the cultural heritage objects' development. The developed list of indicators was tested through a sociological survey in all Latvian municipalities, other institutions and organizations. The study results showed that the use of indicators can increase public awareness and support for planned and implemented projects. The possibility of obtaining relevant measurement data (not applicability of the indicators alone) plays a very important role in the use of indicators. In addition, municipalities better accept indicators that are directly related to project results, do not require resource-intensive financial and economic analysis and are not related to long-term socio-economic impact. The study revealed that greater attention on the national scale (both by project implementers and supervisory institutions), should be paid to the acquisition and processing of the necessary data at the municipal level, paying special attention to the impact of implemented projects on well-being of population, environment, economy, finances, social inclusion, local production, education, science, real estate and infrastructure.