Glossary of Cultural Environment

Kulttuuriympäristösanasto, Kulturmiljöordlista

Ministry of the Environment, 2023

Languages of the glossary:
- Terms: Finnish, Swedish, English
- Concept descriptions: Finnish

The Glossary of Cultural Environment was prepared by the Ministry of the Environment and the Finnish Terminology Centre as part of a terminology project related to the reform of Land Use and Building Act. Concepts on protection of the built heritage (Rakennusperinnön suojelun käsitteitä) has served as a basis for the glossary, and the glossary also includes archaeology related concepts from a terminology project carried out by the Finnish Heritage Agency and the Terminology Centre in 2023.

The glossary contains 63 concepts. The content of the concepts is clarified with the help of definitions and complementing notes, which are given in Finnish. The concepts have been given term recommendations in Finnish and equivalents in Swedish and English. The relations between the concepts are illustrated by concept diagrams.

The aim of the glossary is to define basic concepts on cultural environment, landscape and archaeological, cultural and built heritage, suggest the preferred terms and clarify their usage. The definitions have been formed in a way that supports coherent usage of the concepts in different contexts and the interoperability of the public administration’s information contents. The terminology is intended to serve as a tool for people working with land use, built environment and cultural environment.

The glossary was prepared in a working group with experts from the Ministry of the Environment, the Finnish Heritage Agency, Southwest Finland’s Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment and the Finnish Environment Institute. The part of the glossary that contains concepts on archaeology was prepared by experts from the Finnish Heritage Agency, the Tampere City Historical Museums and the Museum of Central Finland. The working groups were led by the Terminology Centre’s terminologists, who were responsible for the terminology work.