Liisa Pakosta appointed new director of National Heritage Board
Upon the recommendation of the Civil Service Committee for Selection of Top Managers, Minister of Culture Tiit Terik (Center) has appointed Liisa Pakosta the next director general of the National Heritage Board.
"The invaluable expertise of the National Heritage Board helps us all recognize our cultural heritage and values and make decisions that document our past as well as enrich our present and our heritage as a whole," Terik said according to a ministry press release. "The new director general will be taking office at a time in which the role of the Heritage Board is increasingly changing from a restrictions-focused to an advisory one working together with owners. It should surely remain this way as well.
Liisa Pakosta has served as Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner since 2015, however she has extensive previous experience in the cultural heritage as well as museum fields.
Pakosta has previously served as director of the Tallinn Heritage Board, as the deputy mayor of Tallinn in charge of heritage protection and culture as well as worked at the Estonian Open Air Museum, the Museums Council and the Nordic Museum in Stockholm. She has also participated in Estonian National Museum (ERM) expeditions both within Estonia and to the Mari El Republic in Russia.
As a member of the Riigikogu, Pakosta served on the standing Cultural Affairs Committee as well as chaired the parliamentary Heritage Association. She was also included in the Ministry of Culture's expert group involved in the drafting of the new Heritage Conservation Act, which was passed by the Riigikogu in February 2019.
Pakosta has a master's degree in law and a level of education equivalent to a master's degree in history, with a focus on ethnology and a minor in pedagogy. She has studied heritage conservation at the doctoral level at the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) as well as earned a certificate in restoration from EKA's Tallinn Restauration School.
She is currently studying in a doctoral program in law at the University of Tartu. Pakosta has also given courses at EKA as well as at Tallinn University (TLÜ), and sits on the supervisory board of the Estonian Design Center.
The director general of the National Heritage Board is appointed to a five-year term.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla
