Unpleasant Events: the Significance of Preserving their Symbolic Monuments

There is a basic drive to protect a society's memory by suppressing unpleasant events and their symbols in the collective memory. This prevents learning from the past and a broad and inclusive sustainable development. The theme is exemplified by the terror attack on the Norwegian government buildings, 22 July 2011. The article analyses how collective memory influences society's reactions to and tackling of unexpected critical situations. Hopefully, this will contribute to enhanced competence in tackling similar situations and an updating of the national self‐image. The analysis is based on basic theories on collective memory, by among others P. Connerton, P. Ricoeur, E. Said and J. E. Tunbridge. The study has been performed as an analysis of debates in the media, official documents and books. The conclusion is that the symbolic content of architectural monuments may change after being subject to unpleasant events. They function as documentations and reminders of our history and as important resources in a society's learning and development processes and thereby an updated national self‐image. This article will hopefully contribute to enhance competence in tackling such challenges and to secure cultural sustainability at a general level, and also in other countries. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment