Meetings on intangible cultural heritage (co-)organized by UNESCO

The main objective of this workshop is to sensitize the Samburu community on the significance of their intangible cultural heritage and how they can take part in helping to safeguard their heritage. Participants will also be equipped with the necessary skills for documenting and inventorying their heritage. A UNESCO trained expert, Mr. Julious Mwaunga, will lead the sessions.

Participants representing Afro-Surinamese, Javanese, Maroons, Chinese, Jewish, Hindustani and Indigenous communities are joining forces to develop a framework for inventorying their living heritage at a five-day workshop on community-based inventorying of intangible cultural heritage taking place at the Surinaamsch Rumhouse from 11 to 15 April 2016.

Hosted by the Directorate of Culture of Suriname and the Suriname National Commission for UNESCO, in coordination with organizations and community groups committed to safeguarding living heritage in Suriname, it follows training last year on implementing the 2003 Convention and national consultation with stakeholders.

The workshop focuses on community participation in identifying and defining intangible cultural heritage, data collection, organization and management and will lay the foundation for a field exercise on inventorying in the upcoming months, as well as future safeguarding work.

Organized by the UNESCO Kingston Cluster Office for the Caribbean in close cooperation with national partners across the islands, the workshop is a part of a capacity-building project to reinforce safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in the Dutch Caribbean islands and Suriname. It has been made possible thanks to a generous contribution from the Government of the Netherlands to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.

The workshop was prepared by the Regional Centre for Safeguarding of ICH in Southeast Europe under the auspices of UNESCO in Sofia, Bulgaria, and hosted by the Ministry of Culture of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Its goal was to respond to the most pertinent needs related to the implementation of 2003 UNESCO Convention on a national level and to facilitate the elaboration of policies for the safeguarding of the extremely rich and still vital ICH in the country.

Suite à la mission de liaison en juin 2015 l’activité vise à poursuivre et intensifier le travail de formation et sensibilisation avec les autorités, les communautés et d’autres parties prenantes pour la sauvegarde du patrimoine culturel immatériel. Elle s’inscrit dans le cadre du projet de « Renforcement des capacités des pays lusophones d’Afrique pour la mise en œuvre de la Convention de 2003 pour la sauvegarde du patrimoine culturel immatériel » soutenu par le Fonds du patrimoine culturel immatériel grâce à une contribution du Gouvernement de la Norvège. Contribuant à la stratégie mondiale de renforcement des capacités mise en place en 2009, l’objectif est de renforcer les capacités des pays en vue d’une sauvegarde efficace du patrimoine culturel immatériel présent sur leurs territoires ainsi que d’exploiter son potentiel pour le développement durable des communautés.

The Ministry of Culture and Heritage, the National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Ecuador (INPC) and UNESCO’s Quito office are organizing in Loja the first of a set of three workshops on the formulation of public policy tools for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. The workshop, which will take place from 4 to 7 April 2016, will gather 25 participants from regional offices of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and the INPC, representatives of the National Planning and Development Secretariat, as well as community members. Facing the challenges of safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, participants will work on mechanisms for revising and adapting development plans, whose implementation falls to local governments in Ecuador.

The workshop is part of a two-year project supported by the Government of Japan to strengthen human and institutional capacities to safeguard intangible cultural heritage in Ecuador. Last year community-based inventorying activities were organized in Loja, increasing awareness and strengthening synergies. This will provide this new participatory space with a base to reflect on the impact and opportunities of public policy for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, from a gender and human rights perspectives in the context of Ecuador’s development plan for the “Well-Being”.

Following a first workshop in November 2015, the National Cultural Heritage Institute of Angola (INPC), in cooperation with UNESCO, organizes a workshop on the development of community-based inventories of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The workshop addresses some 25 Angolan technical staff and stakeholders including community members and bearers of the living heritage. It introduces methods to gather and adequately store information and documentation as a basis for further safeguarding action. The training will take place from 9 to 19 March in Luanda and includes practical exercises in the community of the Island of Luanda. The pilot project should find replication in other regions of the State later on.

As part of UNESCO’s global strategy aiming to enhance national capacity for safeguarding of living heritage in the Portuguese speaking countries in Africa (PALOP), the project also aims at strengthening regional cooperation among PALOP countries. Together with the senior trainer from Brazil, the training will therefore be co-facilitated by two former trainees of the project from Mozambique and Sao Tomé and Principe.

This workshop is made possible thanks to the generous contribution from the Government of Norway to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.

This field exercise was organized by the National Commission, following information received that the NGO (Fundacion Herencia Cultural Immaterial) with responsibility for implementing the Convention, had ceased to exist. Aruba chose to focus their field exercise on Dia di Brasil, a cultural festival of the Brasil township. Those trained (10 persons – 8 females and 2 males) represented a cross-section of researchers from state agencies responsible for documenting Aruban heritage, academia, members of the Brasil township and the Ministry of Culture.

The second of three agreed upon capacity building workshops. This workshop will focus on community-based inventorying and the appropriate training.

From 18 to 22 January, the Cultural Heritage Institute of Cabo Verde (IPC) and UNESCO organize the final workshop evaluating the results of the inventory field work. Following a practical training in July last, 17 community members and 13 culture officers pursued with the identification and documentation of xxx elements in the communities of Centro histórico, Salineiro and Calabaceira in Ribeira Grande de Santiago. On the basis of these findings, the actors, beholders and cultural officers can then deduce lessons learnt and develop a national strategy for the safeguarding of ICH in all of Cabo Verde’s territory founded on community-based inventories.
For the sake of continuity and in view of strengthening cooperation among PALOP countries in Africa, the senior expert from the Mozambican Institute for Socio-Cultural Research (ARPAC) will facilitate the workshop. Moreover, a representatives from the Department for Culture of the Secretary of State for Youth, Culture and Sport of Guinea-Bissau and the National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Angola will participate to share experience with their home institutions who follow the same training programme.
This workshop was made possible thanks to a generous contribution from the Government of Norway to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.