Events and meetings on intangible cultural heritage (co-)organized by UNESCO

From 2 to 7 September 2015, the inventorying process moved to the city of Loja, Loja province, where members of Saraguro, Shuar and mestizo communities along with representatives of local governments (Calvas, Catamayo, Chaguarpamba, Gonzanamá, Loja, Olmedo, Paltas, Puyango, Quilanga and Zapotillo) and cultural ministries, were trained on community-based inventorying in the town of Malacatos. This was followed by an inventory exercise where they registered oral traditions and knowledge systems.

Organized by UNESCO and INPC, the workshop was made possible thanks to the generous contribution of the Government of Japan.

Documents

• Agenda: Spanish

The inventorying continues in Riobamba, Chimborazo province with a workshop from 24 to 29 August 2015, assembling stonecutters, bearers of oral traditions of the Zapara Culture and the Qhapac Ñan communities, civil servants from several municipalities (Alausí, Chambo, Chunchi, Colta, Cumandá, Guamote, Guano, Pallatanga, Penipe and Riobamba), and representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and the National Institute of Cultural Heritage (INPC). The core of the workshop focuses on community participation in the identification and definition of intangible cultural heritage, data collection, organization and management as an important step in safeguarding intangible heritage. An inventorying field exercise follows in the populations of Guano and Calpi, focusing on the living heritage of stonecutters and includes the mapping of the quarries in the slopes of Chimborazo.

Organized by UNESCO and INPC, the workshop is made possible thanks to the generous contribution of the Government of Japan.

Documents

• Agenda: Spanish

The assessment of the main needs for the implementation of the 2003 Convention for the safeguarding of the ICH in Egypt is part of a regional project for the enhancement of ICH safeguarding capacities in eight African countries and the Arab region . This project, executed by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Section of UNESCO, is funded by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (ADTCA)

This report reports on activities carried out as part of a 10-day mission carried out in April and August in Cairo, Egypt, with the support of the UNESCO Regional Office in Egypt. The mission was to meet the main actors of public institutions and associations involved in the ICH safeguarding process with the aim of identifying needs and proposing a project for capacity building in Egypt.

As Suriname moves closer towards the ratification of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, it is timely for community members, policy-makers, and governmental and non-governmental representatives to come together to chart the way forward in the safeguarding of their living heritage.

From 27 to 31 July 2015, a five-day workshop will be held in Paramaribo aiming to clarify the process and mechanisms for successful ratification and implementation of the 2003 Convention, including an overview of its objectives and key concepts and principles. The workshop will also provide a platform for participants to reflect collectively on experiences and challenges in safeguarding their intangible cultural heritage.

Organized by the UNESCO Kingston Cluster Office for the Caribbean in close cooperation with the Directorate of Culture (Suriname) and the Suriname National Commission for UNESCO, this workshop is a part of a capacity-building project to reinforce the safeguarding of living heritage in the Dutch Caribbean and Suriname. It is made possible thanks to the generous contribution from the Government of the Netherlands to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.

The Cultural Heritage Institute of Cabo Verde, in cooperation with UNESCO HQ and the UNESCO Office in Dakar, organizes a workshop on the implementation of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage at national level. The workshop, which will take place from 27 to 31 July 2015 in the capital of Cabo Verde, will discuss the scope and objectives as well as the obligations of the State Parties under this international legal instrument.

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 workshop will gather some 30 Cabo Verdean participants, including stakeholders from local to national levels. With the aim to strengthen regional cooperation among PALOP countries, the training will be co-facilitated by a Brazilian and a Mozambican expert who have been previously trained through the same programme. Moreover, culture officers from Angola and Guinea-Bissau will attend the training.

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

Documents

• Agenda: Portuguese
• List of participants: Portuguese

International Assistance is at the very core of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Regrettably, however, it has not yet been utilized to the full extend envisaged when the Convention was drafted, with few requests submitted by States Parties and even fewer of sufficient quality to warrant approval by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. In order to face this challenge, technical assistance has been provided by experts to a number of States Parties on an experimental basis for the past year.

In an effort to galvanize further the option of International Assistance for State Parties, a pool of experts, who have conducted technical assistance or may be invited to do so in the future, will join UNESCO staff for a 3-day workshop in Paris from 20 to 22 July 2015 to assess the experiences to date implementing technical assistance. This workshop will provide the opportunity to review the latest advice of the Committee concerning International Assistance, examine other informational materials developed by the Secretariat to support States Parties and technical experts, and provide guidance concerning the development of future capacity-building curriculum materials on International Assistance.

Documents

• Annotated Timetable
  ITH/15/WOR/2: English|French
• List of participants: English
• Summary Report
  ITH/15/WOR/3: English

The 3rd annual meeting of the category 2 centres active in the field of intangible cultural heritage will be held from 6 to 8 July in Guiyang, China. Hosted by the Chinese centre, the International Training Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (CRIHAP), the meeting will follow up on the two previous annual meetings.

Working documents

• Agenda: English
• Concept note: English
• List of participants: English
• Report of the UNESCO Section for Intangible Cultural Heritage - Third annual meeting of category 2 centres: English
• 37 C/5 MP IV Expected Result 6: National capacities strengthened and utilised to safeguard intangible cultural heritage, including indigenous and endangered languages, through the effective implementation of the 2003 Convention: English|French
• Medium-term strategy for UNESCO’s cooperation with category 2 centres in the field of intangible cultural heritage 2014-2021: English|French

Presentations

• Recent developments in the life of the Convention and objectives of the meeting (UNESCO - Cécile Duvelle): English
• Information and networking, including through the web (ICHCAP): English
• Collaboration with UNESCO in the global capacity-building programme (CRIHAP): English
• Approaches to programme planning and budgeting (Sofia Centre): English
• Approaches to governance and getting the most from your governing body(ies) (CRESPIAL): English
• Cooperation with Member States in planning and implementing programmes (Tehran Centre): English
• Evaluation and renewal (IRCI): English

Reference documents

• Evaluation Report IRCI: English
• General Information: English
• Integrated Comprehensive Strategy for Category 2 Institutes and Centres
  37 C/Resolution 93: English|French|Spanish|Russian|Arabic|Chinese

For further information:

• Category 2 centres under the auspices of UNESCO

Sint Maarten focused its field exercise on their national dance, the Ponum dance which dates to the 19th century from the days of slavery and emancipation. This element was chosen because only a few practitioners and or performers are directly involved in the enactment or practice of the element. There were also recognizable threats to its continued enactment and transmission, hence its safeguarding was considered extremely important. Two training sessions were held with youth from various youth organizations and discussions were held on the purpose of the inventorying exercise. A total of 17 youth (9 females and 8 males) were trained in the inventorying activity, and worked along with the ICH Committee and 9 practitioners.

A needs assessment activity has been carried out in the Gambia in 2015 during which national stakeholders addressed the importance of promoting local cultures and the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. These activities allowed to point out the need to raise awareness and support national institutions to reinforce their knowledge of the 2003 Convention and its implementation mechanisms. The importance of building a national strategy to safeguard intangible heritage and to review current strategy documents on culture in general was also underlined. This activity aimed also do develop a project proposal based on the identified needs.

Following the signing of the Plan of Operations between UNESCO and the National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Ecuador (INPC) a few months ago, representatives of bearer communities, municipalities, as well as governmental and non-governmental experts, have fully mobilised to launch another significant step in the safeguarding of their living heritage.

Aiming to develop an inventory of intangible heritage in the Ecuadorian province of Manabi, representatives came together for a workshop on community-based inventorying of intangible cultural heritage in the city of Portoviejo from 24 to 29 June 2015. The first of a series of action undertaken as part of a capacity-building project to reinforce the safeguarding of living heritage in Ecuador, the workshop focused on the identification and definition of intangible cultural heritage, data collection, free, prior and informed consent, and data organization. It was followed by a practical inventorying exercise in Machalilla, during the Saint Peter and Saint Paul festivity and the Meeting of Presidents from the Castilla and Guinea Governments.

Organized by the UNESCO Office in Quito and INPC, the workshop was made possible thanks to the generous contribution of the Government of Japan.

Documents

• Agenda: Spanish
• List of participants: Spanish

From 8 to 12 June, the Lombardy region (Italy) and the canton of Graubünden (Switzerland) hosted a training workshop on the implementation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Tirano (province of Sondrio, Italy) and Valposchiavo (Switzerland), demonstrating the increasing awareness in Europe of the need for capacity-building to better safeguard living heritage.

Bringing together 25 participants, including representatives of the local administration, civil society, tradition bearers, academia and professionals from the tourism and environment sectors, the workshop introduced fundamental objectives and concepts of the 2003 Convention and enhanced the understanding of participants about obligations and safeguarding activities involved in implementing the Convention at national and local levels. Combining four days of presentations, discussions and exercises, as well as one day of fieldwork in the terraced vineyards of Valtellina, the workshop also addressed linkages between the 2003 Convention, the Convention concerning the protection of the World cultural and natural heritage (World Heritage Convention, 1972) and the Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions (2005).

The workshop specifically highlighted the importance of cross-border cooperation in the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage and of cooperation across sectors directly and indirectly impacting the viability of living heritage.

Funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and its INTERREG mechanism supporting interregional cooperation and sustainable regional development across Europe, the training workshop was held within the framework of the project ‘Italo-Swiss Ethnography for the Promotion of Intangible Heritage’ initiated by the region of Lombardy. Conducted in Italian by a UNESCO-trained facilitator and an international law expert, and based on UNESCO’s global capacity-building programme and training materials, the activity w