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

Series Learning objectives:
1.Getting to know each other
2.Familiarizing incoming facilitators with the spirit of the Convention, the global capacity buildingprogramme and the facilitators network (an overview and introduction)
3.Exploring participatory training programmes and facilitation (the ‘spirit of the convention’ inpractice – with communities at the centre and ethical principles)
4.Engaging with expectations; what does it mean to be a facilitator and understanding theexpectations of the incoming facilitators
5.Introducing incoming facilitators to the basic knowledge and skills required

Intangible cultural heritage and emergencies: prevent, resist, repair and reconcile

9th International Conference of the French Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage Ethnopole

In partnership with the Unesco Chair “Intangible Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development”, with the support of the Directorate General of Heritage and Architecture of the Ministry of Culture and the City of Vitré and in collaboration with the University of Rennes 2 and the University of Bretagne Occidentale.

https://www.maisondesculturesdumonde.org/nos-actions/rechercher-et-documenter/patrimoine-culturel-immateriel-le-patrimoine-vivant-en-situation-durgence

The Secretariat of the 2003 Convention in the framework of its global capacity-building programme is organizing an online Training of trainers for selected members of the facilitators network in Africa on how to support the roll out of the periodic reporting process in the region in 2023. The trainings will take place over three days and seek to reinforce the network of facilitators in Africa and mobilize them to co-facilitate the training for periodic reporting country points in the region in 2023.

The training is the first stage of a two-stage process for the capacity-building approach on periodic reporting in Africa in 2022-2023. In the second stage, a regional training will be organized with country focal points designated by their countries to equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to carry out periodic reporting in their countries in line with the Convention’s Overall results framework.

This workshop will take place from 17 to 26 October in Banjul, The Gambia. It will comprise three parts. In part 1, the training will be targeted to Gambian media specialized in culture and will provide an introduction to the 2003 Convention and their role in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. In part 2, the training will be targeted to Gambian heritage experts, community representatives and key government technical staff and provide a training on community-based inventorying, under the 2003 Convention, including its ethical considerations, methods and techniques. In part 3, a pilot inventorying exercise will be undertaken with communities in the Banjul area. The activity is being undertaken in the framework of the extrabudgetary project ‘Capacity-building for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage and contributing to sustainable development’ being funded through an earmarked contribution to the Fund from the Government of France.

“Presentation of the publication Intangible Cultural Heritage and Social Inclusion. Contributions to the development agenda of the post-COVID era in Latin America and the Caribbean at the University of the Republic (UDELAR) in Uruguay will be presented, with the participation of Alcira Sandival, the author of the Uruguay chapter, and teachers and children from rural schools.

The event will be streamed online through the University’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/UniversidaddelaRep%C3%BAblica.”

On 5 September, UNESCO Beijing Office and the International Training Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (CRIHAP) successfully concluded the second workshop on capacity-building for intangible cultural heritage (ICH) safeguarding for youths, as part of the joint three-year strategic plan that kickstarted in 2021. The workshop was participated by almost 150 young participants and observers aged between 18 and 28, coming from 32 universities in China, Japan, Mongolia and Republic of Korea.

Director of UNESCO Beijing and UNESCO Representative to China, DPRK, Mongolia, Japan and ROK, Professor Shahbaz Khan, and CRIHAP’s Director-General Liang Bin attended the opening session of the training workshop.

Prof. Shahbaz Khan emphasized the great importance that UNESCO has paid to youth in recent years, and recalled a number of youth-targeted programs that have been developed to encourage youth to play a role in fulfilling the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Mr. Liang Bin highlighted the rationale for the three-year training program to help youths explore ICH elements in their daily life and actively participate in ICH transmission and safeguarding.

Running between 1 August and 5 September, the workshop built upon the successful modality used last year. Following the online classes led by two UNESCO 2003 Convention accredited facilitators, Ms. Deirdre Prins-Solani (South Africa) and Ms. Linina Phuttitarn (Thailand), the participants conducted a two-week fieldwork to discover, select and record intangible cultural heritage elements, ICH-related events and personalities. The fieldwork component aimed to establish a connection between the youth and ICH, to deepen their understanding of ICH and to raise their awareness and enthusiasm to safeguard, promote and inherit intangible cultural heritages through various types of interaction. The participants benefited from technical guidance and expertise of international facilitators, as well as support from local coordinators. After the fieldwork, the participants submitted 50 videos, covering important themes under the 2003 Convention such as ICH and transmission, ICH and creative industries, ICH and education, and ICH and new media.

In addition to the provision of new knowledge and skills on the importance of living heritage, its contribution to sustainable development and safeguarding measures, the workshop has also created an exchange opportunity and established a communication platform among the youth for the future. As youth remains an important target group for the work of the United Nations in general and UNESCO in particular, future capacity building opportunities will be organized by CRIHAP and UNESCO Beijing during the last few months of 2022, including an ICH safeguarding workshop in Mongolia and an ICH and climate change workshop at the Asia-Pacific region.

Call for proposals

The UNESCO Living Heritage Entity is looking for a team of experts/evaluators to carry out a renewal evaluation of the Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe, a UNESCO Category 2 Centre based in Sofia, Republic of Bulgaria.

Proposals should reach UNESCO (ICH-capacity@unesco.org) by 31 July 2022.

More information in English