With the generous support of the Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe, UNESCO convenes a training of trainers for the European Chapter of facilitators’ network that will focus on policy development in the field of intangible cultural heritage, in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 17 to 21 September 2018. The main objective of the workshop is to improve UNESCO’s impact in providing policy support to authorities in Europe for the effective implementation of the 2003 Convention.

The Intangible Cultural Heritage Section and the International Training Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (CRIHAP) will co-organize this training of trainers workshop which will take place from 2 to 6 July 2018 in Hangzhou, China. During this training of trainers workshop, facilitators from the Asia-Pacific region will be invited to further advance the capacity-building strategy of the 2003 Convention for the safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. It will be an occasion to review the current experiences of facilitation in the region, the concluded and ongoing projects as well as to present new materials available and discuss new topics with some major updates from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Section.

Held from 28 May to 1 June 2018, this workshop is jointly organized by Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe under the auspices of UNESCO, with the support of UNESCO Antenna Office in Sarajevo.

The workshop will bring together members of communities and NGOs, as well as researchers and representatives from local and national authorities. It will consider and discuss all main aspects of the implementation of the 2003 Convention at national level. The workshop will elaborate the relationship and complementary function of the 2003 Convention and other UNESCO Cultural Conventions, the key concepts of the Convention and the notion of ICH itself, the role of each stakeholder in safeguarding and promoting ICH, the implication and participation of the communities concerned in inventorying and further safeguarding of their ICH, the relationship between ICH and sustainability, as well as opportunities for Bosnia and Herzegovina to use the mechanisms of international cooperation established within the framework of the 2003 Convention.

Following South Sudan’s ratification of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016, a workshop on the implementation of the Convention and community-based inventorying is held between 3 and 11 May 2018 in Juba. The main objective is to train national experts in safeguarding their intangible cultural heritage through carrying out community-based inventories. Participants in the workshop range from national authorities responsible for Culture in South Sudan to NGOs, foundations and community activists. The workshop is funded and organized by UNESCO Office in Juba in close collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports in South Sudan.

Organised within the framework of UNESCO’s commitment to strengthen the capacities of Eritrea for implementing the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, financed by Norway, this is an eight-day training workshop for 20-25 participants on the elaboration of requests for International Assistance to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund and on preparation of nomination files for inscription on the Lists under the 2003 Convention as well as the their contribution to the safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) present in the State’s territory

The UNESCO capacity building workshop in Dnipro, Ukraine is a part of the UNESCO global strategy for strengthening national capacities for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage through the effective implementation of the 2003 Convention and was generously co-funded by the Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe.

The workshop brought together members of communities and NGOs from various regions of the country, as well as researchers and representatives from local, regional and national authorities. The workshop paved the way for a better understanding of the 2003 Convention and safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage among the governmental and community stakeholders. As a result of the workshop, the participants were equipped with information on the importance of ICH, the UNESCO 2003 Convention for Safeguarding ICH, as well as discussed a number of specific issues such as revitalisation of ICH elements as a safeguarding measure, ICH and gender roles, as well as intellectual property protection related to ICH safeguarding.

The workshop also contributed to raising awareness of members of communities about the possibilities to actively engage in decision-making on developing ICH safeguarding plans and measures and highlighted the necessity that all the stakeholders should together strive to develop quality relationships which will result in successful activities and projects.