The South-East European Experts Network on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) was established in 2007 under the auspices of UNESCO, in order to support the implementation of the UNESCO 2003 Convention in South-East Europe.

Annual meetings since 2007 contributed to enhance a common understanding of opportunities and challenges linked to the safeguarding of the ICH as a key asset of South-East European cultural diversity, as well as to develop institutional and professional capacities within the relevant national authorities serving as a regional platform for sharing knowledge and good practices. Since 2018 the annual meetings focus on a specific thematic annually, so as to more effectively analyse issues raised by the experts and be integrated in the larger scale of ICH safeguarding agenda,

The present, 15th annual meeting is organized by UNESCO regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe (Venice, Italy) in close collaboration with the Living Heritage Entity, with the generous support provided by the Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-East Europe (Sofia, Bulgaria).

The 15th annual meeting of the South-East European Experts Network on ICH takes place in the midst of the revised Periodic Reporting process in the European Region. Following the training of country focal points for periodic reporting in Europe region organized by Living Heritage Entity in March-April 2021, the meeting aims at:
• Taking stock of the progress achieved regarding the PR process in South-East European countries;
• Sharing knowledge, experiences and advice on strategies, mechanisms and tools for PR process in the region;
• Identifying possible opportunities for reinforced regional cooperation in implementing the 2003 Convention and safeguarding ICH.

Finally, the meeting is an opportunity to discuss and advance cooperation on intangible cultural heritage safeguarding issues with and among Member States and other relevant partners in South-East Europe, confirming the importance of ICH to sustain the regional cooperation process.

This workshop is part of the project “Community-based inventorying of intangible cultural heritage, related to traditional income-generating activities in Old Tbilisi” implemented by Georgian Heritage Crafts Association in the framework of UNESCO “Intangible Heritage and Creativity for Sustainable Cities” Programme. The project is supported with the generous contribution form Yong Xin Hua Yun Cultural Industrial Co.Ltd (China).

The project carried out from November 2020 till June 2021 included meetings with local community members, capacity-building activities led by International facilitators, community-based Inventory exercise of intangible cultural heritage particularly related to traditional income-generating activities in Old Tbilisi, which involved audio-visual and narrative documentation and production of promotional videos.

The wrap-up meeting aims to present and discuss the results, and lessons learned from the implementation of the project and put forward recommendations on safeguarding ICH related to income- generating activities in Tbilisi (crafts, performing arts, festivals and other traditional occupations in Old Tbilisi).

The meeting will be held in hybrid (virtual and physical) format.

This workshop is part of the project “Community-based inventorying of intangible cultural heritage, related to traditional income-generating activities in Old Tbilisi” implemented by Georgian Heritage Crafts Association in the framework of UNESCO “Intangible Heritage and Creativity for Sustainable Cities” Programme. The project is supported with the generous contribution form Yong Xin Hua Yun Cultural Industrial Co.Ltd (China).

The project carried out from November 2020 till June 2021 included meetings with local community members, capacity-building activities led by International facilitators, community-based Inventory exercise of intangible cultural heritage particularly related to traditional income-generating activities in Old Tbilisi, which involved audio-visual and narrative documentation and production of promotional videos.

The wrap-up meeting aims to present and discuss the results, and lessons learned from the implementation of the project and put forward recommendations on safeguarding ICH related to income- generating activities in Tbilisi (crafts, performing arts, festivals and other traditional occupations in Old Tbilisi).

The meeting will be held in hybrid (virtual and physical) format.

The Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe under the auspices of UNESCO, jointly with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports (Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage), are organizing an online capacity building workshop dedicated to “Developing safeguarding plans for intangible cultural heritage in Greece” within the framework of the UNESCO GLOBAL CAPACITY BUILDING STRATEGY FOR THE INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE, between May 31st and June 4th, 2021.

The training at national level will be conducted by two experienced facilitators from the UNESCO’s facilitator’s global network, Ms Harriet Deacon and Ms Benedetta Ubertazzi, and will be tailored to the hosting country’s specific needs.

The Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe under the auspices of UNESCO, jointly with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports (Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage), are organizing an online capacity building workshop dedicated to “Developing safeguarding plans for intangible cultural heritage in Greece” within the framework of the UNESCO GLOBAL CAPACITY BUILDING STRATEGY FOR THE INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE, between May 31st and June 4th, 2021.
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The topics to be developed in the training are: introduction to the UNESCO Convention and its relation to sustainable development; introduction to safeguarding under the 2003 ICH Convention; implementation of the Convention in Greece and requirements for safeguarding plans at a national level; challenges and opportunities for developing safeguarding plans in Greece; an overview step by step of developing safeguarding plans; working with representatives of communities to develop safeguarding plans: examples of approaches; examples of involving communities in safeguarding planning in Greece; developing safeguarding strategies integrating the sustainable development factor; ways of linking the development of safeguarding plans in Greece to the process of Periodic Reporting

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the facilitators have prepared a flexible programme. Apart from the foreseen significant group work in intriguing sub-topics, the programme also includes concrete examples from Greece, with the presentation of the participants. Finally, international guests are invited to participate and contribute on specific sub-topics. The training starts on Monday, May 31st 2021 in the Zoom platform.

Programme - English-

The city of Cremona, which is home to the ‘Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona’, inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, was one of the world’s most affected regions in the first wave of the COVID 19 pandemic. Due to containment measures, traditional violinmakers were not allowed to enter their workshops, thereby impairing the continuity and transmission of their traditional know how. In response to the existing safeguarding challenges, which were further worsened by the pandemic, the City of Cremona called upon the entire local heritage community to help identifying the best strategies to safeguard the traditional violin making. In close cooperation with UNESCO, the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Lombardy Region, the city developed a series of capacity-building activities, which will be launched during a webinar on 10 Mai 2021: ‘Developing safeguarding plans for the traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona’.

The Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe under the auspices of UNESCO​ jointly wi​th the Cyprus National Commission for UNESCO, kind​ly support​ed by the Archeological Research Unit of University of Cyprus are organizing a​n online capacity building workshop dedicated to the “Developing safeguarding plans for living heritage in Cyprus” within the framework of the UNESCO Global Capacity Building Strategy for the Intangible Cultural Heritage between 10 ​and 14 of May, 2021.

The training at national level is conducted by the two experienced facilitators from the UNESCO’s facilitator’s global network, Ms Séverine Cachat and Ms Panayiota Andrianopoulou ​tailored to the needs of the specific Cyprus’s framework.

The topics to be developed in the training are: analysis of the key concepts of the ICH safeguarding; community participation, involvement of various stakeholders, intersectorial coordination, thus showing the degree of understanding required for the development of safeguarding plans; introduction on developing safeguarding plans in line with the 2003 Convention​ focusing on the role of inventorying in ICH safeguarding; interrelation of the ICH safeguarding to the Sustainable Development Goals, within the Overall Results Framework, to improve the participants relevant knowledge; introduction on the ethical principles to be taken into consideration while developing safeguarding plans for ICH; strategy development for capacity and competency building in the view of safeguarding planning; best safeguarding practices analysis through interactive methodology.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the facilitators have prepared a flexible program, it is also foreseen significant group work in intriguing sub-topics as well as have invited international guests to participate on specific sub-topics. The training starts on Monday, 10th of May in the Zoom platform.

For more information, please visit https://www.unesco-centerbg.org/en/2021/05/07/%d1%81%d0%b5%d0%bc%d0%b8%d0%bd%d0%b0%d1%80-%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%b7%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%b1%d0%be%d1%82%d0%b2%d0%b0%d0%bd%d0%b5-%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d0%bf%d0%bb%d0%b0%d0%bd%d0%be%d0%b2%d0%b5-%d0%b7%d0%b0-%d0%be/

UNESCO welcomes young heritage professionals, students and heritage enthusiasts across Europe and beyond, to join the upcoming open Webinar on European Youth and Heritage being held on 23 April 2021 from 14:00 to 15:30 (Paris time), and discover a thriving network of Cultural Heritage Messengers.

Online registration here.

“Webinar titled “Youth and Nauryz Traditions Safeguarding” organized by the Municipality of the City of Shymkent, Shymkent city Department of Culture, Languages Development and Archives, National Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the National Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan for UNESCO and ISESCO, UNESCO Chair on Science and Spirituality at the Institute of Oriental Studies named after R.Suleimenov and UNESCO Chair on Science and Spirituality at Suleimenov’s Institute of Oriental Studies.

The City of Shymkent celebrates its 2200th anniversary. It has been included in the List of anniversaries which UNESCO is associated in 2020-2021. The Mayor of Shymkent and the National Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan for UNESCO and ISESCO invite representatives of the National Commissions from the countries which have celebrate Nauryz holidays for centuries. This will provide a unique possibility to share the experience of transition of traditional knowledge and ritual practices from its ancient origin to the global contacts and modern IT technologies.

The main topic for discussion will be the youth involvement to learn, study and safeguard the rich cultural heritage of the predecessors and historical memory, and resume of the cultural interaction at the Great Silk Road.

Register here.”

The UNESCO Office for the GCC and Yemen, in partnership with the Qatari National Commission for UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture and Sports launched an online workshop on “Inventories of the Intangible Cultural Heritage with the Participation of Communities”. This initiative is taking place in the framework of UNESCO’s continued support to safeguard Qatar’s living heritage, in line with the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Her Excellency Sheikha Najla Al Thani, Director of Heritage and Identity Department at the Ministry of Culture and Sports highlighted the importance organizing such a workshop amidst this rapidly changing context and the COVID-19 pandemic, which is impacting communities and the intangible cultural heritage practices among them.

Inventories are integral to the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage as per the 2003 Convention because they can raise awareness about intangible cultural heritage and its importance for individual and collective identities. The process of inventorying intangible cultural heritage and making those inventories accessible to the public can also encourage creativity and self-respect in the communities and individuals where expressions and practices of intangible cultural heritage originate. Inventories can also provide a basis for formulating concrete plans to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage concerned.

“At the end of this first ever workshop in Qatar, which will take place from 21 to 28 February 2021, the trained group of participants including from the Ministry of Culture and Sports, Qatar Museums, National Commission and other identified institutions, should be fully equipped to engage in designing and conducting community-based inventorying in the State of Qatar.” affirms Junaid Sorosh-Wali, Head of the Culture Unit at UNESCO Office for GCC and Yemen

Professor Annie Thome Tabet and Dr. Maissoun Sharqawi, from the Global Network of Facilitators, will deliver the pieces of training based on their experience, which they have gained through extensive training provided previously by UNESCO.

UNESCO, in collaboration with the International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in Asia-Pacific Region under the Auspices of UNESCO (ICHCAP), will hold an online webinar entitled ‘Monitoring Intangible Heritage in Education: Contributing to Heritage Safeguarding and to Achieving SDG4’ on 26 January from 1 to 2:30 p.m., Paris time. This webinar is generously sponsored by the Cultural Heritage Administration of the Republic of Korea.

Experts in the fields of intangible heritage and education gathered in December 2020, to discuss the education-related indicators of the Overall result framework for the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. This new online event will allow sharing the results of the expert meeting with the public, also providing concrete examples and case studies. A panel of distinguished experts will discuss the close relationship between each of the education-related indicators and the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on quality education highlighting the benefit of intersectoral monitoring providing first-hand advice on reporting on these indicators in the periodic reports of the State Parties.

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The webinar will be co-moderated by a lead expert in the field Ms. Janet Blake, who is the Associate Professor of Law at the University of Shahid Beheshti in Iran, and Ms. Susanne Schnüttgen, the Chief of Unit in the Capacity Building and Heritage Policy and Intangible Heritage Section. A panel of key actors in the cultural heritage and education fields will take part in the webinar, which will be structured in three parts:

1. Introduction to the topic, including a brief presentation on the education-related indicators used under the 2003 Convention and an interview of experts on their importance for safeguarding living heritage and for attaining SDG 4.
2. Discussion of concrete examples.
3. Q&A; session with lead experts and participants.

To take part in the webinar you need pre-register online. The live streaming will be available through ICHCAP’s YouTube channel in English, French, Spanish and Korean. Additional information is available on the UNESCO and ICHCAP website.

Download the flyer: English|French|Spanish|Korean

Education plays a key role in safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Experiences have shown that teaching core subjects such as mathematics, science or literature by using students’ ICH backgrounds can make the learning process more relevant, as it creates better connections between what is taught in classrooms and the children’s everyday life.

On 8 January 2021, UNESCO launched the pilot project “Teaching with Intangible Cultural Heritage in Schools in Asia and the Pacific” virtually in Nepal. The 65 participants included the mayors and officials from Budhanilkantha and Kirtipur municipalities; teachers and principals of pilot schools and community resource persons from the two municipalities; officials representing the Centre of Education and Human Resource Development and Curriculum Development Centre under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Nepal National Commission for UNESCO, and experts in education and culture. The event was followed by a preparatory session.

The main goal of the project is to strengthen the use of ICH in formal education, and in particular to promote it in various school-subjects through testing and validation of multiple teaching methods, materials, and lesson plans using ICH.

The project is being implemented in collaboration with the two culturally rich municipalities of Budhanilkantha and Kirtipur. The implementing partner, Srijanalaya, will prepare the team from four selected schools—Janasewa and Mangal from Kirtipur and Ganesh and Naulin from Budhanilkantha for the pilot project. Each school team consists of one person from the School Management Committee, three different subject teachers, and one community resource person.

Uddhab Prasad Kharel, Mayor of Budhanilkantha Municipality, stated, “The beautiful aspect of this project is to engage students which will help them practice and learn from their own living heritage,” while the Mayor of Kirtipur Municipality said, “Our living heritage is in the process of being lost. In this context, this project, involving students and those from the community, is important to safeguard our heritage.” Earlier, during information-sharing sessions with the two municipalities and their respective school teams during November and December 2020, both the Mayors had expressed their commitments to fully support the project, finding it both interesting and useful in the context of preparing and implementing the local curricula in schools.

“The cultural practices and knowledge that are meaningful to communities can provide context-specific content and pedagogy for education programmes, and thus act to leverage the relevance of education and improve learning outcomes,” said UNESCO Representative to Nepal Christian Manhart in his opening remarks. “In the meantime, this opportunity can help safeguard intangible heritage through education,” he added.

The preparatory session involved a participatory exercise to map ICH elements, where the community resource persons identified about 26 of their ICH elements and the school team discussed how these could be linked in the school curriculum, pedagogy, and other school activities. The mapping exercise engaged members of the communities and school teams to build up a good rapport and to jointly explore diverse living heritage elements from within their communities. The school teams representing both the municipalities expressed their desire to also include other ICH elements that could not be fully explored through this process. This mapping of ICH elements will continue and become a part of the pilot activities in the schools.

The result of the pilot project will be shared with the Advisory Committee which includes representatives from the Culture and Education ministries. The Advisory Committee has been formed to provide necessary input during the implementation of the project. The outcome of this pilot implementation is expected to be incorporated into the national education system in the future.

The pilot implementation is in line with Nepal’s commitment to implement the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage at a national level and will support its commitment to the SDG goal and target 4.7: by 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.

This project is a joint initiative by UNESCO and its two Category 2 Centers: International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (ICHCAP) and Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU). Nepal is one of six countries selected in the Asia-Pacific Region to join the pilot project.