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

This workshop aimed to introduce the mechanisms for the implementation of the intangible cultural heritage Convention and strengthen national capacities to implement and safeguard intangible cultural heritage.

It brought together representatives of public institutions and civil society directly related to the inventory, management and promotion of intangible cultural heritage of their country to give them the tools necessary to safeguard the intangible heritage present in their territory. A particular focus was put on inventory-making as well as on the criteria and procedures for the inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

Contact in UNESCO San José: Ms Martell Domingo

The Secretariat of the Convention organized, Monday 25 October 2010, an information meeting for the members of the Intergovernmental Committee. This meeting took place on Room II (Fontenoy) from 3 to 6 p.m..

The purpose of this meeting was to inform Committee members about the functioning of the Committee and its general working methods. At its last session, the General Assembly adopted revised operational directives for the implementation of the Convention. The Secretariat wished to inform all members of the Committee, before its fifth session, on the changes resulting from these revisions, in particular regarding the submission of nominations for the lists of the Convention and requests for international assistance under the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund. Moreover, the Secretariat presented the provisional agenda of the fifth session of the Committee and the Chairperson informed the participants of the action taken by the Kenyan Government regarding its hosting of the Committee’s next session in Nairobi, Kenya (15-19 November 2010). This information meeting was also open to interested States Parties, which are not members of the Committee and States not party to the Convention.

• Agenda: English|French
• Presentation: English

This workshop aims at gaining the support of communities, groups and individuals custodians of intangible cultural heritage to the principles of the 2003 Convention by providing the necessary tools for its understanding and ‘ownership’.

The specific objectives of the meeting are:

• to provide an overview of the 2003 Convention: its objectives, key concepts, and commitments to respect national and international cooperation mechanisms;
• to lay the groundwork necessary for a thorough understanding of key concepts of intangible cultural heritage and the arsenal of preventive measures listed by the Convention;
• to share past and ongoing experiences of safeguarding intangible heritage;
• to propose practical guidance for developing backup plans;
• to assist in the establishment of a Gabonese National Committee for Cultural Heritage.

Contact in UNESCO Libreville: Ms Yvette Kaboza

NGOs have an important role to play in the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. At the national level, they can operate between communities and governments and should be involved in identifying and defining intangible cultural heritage and in other appropriate safeguarding measures. At the international level, NGOs can have advisory functions, once they are accredited by the Committee, in particular to make recommendations to the Committee on nomination files for the Urgent Safeguarding List and proposals of best safeguarding practices.

Organized by the Estonian Folk Culture Development and Training Centre and the Estonian National Commission for UNESCO in close cooperation with UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Section, this capacity-building workshop provided up-to-date information on the Convention to NGOs and governmental counterparts in order to strengthen their capacities to contribute to its implementation and to the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage.

The participating countries were Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Serbia, in addition to trainers and UNESCO representatives. It has been financially supported by the Estonian Ministry of Culture and UNESCO.

Documents

• Agenda: English
• Participants: English
• Intangible cultural heritage keywords - Cécile Duvelle: English: Slideshow - Handout
• The role of NGOs in safeguarding ICH at national level as foreseen in the Convention and cooperation with other players - Harriet Deacon: English: Handout - Slideshow
• The activities of NGOs in the field of ICH and cooperation with governmental counterparts and/or communities: the experience of Norway - Eivind Falk: English
• The activities of NGOs in the field of ICH and cooperation with governmental counterparts and/or communities: the experience of Belgium - Jorijn Neyrinck: English
• Safeguarding ICH: key safeguarding measures - Wim van Zanten: English

Contact: Ms.Margit Siim
Webpage dedicated to the meeting on the website of the Estonian Folk Culture Development and Training Center: http://www.rahvakultuur.ee/?s=997

Following Argentina’s ratification of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the intangible Cultural Heritage in June 2006, the Department of Heritage of the Ministry of Culture and the UNESCO Office in Montevideo jointly convened this workshop on the implementation of the Convention.

The objectives of the workshop were to provide participants with essential information relating to the Convention and to discuss a national strategy for its effective implementation, with particular attention to the:

• enhancement of the existing national mechanism for safeguarding intangible heritage at the provincial and local levels;
• preparation of one or more inventories of intangible cultural heritage on Argentina’s territory; and
• criteria and procedures for nominations to the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding and Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The workshop was specifically organized for Argentina officials responsible for cultural matters within the 23 provincial governments and at national level and some officials of Paraguay and Uruguay. Senior experts from Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia and the Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Latin America (CRESPIAL) will bring their technical expertise through concrete examples of management of intangible heritage and will lead the interactive sessions with participants.

Documents

• Agenda: Spanish

Contact in UNESCO Montevideo: f.vacheron@unesco.org

Link to related Montevideo webpage

On 20 and 21 July, a regional consultation meeting, ‘Intangible Heritage Beyond Borders: Safeguarding through International Cooperation’, was held in Bangkok. The meeting gathered more than 30 government representatives from across the Asia-Pacific region aiming to strengthen international cooperation for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage and preventing conflicts that might otherwise arise over the ownership, exploitation or misinterpretation of intangible heritage. The focus on intangible cultural heritage is exceptionally pertinent: contrary to monuments, intangible heritage is embedded only in humans and their locations often change without heed of national borders.

The meeting allowed for officials to discuss the issue of international cooperation, and address debates which were stimulated by presentations given by experts from Africa, Latin America, and Asia focussing the issue of intangible shared heritage, shared across borders.

Documents

• Agenda: English
• Background paper: English
• List of participants: English
• Opening remarks - Cécile Duvelle: English: presentation - speech
• Opening remarks - Gwang-Jo Kim: English
• Session 1: Diffuse heritage and diffuse communities - M.Silverse Anami, Kenya: English
• Session 2: Culture Beyond Borders, The Case of Tango - Ms.Isabel Sans, Uruguay: English
• Session 3: Rural to Urban and International Migration: Implications for Intangible Cultural Heritage - M.Rahul Goswami, India: English

Contact in Apia UNESCO office : Tim Curtis

At its 35th session in October 2009, the UNESCO General Conference approved the establishment of four category 2 centres for intangible cultural heritage in Asia and the Pacific. These are:

• In China, the International Training Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia and the Pacific Region (see document 181 EX/17 Part V)
• In the Republic of Korea, the International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia and the Pacific Region (see document 181 EX/17 Part V I)
• In Japan, the International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia and the Pacific Region (see document 181 EX/17 Part VII)
• In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Regional Research Centre for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in West and Central Asia (see document 181 EX/20 Part VII)

This meeting brought together representatives of the future centres to exchange information on their recent and planned activities, and to discuss future collaboration.

Presentations

• Recent events in the life of the Convention: the third session of the General Assembly: English
• Road map for the establishment of a category 2 centre under the auspices of UNESCO: English
• Strengthening national capacities for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage: UNESCO’s strategy for 2010-2011 and beyond: English

By its decision 4.COM 19 (English|French), adopted at its fourth meeting in Abu Dhabi in November 2009, the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage had created an intergovernmental working group open to the participation by all States Parties, to consider, on the basis of the experience of the first cycle of implementation of the Convention, improvements that could be made to the Operational Directives for the implementation of the Convention.

Following its two meetings during the fourth session of the Committee, this group met again on 21 May 2010. To prepare the debates of the working group, the Secretariat organized an expert meeting on 15 March 2010 (distributed documents, the report and accounts of their proceedings are available online).

At its meeting on 21 May (distributed documents are available online) the working group has identified a number of possible improvements in the working methods of the Committee, the Subsidiary Body and the Secretariat.

To progress with its discussions, the working group established a restricted working group composed of Belgium, Italy, Estonia, Colombia, Saint Lucia, China, Japan, the India, Kenya and Morocco. This restricted group met on Tuesday, 1 June 2010 and agreed on a consensus text of proposed amendments to the Operational Directives as proposed in the document ITH/10/5.COM 4.WG/1 (English|French).

This consensus document from the restricted working group will be submitted to the working group at its meeting on Monday, 21 June 2010, in Room II (Fontenoy), 10 am to 6 pm. The results of this meeting, again open to all States Parties, will be submitted to a working group that the Committee proposed to the General Assembly to establish in order to report to the General Assembly of the States Parties to the Convention at its third session of 22 to 24 June 2010.

Registration form

• English/French

Documents

• Proposal of amendments to the Operational Directives for the implementation of the Convention
  ITH/10/5.COM 4.WG/1: English|French
• List of participants
  ITH/10/5.COM 4.WG/5: English/French in preparation

At the end of the meeting of the Working Group of the Intergovernmental Committee on amendments to the Operational Directives, which met on 21 May 2010, a restricted working group has been established to continue the work started on 21 May. This restricted working group, composed of Belgium, Italy, Estonia, Colombia, Saint Lucia, China, Japan, India, Kenya and Morocco, will be held on Tuesday, 1 June 2010, Room XIII (Bonvin) from10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. This meeting is open to all States Parties to the Convention.

Registration form

• English/French

Documents

• List of participants
  ITH/10/5.COM 3.1.WG/1: English/French in preparation
• Excerpts of the draft summary records of the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (28 September to 2 October 2009, Abu Dhabi)
  ITH/10/5.COM 3.WG/2: English|French
• Report and summary records of the expert meeting of 15 March 2010
  ITH/10/5.COM 3.WG/3: English|French
• Proposal of amendments to the Operational Directives for the implementation of the Convention
  ITH/10/5.COM 3.WG/4: English|French

The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, meeting in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) during its 4th session from 28 September to 2 October 2009, found that an in-depth reflection on the Operational Directives was necessary in light of the first cycle of their implementation. The Committee noted an imbalance between the three Lists of the Convention – with a pronounced interest in favour of the Representative List, and very little interest in the Urgent Safeguarding List or the Register for Good Practices (Article 18). The Subsidiary Body, responsible for examining the nominations to the Representative List, underlined that its workload was very heavy and proposed amendments to the Operational Directives so as to have a more manageable workload in the future.

The Committee considered it that it was important and urgent to find appropriate solutions so that the General Assembly, at its meeting in June 2010, be seized. To this end an intergovernmental working group, open to all States Parties, was created to reflect upon improvements that could be brought about, based on the experience of the first cycle of implementation.

Following its two meetings in Abu Dhabi on the sidelines of the Committee’s work, two other meetings of the intergovernmental working group are foreseen on 21 May (Room XI, 10h-13h / 15h-18h) and 21 June 2010 respectively.

Registration form

• English/French

Documents

• Agenda
  ITH/10/5.COM 3.WG/1: English|French
• Excerpts of the draft summary records of the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (28 September to 2 October 2009, Abu Dhabi)
  ITH/10/5.COM 3.WG/2: English|French
• Report and summary records of the expert meeting of 15 March 2010
  ITH/10/5.COM 3.WG/3: English|French
• Proposal of amendments to the Operational Directives for the implementation of the Convention
  ITH/10/5.COM 3.WG/4: English|French
• Decision 4.COM 19 - Revisions of the Operational Directives: English|French
• Legal opinion on certain measures regarding the examination of nominations to the Representative List of Article 16 of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage: English|French
• List of participants
  ITH/10/5.COM 3.WG/5Rev.: English/French in preparation

This meeting aims to initiate an in-depth reflection on the working mechanisms of the 2003 Convention, following the first cycle of its implementation.

The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, meeting in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) during its 4th session from 28 September to 2 October 2009, noted an imbalance between the three Lists of the Convention – with a pronounced interest in favour of the Representative List, and very little interest in the Urgent Safeguarding List or the Register for Good Practices (Article 18), mechanisms nevertheless central to the Convention. The Subsidiary Body, responsible for examining the nominations to the Representative List, underlined that its workload was very heavy and proposed amendments to the Operational Directives so as to have a more manageable workload in the future.

The Committee considered it important and urgent to find appropriate solutions so that the General Assembly at its meeting in June 2010 could approve them. To this end an intergovernmental working group, open to all States Parties, was created to reflect upon improvements that could be brought about, based on the experience of the first cycle of implementation, and to present a report of its conclusions to the Assembly.

Following its first meeting in Abu Dhabi, two other meetings of the intergovernmental working group are foreseen on 21 May and 21 June 2010 respectively. The expert meeting on 15 March is convened to prepare the debates for this intergovernmental working group.

Report

• Report and summary records: English|French

Documents

• Agenda
  ITH/10/EM1/1 Rev.: English|French
• List of participants
  ITH/10/EM1/2 Rev.2: English/French
• Report of the Rapporteur of the Subsidiary Body charged with examining nominations to the Representative List
  ITH/09/4.COM/CONF.209/INF.6: English|French
• Excerpts of the draft summary records of the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Committee (28 September to 2 October 2009, Abu Dhabi)
  ITH/10/EM1/3 (Rev. in English / en anglais): English|French
• Decision 4.COM 19 - Revisions of the Operational Directives
  ITH/10/EM1/4 Rev.: English|French
• Legal opinion on certain measures regarding the examination of nominations to the Representative List of Article 16 of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
  ITH/10/EM1/5 Rev.: English|French
• Excerpts of discussions and documents leading to the elaboration of the 2003 Convention and its Operational Directives concerning the nature of the intangible cultural heritage lists
  ITH/10/EM1/6 Rev.: English|French
• Discussions during the governance meetings of the World Heritage Convention concerning the management of nominations to the World Heritage List
  ITH/10/EM1/7 Rev.: English|French