Principales áreas de trabajo relacionadas con la Convención:
Some of the activities the CCCC has developed in recent years that deal with intangible cultural heritage safeguarding are:
Promotion: The CCCC has two websites that provide information regarding human towers. The first one (www.cccc.cat) includes a complete agenda of the performances that are going to be held during the season (around 1000 each year). The second one (www.castellscat.cat) is specially thought to give an introduction to the human towers universe to those who don't know it, and its translated into Spanish, English and French languages. Both websites also explain what the Intangible Heritage Convention from Unesco is.
Documentation: The www.cccc.cat website also includes a database where you can check on line all the performances results since 1926. New data is added each weekend, as new performances take place.
Promotion & enhancement: The CCCC has created a registered brand, "Castells. Catalan Human Towers", whose aim is to sanction official products and goods which give part of its profits to the "colles castelleres".
Promotion: The CCCC has developed several actions aimed to promote human towers among concrete collectives, such as immigrant population or children through schools. The last of these actions is an activity that promotes both human towers and reading through libraries.
Promotion: The CCCC offers information on human towers to the media. lt also manages the intellectual property rights of its affiliates to deal with local TV networks to provide live coverage of the most important performances.
Transmission & education: The CCCC organizes every year two formative meetings, free for all the "colles". The first one is dedicated to safety and technical issues regarding human towers. The second one deals with legal, financial and organizational matters.
Preservation & protection: The CCCC is the organization that contracts all the insurance policies that give coverage to human towers. The CCCC has also been responsible to develop several studies that have allowed human towers to become a safer activity, including the development of a special helmet used by children climbing on the towers.
Revitalization: As a federation that gathers all the "colles", the CCCC also works as a forum where all the different groups can debate and decide jointly the future path for the element.
Revitalization: The CCCC offers help to new "colles" when they are born, while at the same time checking that these new groups respect the human towers tradition and established values.
Preservation, protection and revitalization: The CCCC boosted in 2012 the document titled "The Social Values of Human Towers", approved by all members, in which the "colles" ratified their compromise with values such as amateurism, a sustainable and responsible management, inner pluralism and democratic functioning.
Most of these actions can be checked through our websites.
Objetivos
The Coordinadora de Colles Castelleres de Catalunya (CCCC) is the federation that gathers all the 'colles' (teams) that build human towers ('castells') in Catalonia (currently around 100). 'Castells', of course, were included by Unesco in the representative list for intangible cultural heritage in 2010.
The CCCC was created in 1989 and its main purposes, as stablished in its by-laws, are:
Promote human towers and its values, spread its knowledge, and to stimulate research on the topic, while looking after its good image and safeguarding.
Manage and defend the affiliates' common interests and goods. CCCC is currently in charge to hire insurance policies for all the 'colles'.
Represent the human towers collective before the administrations, media, etc.
Promote good practices on human towers, especially on safety.
Promote good understanding among its affiliates.
As you can see, the organization's first aim deals directly with the safeguarding of this cultural intangible heritage element.
Cooperación
As explained before, the organization itself is the federation that unites all the different "colles" (teams) dedicated to human towers nowadays in Catalonia. This means that it is made up of groups that work the intangible cultural heritage. Again, as stated before, the board of directors itself is made up of intangible cultural heritage practitioners.
At the same time, it is alas important to acknowledge that CCCC works democratically. Key decisions have to be taken by the General Assembly, where every group is represented. The board of directors is also voted by the General Assembly.
All this means that the organization's tradition is to build consensus and negotiate between its members to find a position where everyone (or at least a huge majority) feels comfortable.