Brazil

Selected in 2011 on the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices

Each year, a national call for projects from the Programa Nacional de Patrimônio Imaterial encourages and supports safeguarding initiatives and practices proposed by the Brazilian society for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. The projects must involve the participation of the community and groups concerned, promote social inclusion and improvement of the life conditions of creators and bearers of such heritage, and respect individual and collective rights. Most projects includes activities such as mapping, inventories and ethnographic research; information systematization and database creation and/or implementation; production or preservation of documentation and ethnographic archives; promotion and transmission of traditional knowledge to new generations; and strengthening communities’ capacities for research, safeguarding and education. Projects can be presented by local government institutions or non-profit private organizations, but must have the prior agreement of the communities involved. The selection process is organized by the Intangible Heritage Department of IPHAN (National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute) in Brasilia, with projects evaluated by a national committee of specialists. Each project selected receives approximately R$100,000 (US$50,000) and is frequently realized within twelve months. The call for projects aims to strengthen community safeguarding processes and institutions, and to create networks between different institutional and social actors. As such, the process constitutes a model for financing and fostering initiatives of the civil society for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage.