Main areas of work related to the Convention:
Community engagement and capacity building:
A significant part of the "Alem" team comprises ICH bearers — masters of applied arts, Ornek ornament practitioners, and traditional dance performers—who actively initiate and implement programs that engage local communities in safeguarding their cultural heritage. Through workshops, training sessions, and community events, these initiatives teach traditional skills to younger generations and provide platforms for knowledge sharing. By involving communities in the safeguarding process, "Alem" strengthens their sense of ownership and ensures the continuity of cultural practices.
From 2019 to 2020, the Head of "Alem", as a Deputy Head of the Expert Council on Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, provided expert support on safeguarding, research, and documentation of Crimean Tatar ICH at the national level.
Advisory services to cultural institutions:
The "Alem" team provides advisory to local governments, cultural institutions, and other stakeholders on the safeguarding and promotion of ICH of Indigenous peoples, including policy development, guidance on ethical approaches to engaging with Indigenous ICH bearers, and strategies for integrating ICH into sustainable development goals.
From 2016 to 2019, the Head of "Alem" served as an advisor to the Minister of Culture of Ukraine, contributing to the development of ICH policies. Since 2020, she has been actively engaged as an expert with the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation and House of Europe.
Documentation and preservation:
"Alem" aligns its efforts to document and preserve traditional cultural practices, such as music, dance, crafts, and traditions related to food. In close collaboration with specialists from the National Museum of the History of Ukraine and Google Arts & Culture, we publish articles and create digital archives, audio-visual recordings, and other materials that are shared on national and international professional platforms, ensuring the long-term preservation of these cultural elements.
Educational Programs and ICH Integration
"Alem" is dedicated to safeguarding and transmitting the Crimean Tatar language and knowledge about ICH through educational initiatives. In 2018, the organization initiated the creation of the "Crimean Tatar Humanities" section at the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. This initiative provides young scholars with the opportunity to study the history, language, and culture of the Crimean Tatars.
Additionally, "Alem" oversees the development of the "Integration Course of Crimean Tatar Language and Literature" for grades 7-9 (2023-2024) and the corresponding textbook for grade 7, which integrates Crimean Tatar ICH into the Ukrainian educational curriculum.
In 2024, in collaboration with the NGO "Center for Development 'Democracy through Culture'" and the Crimean Tatar school "Birlik" in the Kyiv region, we adapted the Ornek ornament to the UNESCO Project "Teaching and Learning with Living Heritage," which was implemented in Ukraine in 2022–2023.
Cultural Advocacy and Representation:
Based on its extensive experience in safeguarding the ICH of Crimean Tatars, "Alem" can provide advisory assistance to other organizations and communities, especially in extraordinary situations such as displacement, war, and loss of cultural continuity.
Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, Alem supports vulnerable groups, including internally displaced persons, refugees abroad, and war veterans. Through psychosocial support grounded in culturally oriented practices, based on the Crimean Tatar Ornek ornament, the "Alem" team fosters resilience, provides essential support, and helps create a deep sense of unity among those affected by the war. By organizing workshops, cultural exchanges, and educational initiatives, "Alem" has helped displaced communities continue to pass down their cultural heritage to younger generations.
Objectives
The NGO "Alem" was founded 15 years ago in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the homeland of the indigenous people of Ukraine, the Crimean Tatars. Since 2014, it has continued its mission on the mainland, in Kyiv, and to this day is the only organization in Ukraine that has been for 11 years uniting and supporting bearers of the living cultural heritage in their efforts to study, document, inventory, safeguard, and promote the intangible cultural heritage of the Crimean Tatars.
"Alem" follows a clear sustainable development strategy for the organization, which is reviewed every five years.
Alem works to strengthen the capacity of ICH practitioners through seminars, round tables, workshops, and thematic discussions, while also promoting the exchange of knowledge to safeguard intangible cultural heritage. Its efforts emphasize the role of ICH as a unifying force on both national and international levels. To achieve its goals, Alem collaborates with government bodies, local authorities, educational and cultural institutions, and other NGOs. Additionally, Alem contributes to the preparation of periodic reports (notably in 2023) under the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Cooperation
Alem is a non-governmental organization with proven competence, expertise, and experience in safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage of indigenous peoples in Ukraine. The organization’s work is grounded in the principles of the 2003 UNESCO Convention, focusing on the active engagement of local communities and tradition bearers in identifying, documenting, and promoting ICH elements. Alem fosters environments that support the identification, collection, and preservation of ICH knowledge and practices, both in mainland Ukraine and among internally displaced persons and refugees from the Crimean Tatar community.
This is achieved through masterclasses, art classes, seminars, thematic offline/online exhibition tours in Kyiv, the creation of books, and other educational initiatives that involve ICH bearers, educators, and historians specializing in Crimean Tatar culture. Alem is committed to balancing the involvement of community representatives, ICH practitioners, and academic experts effectively.
Intergenerational exchange is a central focus, as Alem works to facilitate the transmission of traditional knowledge from older generations to youth. The organization runs projects with children and teenagers, such as the “Crimean Tatar Humanities” section at the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, where young researchers gather data for academic studies on Crimean Tatar history, culture, and language. These activities emphasize decolonial practices and strengthen ties to living cultural traditions.
Alem also engages ICH bearers and community representatives in international efforts, such as showcasing ICH elements at global exhibitions and forums and creating large-scale promotional materials. The organization organizes dialogue platforms where tradition bearers exchange experiences and develop heritage preservation strategies, often incorporating training in modern skills like professional photo documentation of ICH or advanced data collection methods.
