A capacity-building workshop for the preparation of community-based inventories of intangible cultural heritage was organized by the UNESCO House for a Culture of Peace in Burundi in partnership with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture. The workshop, which was held in the Bujumbura Community Centre, has trained 29 participants from the Ministry and representatives of cultural associations engaged in activities for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, in the methodology for developing inventories with the participation of communities according to the principles of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The vast majority of participants had benefited in the past from training on the implementation of the Convention at the national level and were therefore already familiar with the key concepts and notions of the Convention. The workshop was facilitated by Mr. Domitien Nizigiyimana, expert of the World Network of UNESCO for the Intangible Cultural Heritage, and included a practical course of carrying out field inventory to apply the theory learned during the previous days.
This training was a real success in many respects. First by the active involvement of participants throughout the workshop, which particularly appreciated the practice through the practical course. The respect for gender equality and the presence of young people has diversified views and mobilize shared interest with regard to the intangible cultural heritage. Another lesson learned is that this kind of exercise helps to reassure communities that are very concerned about the uncertain future of their intangible cultural heritage which, according to them, was abandoned by the youth. Communities expressed great satisfaction of having been contacted prior to the workshop to gather their consent by asking to deliver their knowledge for the sake of the practice course and of having stayed together with the participants during the course which allowed a lot of exchange.

Documents

LIST_DOC:00466