The Ministry of Culture and Heritage, the National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Ecuador (INPC) and UNESCO’s Quito office are organizing in Loja the first of a set of three workshops on the formulation of public policy tools for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. The workshop, which will take place from 4 to 7 April 2016, will gather 25 participants from regional offices of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and the INPC, representatives of the National Planning and Development Secretariat, as well as community members. Facing the challenges of safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, participants will work on mechanisms for revising and adapting development plans, whose implementation falls to local governments in Ecuador.

The workshop is part of a two-year project supported by the Government of Japan to strengthen human and institutional capacities to safeguard intangible cultural heritage in Ecuador. Last year community-based inventorying activities were organized in Loja, increasing awareness and strengthening synergies. This will provide this new participatory space with a base to reflect on the impact and opportunities of public policy for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, from a gender and human rights perspectives in the context of Ecuador’s development plan for the “Well-Being”.