Events and meetings on intangible cultural heritage (co-)organized by UNESCO

The two-day workshop gathered national teams from four West African countries to create awareness of the immense potential for achieving SDG 4 and safeguarding intangible cultural heritage through the integration of living heritage in formal and non-formal education. At the same time, it built the capacities of relevant stakeholders in Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone to develop and implement policies that will support this initiative at all levels of the educational system in the target Member States. In doing so, this activity supports an accelerated achievement of SDG 4.7, and encourage the safeguarding of the living heritage by communities and authorities.

The Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe under the auspices of UNESCO, jointly with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports (Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage), are organizing an online capacity building workshop dedicated to “Developing safeguarding plans for intangible cultural heritage in Greece” within the framework of the UNESCO GLOBAL CAPACITY BUILDING STRATEGY FOR THE INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE, between May 31st and June 4th, 2021.

The training at national level will be conducted by two experienced facilitators from the UNESCO’s facilitator’s global network, Ms Harriet Deacon and Ms Benedetta Ubertazzi, and will be tailored to the hosting country’s specific needs.

The topics to be developed in the training are: introduction to the UNESCO Convention and its relation to sustainable development; introduction to safeguarding under the 2003 ICH Convention; implementation of the Convention in Greece and requirements for safeguarding plans at a national level; challenges and opportunities for developing safeguarding plans in Greece; an overview step by step of developing safeguarding plans; working with representatives of communities to develop safeguarding plans: examples of approaches; examples of involving communities in safeguarding planning in Greece; developing safeguarding strategies integrating the sustainable development factor; ways of linking the development of safeguarding plans in Greece to the process of Periodic Reporting

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the facilitators have prepared a flexible programme. Apart from the foreseen significant group work in intriguing sub-topics, the programme also includes concrete examples from Greece, with the presentation of the participants. Finally, international guests are invited to participate and contribute on specific sub-topics. The training starts on Monday, May 31st 2021 in the Zoom platform.

Programme - English-

The city of Cremona, which is home to the ‘Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona’, inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, was one of the world’s most affected regions in the first wave of the COVID 19 pandemic. Due to containment measures, traditional violinmakers were not allowed to enter their workshops, thereby impairing the continuity and transmission of their traditional know how. In response to the existing safeguarding challenges, which were further worsened by the pandemic, the City of Cremona called upon the entire local heritage community to help identifying the best strategies to safeguard the traditional violin making. In close cooperation with UNESCO, the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Lombardy Region, the city developed a series of capacity-building activities, which will be launched during a webinar on 10 Mai 2021: ‘Developing safeguarding plans for the traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona’.

The Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe under the auspices of UNESCO​ jointly wi​th the Cyprus National Commission for UNESCO, kind​ly support​ed by the Archeological Research Unit of University of Cyprus are organizing a​n online capacity building workshop dedicated to the “Developing safeguarding plans for living heritage in Cyprus” within the framework of the UNESCO Global Capacity Building Strategy for the Intangible Cultural Heritage between 10 ​and 14 of May, 2021.

The training at national level is conducted by the two experienced facilitators from the UNESCO’s facilitator’s global network, Ms Séverine Cachat and Ms Panayiota Andrianopoulou ​tailored to the needs of the specific Cyprus’s framework.

The topics to be developed in the training are: analysis of the key concepts of the ICH safeguarding; community participation, involvement of various stakeholders, intersectorial coordination, thus showing the degree of understanding required for the development of safeguarding plans; introduction on developing safeguarding plans in line with the 2003 Convention​ focusing on the role of inventorying in ICH safeguarding; interrelation of the ICH safeguarding to the Sustainable Development Goals, within the Overall Results Framework, to improve the participants relevant knowledge; introduction on the ethical principles to be taken into consideration while developing safeguarding plans for ICH; strategy development for capacity and competency building in the view of safeguarding planning; best safeguarding practices analysis through interactive methodology.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the facilitators have prepared a flexible program, it is also foreseen significant group work in intriguing sub-topics as well as have invited international guests to participate on specific sub-topics. The training starts on Monday, 10th of May in the Zoom platform.

For more information, please visit https://www.unesco-centerbg.org/en/2

On 30 April 2021, UNESCO is inviting stakeholders from Eastern Africa to an online conference to share case studies and review research results on the relationship between living heritage and biodiversity, climate change as well as disaster risk reduction.

The increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters such as floods, fires, droughts, earthquakes and pest outbreaks is a constant reminder of how rapidly changing climate conditions are already affecting our lives. To face the challenges caused by climate change, communities continue to mobilize their living heritage, which has helped them adapt to their natural environment for centuries. Living heritage plays a proactive role in building the resilience of communities, conserving biodiversity and mitigating the effects of climate change.

In 2021, UNESCO launched a pilot initiative in Eastern Africa, one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world. Coordinated by the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa in Nairobi, the initiative supports research and documentation of intangible cultural heritage and traditional knowledge systems. It focuses on biodiversity conservation, climate change and disaster risk reduction in seven Eastern African countries (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda). This initiative builds on the work carried out by UNESCO since 2016 on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in emergency situations as well as the UNESCO Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) programme. It was carried out in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM).

As the final activity undertaken in the framework of this project, national research teams will gather on 30 April 2021 for an international conference. They will present case studies, ranging from the role of traditional knowledge systems in com

UNESCO welcomes young heritage professionals, students and heritage enthusiasts across Europe and beyond, to join the upcoming open Webinar on European Youth and Heritage being held on 23 April 2021 from 14:00 to 15:30 (Paris time), and discover a thriving network of Cultural Heritage Messengers.

Online registration here.

“Webinar titled “Youth and Nauryz Traditions Safeguarding” organized by the Municipality of the City of Shymkent, Shymkent city Department of Culture, Languages Development and Archives, National Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the National Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan for UNESCO and ISESCO, UNESCO Chair on Science and Spirituality at the Institute of Oriental Studies named after R.Suleimenov and UNESCO Chair on Science and Spirituality at Suleimenov’s Institute of Oriental Studies.

The City of Shymkent celebrates its 2200th anniversary. It has been included in the List of anniversaries which UNESCO is associated in 2020-2021. The Mayor of Shymkent and the National Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan for UNESCO and ISESCO invite representatives of the National Commissions from the countries which have celebrate Nauryz holidays for centuries. This will provide a unique possibility to share the experience of transition of traditional knowledge and ritual practices from its ancient origin to the global contacts and modern IT technologies.

The main topic for discussion will be the youth involvement to learn, study and safeguard the rich cultural heritage of the predecessors and historical memory, and resume of the cultural interaction at the Great Silk Road.

Register here.”