Browse the Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Register of good safeguarding practices

The Committee meets annually to evaluate nominations proposed by States Parties to the 2003 Convention and decide whether or not to inscribe those cultural practices and expressions of intangible heritage on the Convention’s Lists.

By clicking on the inscribed elements listed below, you can discover the nominations, photos and videos, together with Committee decisions and evidence of community consent.

You may also experience a conceptual, visual and interactive navigation through ‘Dive into Intangible Cultural Heritage’ interfaces which demonstrate the thematic interconnectedness between all the elements inscribed and their relation to nature or to threats.

The designations employed in the texts and documents of the nomination presented by the submitting State Party or States Parties do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Committee nor UNESCO concerning a) the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, b) the legal status of its authorities or c) the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Full text search: The system will search the exact expression entered (i.e. ‘sustainable development’), except if you separate the terms by a comma so that the motor search one or the other expression or the two (i.e. ‘foodways, culinary practices’).

The system will search the exact expression entered (i.e. ‘sustainable development’), except if you separate the terms by a comma so that the motor search one or the other expression or the two (i.e. ‘foodways, culinary practices’).

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national

include secondary level relations Elements potentially related to World Heritage sites whc

Files considered good examples by the Committee

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Results : 19 elements corresponding to 5 regions and 40 countries

List of elements
Statistics
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year

2023¹ – 2022³ – 2021³ – 2020¹ – 2019¹ – 2018⁴ – 2017¹ – 2014¹ – 2011³ – 2009¹

2023
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Traditional irrigation: knowledge, technique, and organization	Austria – Belgium – Germany – Italy – Luxembourg – Netherlands – Switzerland
2022
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Beekeeping in Slovenia, a way of life	Slovenia
Date palm, knowledge, skills, traditions and practices	United Arab Emirates – Bahrain – Egypt – Iraq – Jordan – Kuwait – Mauritania – Morocco – Oman – Palestine – Qatar – Saudi Arabia – Sudan – Tunisia – Yemen
Knowledge and practices related to cultivating Khawlani coffee beans	Saudi Arabia
2021
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Carolinian wayfinding and canoe making	Micronesia (Federated States of)
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Nordic clinker boat traditions	Denmark – Finland – Iceland – Norway – Sweden
Traditional craft skills and arts of Al-Naoor	Iraq
2020
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Al Aflaj, traditional irrigation network system in the UAE, oral traditions, knowledge and skills of construction, maintenance and equitable water distribution	United Arab Emirates
2019
Register of Good Safeguarding Practices
Biocultural programme for the safeguarding of the tradition of the Blessed Palm in Venezuela	Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
2018
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Knowledge and skills of the water measurers of the foggaras or water bailiffs of Touat and Tidikelt	Algeria
Suri Jagek (observing the sun), traditional meteorological and astronomical practice based on the observation of the sun, moon and stars in reference to the local topography	Pakistan
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Art of dry stone walling, knowledge and techniques	Croatia – Cyprus – France – Greece – Italy – Slovenia – Spain – Switzerland
Avalanche risk management	Switzerland – Austria
2017
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Craft of the miller operating windmills and watermills	Netherlands
2014
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Traditional agricultural practice of cultivating the ‘vite ad alberello’ (head-trained bush vines) of the community of Pantelleria	Italy
2011
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Traditional skills of building and sailing Iranian Lenj boats in the Persian Gulf	Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Yaokwa, the Enawene Nawe people's ritual for the maintenance of social and cosmic order	Brazil
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Traditional knowledge of the jaguar shamans of Yuruparí	Colombia
2009
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Irrigators’ tribunals of the Spanish Mediterranean coast: the Council of Wise Men of the plain of Murcia and the Water Tribunal of the plain of Valencia	Spain