© Cholpomai UG, Aigine CRC, 2019
The establishment of a platform for sharing good safeguarding experiences is one of the main goals identified by the reflection on a broader implementation of Article 18 of the 2003 Convention. It is expected that through the new platform, broader community participation can be achieved in the implementation of Article 18 of the 2003 Convention, contributing to raising global awareness of the importance of living heritage safeguarding for sustainable development while addressing local and global challenges.
The new platform will aim to bring the communities’ aspirations to the forefront, addressing their needs, and highlight safeguarding experiences that best reflect the principles and objectives of the 2003 Convention.
A step-by-step approach
Considering the step-by-step approach and roadmap established by the Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 Convention (Decisions 18.COM 11 and 19.COM 10), the following activities have been undertaken for the development and operation of the new platform for sharing good safeguarding experiences:
- Pilot mapping of good safeguarding experiences implemented, inter alia, through the international cooperation mechanisms of the 2003 Convention, to be featured on the platform;
- Launch of a call for expression of interest to initiate the technical groundwork for establishing the new platform.
As part of this process, the preliminary version of the platform for sharing good safeguarding experiences features a pilot mapping of an initial set of good safeguarding experiences.
Moving forward
The next steps towards the full operationalization of the platform include:
- The establishment of an advisory group as endorsed by the Committee, tasked with accompanying the development of the online platform, particularly on issues such as: mapping methodology, equitable geographical and thematic representation of good safeguarding experiences, ethical dissemination of information, as well as identification of additional successful safeguarding experiences, amongst others;
- The IT development of the platform.
Advancing in these areas would allow for the prospective launch of the fully operational platform during the eleventh session of the General Assembly (mid-2026).