2021 Intangible Cultural Heritage Online Workshop: ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development’

UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is one of the key instruments for facilitating global heritage practice today. While the Convention and its operational directives provide a useful framework for safeguarding ICH at the national and sub-national levels, it is imperative to contextualize the Convention’s concepts and processes according to each unique situation. Consequently, emerging heritage professionals need to become fully conversant in the Convention and what it offers them wherever they may be practicing. They must also explore a wide range of social and cultural issues associated with ICH safeguarding, including ethical principles in working with diverse communities. There is additionally a need for young professionals to situate ICH safeguarding in a broader sustainable development context, to ensure its continuing relevance and its critically important role in achieving sustainable development goals as laid out in the 2030 Agenda. It is for these reasons that the 2003 Convention envisioned capacity building as a key strategy for promoting the Convention itself, as well as for enhancing the effectiveness of ICH safeguarding world-wide.

In the spirit of the 2003 Convention, this workshop aims to address the need for awareness raising and capacity building among emerging researchers and practitioners.  Organized jointly by International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (UNESCO ICHCAP), UNESCO Bangkok, and Ahmedabad University, the online workshop constitutes an intensive, two-week course that offers participants a combination of lectures, seminars, discussions and exercises. As an integral component of the workshop, participants will also take part in this year’s World Forum for Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH World Forum), which has adopted the theme 'Intangible Cultural Heritage and Creative Industry: Rediscovery of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Fourth Industrial Age'. As a final assignment, participants will develop a sustainable safeguarding project for an ICH element of their choice.

Selected final assignments will be included in a publication or a virtual exhibition.

Dates and Venue

27 September – 11 October 2021, Online
 

Registration

Register for the workshop by visiting the link below by 10 September 2021.

Online registration: https://forms.gle/5pHZeSNtVQf49vaDu7  

As part of their registration process, participants must submit a short ‘Expression of Interest’ and a possible case of Intangible Cultural Heritage that they would like to focus on for their final assignment. Selection of participants will be based on their expressed interest and the possibility of applying their learning to the proposed case of ICH. 

Officially registered participants will receive a Certificate of Completion of this workshop upon successful completion of the lectures and assigned activities as per the schedule.

Contacts

For further information on the content of the workshop:

Dr. Neel Kamal Chapagain
Associate Professor and Director, Centre for Heritage Management, Ahmedabad University
neel.kamal@ahduni.edu.in

For assistance with registration or other administrative aspects of the programme:

Ms. Bharvi Paresh Chheda,
Research Assistant, Centre for Heritage Management, Ahmedabad University
bharvi.c@ahduni.edu.in