The document summarizes discussions from the 13th annual meeting of the UNESCO South East European Network of Experts on Intangible Cultural Heritage regarding improving governance frameworks and policies for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, with an emphasis on community representation and involvement. Key topics discussed include identifying communities associated with ICH elements, obtaining communities' free and informed consent, documenting ICH with community input, creating safeguarding plans, and addressing issues that could arise from lack of coordination or divisions within communities. Case studies from the recognition processes of specific ICH elements also demonstrate the roles of national and local governments as well as communities themselves in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage.

1. 13th Annual Meeting
of the SEE Network of
Experts
Picture: Cultural District, Cremona
Improving governance
and policy frameworks
for ICH safeguarding

2. Improving governance
and policy frameworks
for ICH safeguarding
13th UNESCO SEE
network meeting
Cremona, June 2019
Session 2
Picture: Cultural District, Cremona

3. In this presentation
Community representation and organization
Communities involved in identifying and
documenting ICH
Community involvement in safeguarding

4. Community should be the ‘first
voice’ at each stage
Identifying the
element
Obtaining
consent
Information
generation
Preparing an
inventory entry
Using/updating
inventory
Creating
safeguarding
plans
Participation in
governance

5. Representation
Who are the communities, groups or individuals concerned?
How are they organized?
https://www.flickr.com/photo
s/koreanet/14325040482/

6. Broad concept of community
Practitioners and
groups practising
specific ICH
Communities
identifying with
specific ICH
General public
with a variety of
ICH

7. Issues to consider
• Who is the community?
• How are they organized?
• What are the relationships between
different groups?
• Who is representing them?
• Who is in the room for decision-making?
• What is changing over time?

8. The Committee responds to the need for
community engagement in respect of nominations
• Evaluation Body assesses community engagement
in nomination files according to criteria in OD 1
and 2.
• Committee approves guidelines for managing
correspondence from the public or other relevant
parties with regard to nominations. If received up
to 4 weeks before the meeting of the Evaluation
Body, it is published on the website of the
Convention, together with comments from the
State Party.
See https://ich.unesco.org/en/Decisions/7.COM/1

9. Correspondence regarding communities:
Pilgrimage to Wirikuta
• Wirikuta is located high in the
mountains of central Mexico,
between the Sierra Madre
Oriental and the Zacatecas
ranges, near Real de Catorce.
• Wirikuta is the focus of a yearly
pilgrimage in which community
members travel approximately
250 miles (400 km) from Jalisco to
San Luis Potosí.
© 2008 by Carlos Moreno Derbez
EN: Wirikuta in the finding of Xikuri

10. Pilgrimage to
Wirikuta
Decision not to
inscribe
Mexico nominates ‘Pilgrimage to Wirikuta’ for
inscription on the Urgent Safeguarding List
NGO Conservación Human writes to UNESCO, saying
that the communities are divided
Mexico provides the Consultative Body with
additional evidence of free, prior and informed
consent of the interested communities
Conservación Human writes to UNESCO, saying that
the safeguarding plans could damage sacred sites
Mexico provides a letter from a different NGO
saying that the sacred sites were not in danger
Committee decides not to inscribe the element
(Decision 8.COM 7.A.8)

11. Elements not inscribed due to lack of
community participation in safeguarding plans
A number of elements have not been inscribed
in the UNESCO Lists because of lack of evidence
of community participation, particularly in the
creation of safeguarding plans.
For example:
• Ashoogh love romance: performance, music and text
of the Armenian bard tradition (6.COM 8.1)
• Vardavar, Armenian summertime water festival
(6.COM 8.2 )
• Traditional Ango-Broto fanfare in Ouaka Prefecture
(6.COM 8.5)

12. • The Patum is an annual
festival in the town of
Berga, Catalonia, in
north-eastern Spain.
• Initially proclaimed as a
Masterpiece of the
Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity
in 2005, it was
inscribed on the
UNESCO
Representative List in
2008.
enguany 2009
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Guita_Patum_Infantil_%28Berga,_Catalunya%29.jpg?uselang=en-gb
Patum of Berga

13. Ball de Gegants, 2009 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ball_de_Gegants.jpg?uselang=en-gb

14. • The organisation of the festival is
constantly debated and disputed
amongst the different groups
that participate.
• Mediating differences between
groups is part of the meaning
and function of the festival.
• The Patronat group has become
particularly powerful in
controlling the festival after
inscription.
Patum of Berga
© Foto Luigi / Patronat Municipal de La Patum,
2000-2001

15. Identification and documentation
What is the heritage?
Who decides?
How can communities be engaged in
identifying ICH? https://www.flickr.com/photo
s/koreanet/14325040482/

16. Who decides what to document? Japanese theatre
16

17. E-
Inventories
in Europe,
2017
17
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1FD79FwkU9BEFdtbeHCHGfaUena
A&ll=25.03875229570446%2C117.45364058515622&z=3
Map of e-Inventories of Intangible Cultural Heritage
Europe has the highest
proportion of e-inventories,
followed by Latin America.
Many of them are sub-
national inventories (e.g.
Spain, Belgium have a
number of inventories
reflecting internal
administrative divisions)
E-inventories

18. http://memoriamedia.net/pdfarticles/ENG_MEMORIAMEDIAREVIEW_Mapa_
einventarios.pdf
E-inventories: community involvement
and interactivity
 14% of e-inventories actively show on the website where
communities can make submissions for the inventory or
make comments.
 26% (42 out of 158 e-inventories) have project pages in
social networks (Facebook / Twitter mainly).
 20 allow visitors to share content on their personal
profiles, mainly Facebook and Twitter.
 Only 10 share the videos on YouTube and 9 share photos
on Instagram.
Memoriamedia

19. Newfoundland and
labrador (Canada)
19
http://www.mun.ca/ich/resources/
Are inventories useful to
communities?

20. Issues to consider
• What mechanisms are in place to ensure community
involvement in identification and inventorying?
• What standards for documentation are in place to
provide evidence of community participation and
consent?
• How can we ensure that community members have
access to relevant documentation and can update
and amend it?
• How do we increase community engagement and
interest in the work of identification and
inventorying?
See Ruddolff and Raymond (2013)

21. Safeguarding
How can community participation be maximised?
How do communities engage with other
stakeholders?
https://www.flickr.com/photo
s/koreanet/14325040482/

22. Community-centred safeguarding
Continued practice and
transmission of the element
among the communities and
groups concerned
Maintain the meaning and value
of the element to the
communities and groups
concerned
Changes over time are
acceptable to the communities
and groups concerned
Communities and groups
concerned benefit sustainably
from safeguarding (socially,
environmentally, economically)
22

23. Stages for community involvement
23
Identify ICH and
communities concerned
Identify why the communities concerned
want to safeguard ICH
Determine viability
of ICH Determine main
objectives of the plan
Determine specific
activities for the plan Define required
resources
Monitor and evaluate
implementation

24. Issues to consider
24See Filomena Sousa, ‘The Participation in the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage: The
role of Communities, Groups and Individuals’ (2018)
• How can communities and groups be better informed about the
Convention, and their participation in its implementation?
• How can state agencies and other stakeholders better support
communities in implementing the Convention without taking over
the safeguarding process from them?
• What methods and processes are needed to enable the
participation of communities, groups and individuals?
• How can external mechanisms for community participation in
safeguarding be adapted to specific cases?
• What kinds of resources / teams are most suitable for a specific
safeguarding project?

25. Challenges
• Enabling free prior and informed consent is a process, and it
should underlie all engagement plans
• Inequalities between community members may exist prior to
and be affected by government support / consultation
processes
• Not all problems can be solved by consultation, support and
engagement
• External factors, such as markets, may affect heritage
safeguarding independently of actions taken by communities
and their engagement with government
• Sometimes structural interventions in markets or institutions
may enable engagement with communities more effectively
than creation of consultative bodies

26. Weaving of Mosi (fine ramie) in the
Hansan region
Republic of Korea
Inscribed in 2011 on the Representative
List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of
Humanity
Weaving ramie cloth involves a number
of processes, including harvesting,
boiling and bleaching ramie plants,
spinning yarn out of ramie fibre, and
weaving it on a traditional loom.

27. Mosi weaving: community role
Source: Periodic Report 2017; Nomination F
Role
Teaching and
transmission of skills
• Teaching assistants help the master accomplish the duty of ensuring transmission
from generation to generation
• Hansan Mosi Weaving Education Centre is a major venue for skill training and
education
• Practitioners teach in the Mosi School with the support of Seocheon-gun
Leaders among the
community
• Master Bang Yeon-ok was appointed as living human treasure by the government
• Master Bang Yeon-ok takes responsibility for promoting the tradition of Hansan
ramie weaving among young people and handing down her techniques to future
generations
Events
• The community demonstrates Mosi weaving to the public at annual open events
• In 2017, the community participated in the Saturday Workshop for the Creative
Inheritance of Tradition, hosted by the National Intangible Heritage Center, to
present lectures and stories as experienced craftspeople and title holders to
promote the role and importance of Hansan Mosi Weaving
Associations
• Hansan Mosi Association, composed of 100 female members, aims to establish
the identity and brand value of traditional Hansan Mosi

28. Mosi weaving: local government
(Seocheon-gun) role
Source: Periodic Report, 2017; Nomination F
Role
Funding • Seocheon-gun invested 6 billion won over the last 20 years in the Hansan Ramie Fabric Cultural Festival
Nomination
• Chungcheongnam-do designated Hansan Mosi (fine ramie) Weaving as the No. 1 Provincial Intangible Cultural
Heritage
Spaces
• Seocheon-gun province established the Hansan Ramie Fabric Mall for exhibitions and demonstrations of the
Mosi weaving process
• Seocheon-gun oversees 3.3 million square meters of ramie farmland
Promotion and
marketing
• Seocheon-gun selected Hansan Mosi as the county’s representative brand
• The local government operates the Hansan Mosi Museum (promotional website)
• Seocheon-gun has conducted 7 projects for R&D, 16 promotional events including the Hansan Ramie Fabric
Cultural Festival, seven projects for establishing networks of practitioners, researchers, and businesses, and five
projects designed to protect practitioners’ products
Events
• Seocheon-gun has presented a Hansan ramie fashion show, a weaving game, demonstrations of master’s
production, experiential events, selling Hansan fine ramie, the International Forum of Natural Textiles, ramie
fairs, and Natural Dyeing Experience

29. Mosi weaving: national government role
Source: Periodic Report, 2017; Nomination F
Role
Nomination
• The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) designated Hansan Mosi
Weaving as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage
Funding
• The Hansan Ramie Fabric Cultural Festival, organized by the
Committee for Hansan Ramie Fabric Cultural Festival consisting
Hansan ramie practitioners, was selected as one of the major Korean
cultural events and received an additional annual financial support of
100 million won from the central government
• The Korean government compensates the designated master for
expenses accumulated in the process of transmitting these skills (one
million won in monthly activity costs and six million won as an
annual exhibition subsidy)
Monitoring and
evaluation
• CHA conducts regular monitoring and surveys to identify and manage
transmission of the skills

30. Case study: group work
Community engagement in safeguarding
https://www.flickr.com/photo
s/koreanet/14325040482/

31. Ritual ceremony of the
Voladores
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/ritual-ceremony-of-
the-voladores-00175
Flying Men starting their dance, Teotihuacan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danza_de_los_V
oladores#/media/File:Dancing_on_a_pole_M
exico.jpg
Mariachi, string music,
song and trumpet
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/mariachi-
string-music-song-and-trumpet-00575

32. Pirekua, traditional
song of the
P’urhépecha
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/pi
rekua-traditional-song-of-the-
purhepecha-00398
Parachicos in the
traditional January feast
of Chiapa de Corzo
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/parachicos-in-the-traditional-
january-feast-of-chiapa-de-corzo-00399

33. Voladores (Mexico)
Los Voladores de Papantla complain
about the "misuse of our image by the
Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma brewing
company", which, they say disrespects
the Ritual Ceremony of Voladores.
https://desinformemonos.org/voladores-papantla-denuncian-la-
cervecera-cuauhtemoc-moctezuma-profana-ceremonia-ritual/
https://arkeopatias.wordpress.com/2017/04/14/lasprestadas-los-
famosos-voladores-de-mexico-acusan-a-cervecera-de-vender-su-
ceremonia/

34. Mevlevi Sema Ceremony (Turkey)
The Mevleviye community
protests the use of the image of a
Mevleviye dancer, along with the
name “Rumi” (the founder of the
Mevlevi Sema Ceremony), on
bottles of vodka with Persian
spices, created by the company
Wijnhandel De filosoof.
Specifically, the Mevleviye
community says this is a culturally
insensitive misappropriation of its
intangible cultural heritage
because the liquor has no
connections with the religious
ceremony.
https://www.de-filosoof.nl/webshop/rumi---
socrates/rumi-vodka/detail/503/rumi-vodka-
with-persian-spices.html
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/mevlev
i-sema-ceremony-00100

35. Group work session
Note: refer to these cases and others you know
1. How do different agencies ensure communities are adequately represented and
engaged in nomination processes and other safeguarding activities?
2. How can divisions or lack of coordination within and between communities be
addressed in these circumstances?
3. How can communities be assisted to cope with greater visibility that comes from
listing?
4. How can state agencies and other stakeholders help communities to prevent or
address misappropriation?
5. What can go wrong?
6. What can be done to identify and prevent such problems?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W2VUWEQ
BC48jpZ2XdornT0PC7cuI9RvL/view