10/14-01-2011, Beijing (China)
Beijing training of trainers
©UNESCO/F.Proschan
The States Parties to the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage have repeatedly emphasized the importance of strengthening the capacities of developing countries to effectively implement the Convention. In response, UNESCO has focused its programmes for the 2010-2011 biennium on a global strategy of capacity building among Member States and will continue to do the same in future years. UNESCO is developing a global network of experts who will be well trained in our curricula and methods. This meeting is one in a series of workshops devoted to ‘training of trainers’ in different regions from January to March 2011 to create this network of expert trainers.
The workshop is hosted by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China, in cooperation with the International Training Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region, and made possible through the generous support of the Government of China. Additional funding is provided by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund and UNESCO’s Regular Programme.
Capacity Building and Training
Many States Parties, institutions and communities do not yet fully understand the key concepts of the Convention and cannot benefit fully from the different mechanisms it establishes. UNESCO’s strategic emphasis in the coming years lies on strengthening capacities of different stakeholders to safeguard intangible cultural heritage at the national level, and to benefit effectively from the opportunities and mechanisms of international cooperation created by the Convention.
To this end, more than fifty capacity building workshops have been planned around the world in 2011 by UNESCO Field Offices and their national counterparts, using UNESCO’s regular programme budget and extrabudgetary contributions from various donors, such as the Flanders Trust Fund.
This effort is coordinated and monitored by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Section, in close cooperation with the Field Offices concerned and with Member States. Training materials, including trainers’ and trainees’ manuals with lesson plans, presentations, slideshows, exercises and quizzes have been prepared by internationally recognized experts in cooperation with pedagogical experts. Four topics are identified as the priority needs for 2011:
- Ratification of the Convention;
- Implementation of the Convention at the national level;
- Community-based ICH inventorying; and
- Elaboration of nominations to the Urgent Safeguarding List.
Other topics to complement these training opportunities will be elaborated in the coming year, including the role of NGOs and civil society; elaboration of nominations to the Representative List, requests for international assistance and proposals of best practices; and photo-documentation for safeguarding.
A global network of trainers is currently being developed in parallel. UNESCO is organizing a series of regional ‘training of trainers’ workshops from January to March 2011 so that they will be able to conduct the capacity building activities around the world starting from March 2011.