ICHCAP

The Fourth Annual Coordination Meeting of Category 2 Centers Active in the Field of Intangible Cultural Heritage was held at UNESCO Headquarters on 3 June. Thirty staff members and officers from the eight ICH C2 centers and five UNESCO Regional Offices attended the meeting as did members of the UNESCO Intangible Heritage Section and its Chief, Tim Curtis.

The meeting began with an information session on the 2003 Convention’s Secretariat. This was followed by discussions on the roles of C2 centers in enlarging international assistance, sustainable development, codes of ethics, education and university networking, and ways to promote best safeguarding practices. The Secretariat and C2 centers presented on each topic. Sustainable development as well as education and university networking were given special attention as new themes in the 2003 Convention.

A brainstorming session to develop new cooperative projects to enhance cooperation among the centers and the Secretariat was also held. Each C2 center presented proposals and ideas to generate C2 center-C2 center cooperation as well as C2 center-Secretariat cooperation.

Coordination meetings of C2 centers have been taking place since 2013 to facilitate efficient information sharing and cooperation among the C2 centers. This year’s meeting was the first to be chaired by Tim Curtis, who took office as the Chief of the UNESCO Intangible Heritage Section last January. The discussions continued from start to end in a friendly and open atmosphere, facilitating the lively exchange of opinions. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled to be held in Iran in May 2017.