ICHCAP

Time: 15:00–17:00
Date: 28 January 2020
Parties: Members of UNESCO-ICHCAP, the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS), and the KF Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Secretariat (KF)
Purpose: To further explore our ambitious Silk Roads ICH Network Program.

First off, we discussed the publication process of the proceedings for the meeting held in late November. ICHCAP has already reviewed the designer comps for the English-Korean version, but requested a few adjustments, which are expected to be completed in early February. IICAS is also schedule to publish the Russian version in early February. With both publications being released around the same time, ICHCAP may have an opportunity to jointly publish both volumes online simultaneously.

In addition, we also discussed some of the potential issues that may arise with the Silk Roads ICH Network. Some of the highlights revolved around different ways we could easily incorporate other routes of the Silk Roads like the maritime routes, rather than just focus on the steppe route. Another idea is to focus solely on festivals in a single region and have an open and online application process for membership to the network, which would make the process a bit easier.

There was also a bit of discussion on whether our system would be static like the UNESCO Silk Roads project or if it would be more dynamic with the members being able to upload images, video, audio, etc. The former offers a good opportunity to have an authoritative encyclopedic site while the latter allows more interaction with all members being allowed to upload whatever they would like, which would require additional work for moderation. Despite the potential issues, the members decided to go forward with a dynamic site.

Also on the floor for discussion was the need to create a preparatory committee to handle issues related to governance, membership fees (if we have them), and promotional materials, such as lower budget SNS formats or a more costly television broadcasting campaign, which would vary from one area to another.

Copyright issues and model release forms were discussed. All the members recommended seeking legal counsel. Initially, the thought of copyrights and related issues, could be resolved through our terms of service and application process.

The participants also discussed various ways in which the preparatory committee (number of members to be determined) would hold a launching event. Depending on the COVID situation at the time, it could be held online, offline, or a hybrid of both. Since the project has not yet officially begun in earnest, there is still time to decide on the way our launching event will take place.

While we were not able to come to a consensus on all the issues raised, we did make progress and look forward to additional meetings to iron out the many details brought to the table.