On Oct 17-20, 2013, a workshop on safeguarding and sustainable development of traditional craftsmanship in the Asia-Pacific region opened in Hangzhou. The workshop was sponsored by the UNESCO International Training Center of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region and was organized by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Center of Zhejiang province. Over 30 people attended, including representatives from the members of UNESCO intangible cultural heritage, UNESCO regional offices and centers, and 17 Asia-Pacific countries such as Japan, Myanmar and Nepal. Representatives from other countries in other regions attended the workshop.

Gaura Mancacaritadipura, advisor to the deputy head of the Ministry of Education and Culture in Indonesia; Lü Pintian, vice president of the Chinese National Academy of Arts; Ritu Sethi, chairman of the Indian National Craftsmanship Renaissance Foundation and Xu Yiyi, a professor at Nanjing University, were requested as workshop speakers. The representatives discussed four topics: traditional craftsmanship under the framework of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage; the advantage of traditional craftsmanship in ecological civilization construction; the protection and inheritance of traditional craftsmanship and the innovation and sustainable development of traditional craftsmanship. Then they conducted case analysis with examples from the inheritance and preservation of traditional craftsmanship in every country and exchanged views about the role of traditional craftsmanship in the present and future social development. Prior to the workshop, representatives were invited to attend the Pacific-Asia Traditional Craftsmanship Fair held in Hangzhou.

In 2003, UNESCO adopted The Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. After 10 years in development, the guidelines in The Convention have developed in both depth and detail and have drawn more and more attention. The workshop was held to provide a platform for experts, scholars, successors of traditional craftsmanship and safeguarding personnel to promote communications and provide lessons for the sustainable development of the preservation work.

The Asia-Pacific Center is one of the six regional centers in the field of intangible cultural heritage built by UNESCO. Its mission is to promote the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage and provide support for preserving and safeguarding tangible cultural heritage in every country. This can be done by various means, like organizing international training activities. In the past two years, under the strategic framework of UNESCO’s global capabilities building, the center has hosted a teacher training class on UNESCO’s Global Strategy for Strengthening National Capacities for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage, a workshop on the Implementation of the 2003 Convention at the National Level and a workshop on Inventorying under the 2003 Convention at the National Level.