Director of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture Wang Jian speaks at the opening ceremony.


Party Secretary of Suzhou Art & Design Technology Institute Sun Lihua speaks at the opening ceremony.


Director-General of CRIHAP Liang Bin speaks at the opening ceremony.


A shot of the workshop.

Liang Bin said that CRIHAP successfully held the First Training of Chinese Trainers Workshop on the Implementation of the 2003 Convention in 2016, which achieved remarkable results and was widely welcomed. This year, CRIHAP will continue to cooperate with the Ministry of Culture in carrying out the Ministry’s Training Project for ICH Bearers and Practitioners, and will further expand the publication and influence of the 2003 Convention in China to benefit more people.

The training workshop echoes Ministry of Culture's Training Project for ICH Bearers and Practitioners which is participated by 78 colleges and universities. Nearly 100 trainees took part in at Suzhou Art & Design Technology Institute in two sessions.

Two UNESCO-certified facilitators Paritta Chalermpow Koanantakool and Zhang Min ran the classes and gave detailed interpretation on key concepts and basic knowledge about UNESCO's Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

In line with UNESCO's Global Strategy of ICH Capacity Building, trainings under the framework of the Convention will cover ratification, implementation, inventorying, nomination and safeguarding planning, among others. This Training of Chinese Trainers Workshop on the Implementation of the 2003 Convention focused on the major concepts of the Convention, the importance of safeguarding, as well as identification and inventorying of the ICH elements through courses in the classroom and practice in the field.

Trainees also joined trainers on several field trips. They interviewed ICH transmitters there, including those of Kunqu Opera, Luxu Folk Songs and Farce. They gained a practical experience of ICH identification and inventorying, and learned how to make a safeguarding plan and felt the importance of community’s involvement.

Since its establishment in 2012, under the guidance of the 2003 Convention spirit and UNESCO headquarters, CRIHAP has held 21 workshops on the ICH protection capacity building in the Asia -Pacific Region, covering 27 countries and directly benefiting more than 680 people.

(Original story provided by Guan Jing; photos provided by the Suzhou Art & Design Technology Institute; edited by Shen Ce)