Integrating intangible cultural heritage in school-based education: Workshop for pilot project school teams | 26 to 29 October 2019 | Vienna, Austria © UNESCO

The introduction of living heritage into schools can make education more exciting, accessible and relevant for both teachers and children. UNESCO and the European Commission have launched a pilot project entitled the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage: Engaging Youth for an Inclusive and Sustainable Europe, which brings intangible cultural heritage closer to school communities across the European Union, allowing children to learn with living heritage as well as about it.

From 26 to 29 October 2019, pairs of teachers and pupils from ten primary and secondary schools have been invited to Vienna to participate in a workshop as part of the pilot project. There they will explore their living heritage and learn how to integrate it meaningfully into core subjects such as maths, physics or languages. All participating schools are European members of the UNESCO Associated Schools Network (ASPnet), a key partner of the project.

During the three-day workshop, the group will work with UNESCO-trained facilitators to discover innovative ways to integrate living heritage into lesson plans and extracurricular activities. The workshop will kick-start a series of small pilot projects for each team to implement in their schools. The group will reassemble in February/March 2020 to share their experiences and lessons learned, and to make recommendations for the development of guidance materials on integrating ICH into school-based education.

The training workshop is organized in close collaboration with the Austrian Commission for UNESCO.