Additions to the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices

France - The Martinique yole, from construction to sailing practices, a model for heritage safeguarding. Created several centuries ago, the Martinique yole reflects the importance of traditional boats in the history of the region and is ideally adapted to the specific conditions along the island’s coasts. A spontaneous movement to safeguard these boats developed while they faced the threat of disappearing and the safeguarding programme has grown over the years. The programme’s main purpose is to preserve the know-how of local boat builders, transmit know-how on sailing, strengthen ties between yole practitioners and the local community, and create a federation to organize major events.

Germany, Austria, France, Norway, Switzerland - Craft techniques and customary practices of cathedral workshops, or Bauhütten, in Europe, know-how, transmission, development of knowledge and innovation. The Bauhüttenwesen appeared in the Middle Ages on the construction sites of European cathedrals. In German Bauhüttenwesen refers both to the organization of a network of workshops which build and restore edifices and to the workshops themselves. Now, as then, these workshops are home to various trades working in close collaboration, forming a supra-regional network that extends beyond national borders. Faced with the progressive shortage of technical skills, the workshops have become institutions that preserve, transmit and develop traditional techniques and know-how.

Greece - Polyphonic caravan, researching, safeguarding and promoting the Epirus polyphonic song. The Polyphonic Caravan is a longstanding project aimed at researching, safeguarding and promoting the Epirus polyphonic song that touches on almost every aspect of life and is performed by a group of singers. In the mid-1990s, a group of young people founded the NGO ‘Apiros (Polyphonic Caravan)’ to address the threats to the element after inhabitants of Epirus began migrating to large urban centers. Their primary goals remains to raise awareness of the practice, document it, build bridges among practitioners and bring them together.

The Register of Good Safeguarding Practices facilitates the sharing of successful safeguarding experiences. It showcases examples of the effective transmission of living cultural practices and knowledge to future generations. As of this year, the Register numbers 25 Good Practices.