Susanne Schnuttgen, Chief of Capacity Building and Heritage Policy Unit of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Section, delivers a speech on Dec 20.

In her live online speech, Susanne Schnüttgen talked about UNESCO’s major conventions in the cultural field, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and the significance of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, elaborating the vital role ICH programs have played in inclusive social development, inclusive economic development, and environmental stability.

UNESCO ICH facilitator Suzanne Ogge is invited to give lectures during the training which kicks off on Dec 20.

It is the first time CRIHAP has staged an ICH capacity-building workshop for staff members from China’s provincial, regional and municipal ICH safeguarding centres. Due to the pandemic, the training took an online approach, focusing on the relation between ICH and sustainable development. Coupled with case studies, the training tackled the interactions between ICH and inclusive social development, economic development, traditional knowledge and social practice, and creative industries.

In an effort to push forward China’s ICH safeguarding institutions participating in ICH safeguarding international exchange and cooperation, CRIHAP invited four ICH experts and practitioners from China to share their successes in safeguarding four elements on the UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, including the Hua'er (or "flower ballad", a high-pitched traditional folk song genre popular in Northwest China), the traditional firing technology of the Longquan celadon, the Twenty-Four Solar Terms (knowledge in China of time and practices developed through observation of the sun’s annual motion), and the Yueju opera.

All participants to the online workshop pose for a group photo.

To date, CRIHAP has organized a total of 60 ICH capacity-building workshops covering 41 countries and regions, with 2,101 direct beneficiaries from the Asia-Pacific.

(Original Chinese story by Shi Xuan; translated by Zhu Linyong)