Online Capacity Building Workshop on ICH (Intangible Cultural Heritage) Nomination for Bangladesh

From Nov 2 to 5, the International Training Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (CRIHAP) and the UNESCO Dhaka Office co-organized a Capacity Building Workshop on ICH (Intangible Cultural Heritage) Nomination for Bangladesh online. The four-day training drew 22 government officials, university professors, project leaders, community representatives and artists from Bangladesh who participated as trainees. UNESCO-accredited ICH facilitators Noriko Aikawa and Alexandra Denes were invited to give lectures.

The workshop was conducted through special lectures, group discussions, case studies, group work, group presentations and collective discussions. Guided by the two experienced ICH facilitators who worked closely throughout the training, the trainees reviewed the basic concepts associated with the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, shared with each other about their ICH safeguarding work amid the pandemic, and exchanged ideas about ICH nomination. With both theoretical knowledge and practical case analyses, the ICH facilitators explained in detail the complete ICH nomination process and related tables and forms to be filled. The trainees also discussed specific ICH safeguarding cases in Bangladesh. The ICH facilitators intentionally took several ICH projects already on UNESCO's ICH safeguarding lists as examples to help the trainees better understand the knowledge related to the convention, the methods and the requirements for ICH nomination, and the problems which may arise during the nomination process. Guided by the ICH facilitators and working in groups, the trainees conducted simulation exercises in filling the ICH nomination tables and forms for projects under different categories in Bangladesh.

The workshop is the last one of the three-year capacity-building workshops the CRIHAP has organized for Bangladesh and it is the first time that the ICH safeguarding personnel in Bangladesh have received ICH nomination training under the framework of the convention. The fact that most trainees have participated in the previous two workshops makes this year's training all the more consistent, organizers say. The trainees agree all three workshops the CRIHAP has organized are highly effective and productive, having exerted a positive impact on the overall improvement of Bangladesh's ICH safeguarding capacity-building. They also agree the three years of systematic training on knowledge related to the convention has enabled them to gain a solid foundation for future ICH safeguarding endeavors.

Shabiha Pervin, additional secretary of Bangladesh's Ministry of Cultural Affairs, said: "Transmission is among the most crucial parts in a nation's culture, not just in ICH safeguarding and the importance of the ICH nomination is apparent in the light of cultural transmission". She hopes the workshop "will help ICH safeguarding in Bangladesh move forward in a clearer direction centering on the convention". Beatrice Kaldun, head of office and UNESCO representative to the Bangladesh UNESCO Dhaka Office, said: "The workshop reinforces the trainees' overall intangible cultural heritage capacity, lends a solid theoretical footing for the country's ICH nomination work, and provides in-depth and detailed guidance in preparing materials for ICH nomination." She thanked the CRIHAP for organizing the workshop, which gives strong support for Bangladesh's ICH nomination for various UNESCO ICH safeguarding lists and for the country's overall ICH safeguarding capacity-building.

Up to now, CRIHAP has organized a total of 50 intangible cultural heritage capacity-building workshops, covering 40 countries and regions, with 1,620 direct beneficiaries.