IRCI organised an online international symposium by inviting experts from UNESCO Bangkok office, Japan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Viet Nam and the Philippines under the project of “ICH’s contribution to SDGs” on 28th and 29th January 2021. IRCI has been commissioned the project by SDGs platform since FY2020.

IRCI planned and has been implementing this two-year research project since FY2020. IRCI will conduct a series of case studies of ICH’s contribution to SDG 4 “Quality Education” and SDG 11 “Sustainable cities and communities” and identify the relation between ICH and SDGS, which will be effective measures on the safeguarding of ICH.

In the two-day programme, 1) presentations from partner NGOs from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan, 2) follow-up reports from partner organisations regarding former projects on education and ICH, 3) presentations from Japanese educators and youths and 4) discussions among participants were followed.

In the symposium, panelists presented a lot of interesting and profound case studies, which indicate what roles ICH plays in the communities and relations between ICH and education. Then, follow-up reports from the Philippines and Viet Nam which were targeted countries under SDGs projects for FY2018-2019 and good practices from Japan were presented. In the final session, specific and active discussion was made by participants. IRCI plans to release the project’s outcomes on the website.