During the two-day Global Meeting held in Seoul, on 25 and 26 July 2023, for the 20th anniversary of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage under the theme “Unleashing the power of living heritage for sustainable development and peace”, leading thinkers, policymakers, civil society actors, experts, and community representatives from across the world discussed the challenges facing the world and the extraordinary power of living heritage in responding to them.

Articulated around 4 thematic panels, the event explored how living heritage improves livelihoods based on local knowledge, creates a more harmonious relationship with nature and the planet, strengthens transformative, quality education and promotes diversity and dialogue in the digital environment in every region of the world.

The rich insights and discussions shaped the Seoul Vision for the Future of Safeguarding Living Heritage for Sustainable Development and Peace, which was announced at the end of the gathering. The Seoul Vision takes stock of 20 years of implementation of the Convention and presents a set of concrete actions required to unleash the power of living heritage to ensure sustainable development and peace for enhancing solidarity and inclusion, for preserving biodiversity and oceans, and for responding to health, social and economic crises.

Watch the videos of the discussions on the four themes: Living heritage and sustainable livelihoods, Living heritage and the natural world, Living heritage and quality education, Living heritage and the digital environment on ICHCAP Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ichcap9294

The Seoul Global Meeting was generously hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (MOFA) and the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea (CHA) in collaboration with UNESCO and the International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (ICHCAP) and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation (CHF).