The “Training of Trainers Capacity Building Workshop on Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage for Indonesia,” jointly organized by the International Training Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (CRIHAP) and the UNESCO Jakarta Office, opened on July 7, 2025, in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The opening ceremony was moderated by Indonesian expert Ms. Agni Malagina. Remarks were delivered by Ms. Moe Chiba, Head of the Culture Unit of the UNESCO Jakarta Office, and Ms. Hartanti Maya Krishna from the Indonesian Ministry of Culture, who also serves as Indonesia’s focal point for periodic reporting. More than 30 participants from Indonesian government agencies and cultural institutions across the country attended the workshop. Ms. Moe Chiba expressed her gratitude to CRIHAP for organizing the workshop in Indonesia and voiced her hope for continued collaboration in the future. She also expressed her expectations that this workshop would enhance participants’ understanding of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”) and support their future implementation efforts within the Convention’s framework. Ms. Hartanti Maya Krishna emphasized that community participation is a fundamental principle of the Convention. She encouraged government officials to listen closely to the voices of communities and to focus their efforts on community-based ICH practices. She expressed her appreciation to CRIHAP, the UNESCO Jakarta Office, and the trainers for designing a well-structured curriculum and said that she believed the workshop would help participants work more effectively with communities to enhance the viability of ICH elements.

Spanning five days, the workshop features guidance from UNESCO facilitator Ms. Linina Phuttitarn and local expert Mr. Agni Maragina. The workshop focuses on the fundamentals and key concepts of the Convention, aiming to help participants better understand the guiding principles of the Convention and UNESCO’s working principles and methodologies. Through group discussions and presentations, the facilitators guided participants in connecting the Convention’s concepts with real-world ICH elements from Indonesia. Topics include safeguarding measures, the relationship between ICH and sustainable development, ICH and commercialization, and fieldwork techniques. During the field visit, facilitators and experts will lead participants in developing a sample inventory entry focused on traditional food preparation techniques.

(Contributor: Zhang Yue, Editor: Shen Ce)