From May 17 to 21, 2026, the Workshop on Empowering Indigenous Youth for Living Heritage Safeguarding in Bangladesh (Session 2) was held at the BRAC Learning Centre.

This workshop was jointly organized by the International Training Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (CRIHAP) and the UNESCO Dhaka Office. Fifteen indigenous youth from three communities — the Bishnupriya Manipuri, the Meitei Manipuri, and tea garden workers — all from the Sylhet region, gathered together and completed a five-day immersive training.

UNESCO facilitator for intangible cultural heritage (ICH) Alexandra Denes and Bangladeshi local expert Rifat Munim co-facilitated the course. Centered on the core spirit of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the training employed a variety of methods including technical sessions, practical exercises, and field visits, community interviews, and group discussions. It covered topics such as ethical documentation, interviewing techniques, audiovisual recording, free prior and informed consent (FPIC), and preparation of inventory entries. Special emphasis was placed on the central role of “communities” in ICH safeguarding and inventory-making. Participants visited different communities in groups, conducted field research, and completed initial draft inventories.

Why Indigenous Youth?

The Sylhet region of Bangladesh is home to multiple indigenous communities, nurturing a rich and vibrant intangible cultural heritage. However, with the changing times, many traditional skills face the risk of intergenerational rupture. This workshop precisely targeted indigenous youth — who are not only the bearers of culture but also its future transmitters, making them a key force in safeguarding the cultural roots of their peoples.

“ICH safeguarding is not just about ‘documentation’; it also involves ‘living transmission’ that is community-led and youth-engaged,” said the facilitator while designing the programme. Enabling young people to enter communities, talk with the elders, and document the heritage with their own hands is an important way to plant cultural memory deeply in the younger generation.

From Classroom to the Field — Inventory-Making in Practice

The highlight of the workshop was the deep integration of theory and practice. Participants visited villages, cultural centers, and tea gardens in Sreemangal and Kamalganj, where they engaged in discussions with community elders, ICH bearers, and practitioners. From the “Notpalar Ela” music and performing arts tradition of the Bishnupriya Manipuri community, to the traditional weaving techniques of the Meitei Manipuri community, and the “Pati Chokha” traditional mashed tea leaf food preparation technique of the tea garden workers, participants conducted on-site interviews, documented and organized information, and completed the initial inventory of three representative ICH elements. Throughout the workshop, the facilitator repeatedly emphasized that communities are the core force in ICH safeguarding, inventory-making, transmission and dissemination. The entire field research was community-led and youth-participated, laying a solid foundation for future work.

A Workshop That Seeds Future Transmission

The five-day training has come to an end, yet the beautiful encounter between youth and living heritage has only just begun. We look forward to the participants’ continued engagement with their communities, refining details and contributing their own efforts.

This workshop is not the first capacity-building activity that CRIHAP has organized in Bangladesh focusing on youth; previous empowerment actions have been carried out for indigenous youth from different communities. This training has further encouraged indigenous youth to actively participate in ICH safeguarding. The vitality of intangible cultural heritage lies in its transmission from generation to generation. We hope to help young people spread the cultural flame and, with what they have learned, make living heritage flourish and shine in the new era.