Intangible cultural heritage is the practices, expressions, knowledge and skills that communities, groups and sometimes individuals recognise as part of their cultural heritage. Also called living cultural heritage, it is usually expressed in one of the following forms: oral traditions; performing arts; social practices, rituals and festive events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; and traditional craftsmanship.
For more details, please consult the Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention website.
Intangible cultural heritage is the practices, expressions, knowledge and skills that communities, groups and sometimes individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. Also called ‘living cultural heritage’, it is usually expressed in one of the following forms: oral traditions; performing arts; social practices, rituals and festive events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; and traditional artisanal skills.
The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage was adopted by UNESCO in 2003. The convention aims to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage; ensure respect for the intangible cultural heritage of the communities, groups and individuals concerned; raise awareness at local, national and international levels of the importance of intangible cultural heritage, and ensuring mutual appreciation thereof; and provide for international cooperation and assistance. Full details of the convention can be found here.
Source(s): Managing Natural World Heritage
The main goal of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage is to safeguard the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and skills that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage.
Such heritage may be manifested in domains such as oral traditions and expressions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practice about nature and the universe, and traditional craftsmanship. This definition provided in Article 2 of the Convention also includes the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated with intangible cultural heritage.
For more information, visit the website of the 2003 Convention.
Source(s): https://ich.unesco.org/en/working-towards-a-convention-00004
The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity is made up of those intangible heritage elements that help demonstrate the diversity of this heritage and raise awareness about its importance.
Source(s): https://ich.unesco.org/en/purpose-of-the-lists-00807
The Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape was adopted on 10 November 2011 by UNESCO General Conference. It outlines the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach, which moves beyond the preservation of the physical environment and focuses on the entire human environment with all of its tangible and intangible qualities. It seeks to increase the sustainability of planning and design interventions by taking into account the existing built environment, intangible heritage, cultural diversity, socio-economic and environmental factors along with local community values.
The HUL approach does not replace existing doctrines or conservation approaches; rather, it is an additional tool to integrate policies and practices of conservation of the built environment into the wider goals of urban development in respect of the inherited values and traditions of different cultural contexts. The tool is a “soft-law” to be implemented by Member States on a voluntary basis.
Source(s):
New Life for Historic Cities – The Historic Urban Landscape Approach Explained
https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1026/ https://whc.unesco.org/en/hul/
According to the Resource Manual 'Preparing World Heritage Nominations', "Attributes are aspects of a property which are associated with or express the Outstanding Universal Value. Attributes can be tangible or intangible. The Operational Guidelines indicate a range of types of attribute which might convey Outstanding Universal Value, including:
- form and design;
- materials and substance;
- use and function;
- traditions, techniques and management systems;
- location and setting;
- language, and other forms of intangible heritage; and
- spirit and feeling (Paragraph 82).
This list is for guidance. It is essential that the attributes identified for a property should flow from the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value and the justification for the criteria. Attributes must be identified as they are vital to understanding authenticity and integrity, and are the focus of protection, conservation and management.
For natural properties, it is more common to speak of ’features’, although the word attributes is sometimes used. Examples of attributes for natural properties could include:
- visual or aesthetic significance;
- scale of the extent of physical features or natural habitats;
- intactness of physical or ecological processes;
- naturalness, and intactness of natural systems;
- viability;
- rarity”.
Source(s): The World Heritage Resource Manual Preparing World Heritage Nominations (2nd edition, UNESCO 2011)
Authenticity only applies to cultural properties and to the cultural aspects of ‘mixed’ properties. Authenticity can be seen as the link between attributes and Outstanding Universal Value.
According to paragraph 82 of the Operational Guidelines, a World Heritage property ”[] may be understood to meet the conditions of authenticity if their cultural values (as recognized in the nomination criteria proposed) are truthfully and credibly expressed through a variety of attributes”.
A set of general attributes which may be conveying or expressing the property’s Outstanding Universal Value is suggested, and includes:
- form and design;
- materials and substance;
- use and function;
- traditions, techniques and management systems;
- location and setting;
- language and other forms of intangible heritage;
- spirit and feeling; and
- other internal/external factors.
The concept of Authenticity is described in the Operational Guidelines paragraphs 79-86.
A comprehensive definition of authenticity in relation to cultural heritage is contained in the Nara Document on Authenticity which was drafted in 1994 in Nara, Japan.
Source(s): Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention
UNESCO Culture Sector is responsible for important conventions and universal declarations, such as the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity which it implements in a number of areas in order to promote intercultural dialogue. The Cultural Heritage Division manages international campaigns and assists in safeguarding sites – some of which involve World Heritage properties – and masterpieces of oral and intangible heritage. It also carries out operational projects in cooperation with the World Heritage Centre, ICCROM, ICOMOS and ICOM.
The term ‘Historic Urban Landscape’ is defined in Articles 8 and 9 of the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape:
[The HUL] approach to managing historic urban landscapes is holistic; it integrates the goals of urban heritage conservation and those of social and economic development. This method sees urban heritage as a social, cultural and economic asset for the development of cities. The recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape was adopted on 10 November 2011 by UNESCO’s General Conference. The historic urban landscape approach moves beyond the preservation of the physical environment, and focuses on the entire human environment with all of its tangible and intangible qualities. It seeks to increase the sustainability of planning and design interventions by taking into account the existing built environment, intangible heritage, cultural diversity, socio-economic and environmental factors along with local community value.
As an approach, it considers cultural diversity and creativity as key assets for human, social and economic development. It is an alternative method to cutting the city up through ‘zoning’ into separate conservation areas, which thereby become ghettos of historic preservation. The HUL approach is applied in local development, legislation, sustaining and enhancing identity, and city branding.
The HUL approach action principles:
- Undertake a full assessment of the city’s natural, cultural and human resources;
- Use participatory planning and stakeholder consultations to decide on conservation aims and actions;
- Assess the vulnerability of urban heritage to socio-economic pressures and impacts of climate change;
- Integrate urban heritage values and their vulnerability status into a wider framework of city development;
- Prioritize policies and actions for conservation and development, including good stewardship;
- Establish the appropriate (public-private) partnerships and local management frameworks;
- Develop mechanisms for the coordination of the various activities between different actors.
Source(s): New Life for Historic Cities: the Historic Urban Landscape Approach Explained
Heritage impact assessments (HIAs) for World Heritage (WH) properties are conducted in order to evaluate effectively the impact of potential development on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of properties. Due to diversity of World Heritage properties and varieties of potential impacts, different assessment tools are to be applied, from the state of the art techniques - research and analysis conducted by qualified personnel, to the new IT resources on recording and mapping intangible heritage and multiple layers of attributes, including 3D virtual representation. However, although development of new tools is potentially useful, for the foreseeable future, impact assessment processes need to be able to access a variety of existing tools, without relying entirely on any one of them. Numerous visual assessment tools have been adapted to the assessment of impacts of proposed developments on the OUV of various World Heritage properties, especially those located within dynamic urban contexts, but so far these have rarely been linked to a more in-depth assessment of impact on all the attributes of OUV. There are also new tools on recording and mapping intangible heritage and multiple layers of attributes that have not been exploited for use in WH properties. Good documentation does not require a Geographic Information System (GIS), although this has been a powerful and useful tool where it is available. All approaches need to be systematic and follow rational guidelines.
Source(s): Guidance on Heritage Impact Assessments for Cultural World Heritage Properties (ICOMOS, 2011)
All seven of UNESCO’s Cultural Conventions are intended to safeguard and nurture some aspect of culture and creativity, from tangible and intangible heritage, the diversity of cultural expressions and creative industries, to the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural goods.
- 2005 Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions
- 2003 Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
- 2001 Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage
- 1972 Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
- 1970 Fighting against the illicit trafficking of cultural property
- 1954 Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
- 1952, 1971 Protection of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights
Firmly grounded in a human-rights based approach, these Conventions establish a range of governmental and international funding and cooperation mechanisms, as well as monitoring and evaluation tools. They promote capacity building programmes and other initiatives for the safeguard of culture (including natural heritage) and its integration in national and local development strategies.
By compiling on the Internet the national laws of its Member States, UNESCO offers all stakeholders involved (Governments, customs officials, art dealers, organizations, lawyers, buyers and so forth) a complete and easily accessible source of information. In the event of a legal question about the origin of an object (which may have been stolen, pillaged, or illegally exported, imported or acquired), it is useful to have rapid access to the relevant national laws.
The UNESCO Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws allows the following to be consulted:
- national laws currently in force related to the protection of the cultural heritage in general
- import/export certificates for cultural property (available on request)
- official or unofficial translations of national laws and certificates
- contact details for the national authorities responsible for the protection of the cultural heritage
- addresses of the official national websites dedicated to the protection of the cultural heritage
The database offers access to national legislation relating to the cultural heritage in general, in other words the laws on the following main categories of heritage:
1. Cultural heritage:tangible cultural heritage: immovable (monuments, archaeological sites), movable (paintings, coins, archaeological objects), underwater (shipwrecks, underwater cities) intangible cultural heritage: oral traditions, performing arts, rituals.
2. Natural heritage: natural sites, physical, biological or geological formations.Refers to the properties ‘broader setting’, which paragraph 112 of the Operational Guidelines describes as:
“The broader setting, may relate to the property’s topography, natural and built environment, and other elements such as infrastructure, land use patterns, spatial organization, and visual relationships. It may also include related social and cultural practices, economic processes and other intangible dimensions of heritage such as perceptions and associations. Management of the broader setting is related to its role in supporting the Outstanding Universal Value.”