Integrating Intangible Cultural Heritage in Education

Sharing experience and new perspectives

Contemporary education is going through a profound crisis, which is connected to the larger crisis of social and political systems in different societies. This crisis is fostered by a number of political, economic, social, cultural and epistemological factors, which calls for direct responses from public decision-makers, as well as cognitive openness to the new instruments and scenarios that globalization faces. Education for cultural heritage is central to this crisis. If on the one hand there is a heritage “explosion”, as various tangible and intangible cultural elements become “patrimonialized”, on the other hand there is a widespread difficulty in putting into place safeguarding and protection measures in different contexts. This derives from the fact that education for cultural heritage that is still faultily established, at different levels – whether in formal and informal education, and in the contexts of the global north or global south. This reality creates new challenges for educational policies in a variety of contexts, especially when it comes to raising awareness among communities, groups and individuals for the effective protection of cultural heritage.

Taking this into consideration, the main aim of this Discussion Panel is to critically reflect on education for cultural heritage nowadays, focusing on the main challenges, dialogue building and mutual learning, as well as new perspectives in this field. To this end, the panel will feature the participation of speakers from different parts of the globe and with diverse backgrounds, especially from the Global South, with the aim of enriching the debate and exchange of experiences between the most diverse actors and stakeholders working in this field. The panel seeks to encourage debate, from a comparative perspective, on possible practical solutions to the challenges posed by globalization, highlighting new education instruments (virtual education, hybrid education, formal and informal education, intercultural dialogues in education) seeking to suggest changes in institutional, legal and political structures for improving the governance of Education for cultural heritage.

After the main Discussion panel, two presentations related to the Mediterranean diet will follow. They will introduce its significance in education. This will be followed by a discussion on how traditional dietary practices can influence sustainable agriculture, community development, and health education. The project “Our common cultural heritage, Mediterranean type Nutrition” aims to exchange the different practices of partner schools’ about Mediterranean type nutrition, which is a healthy type of nutrition and which is included in the UNESCO Representative list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2010.

To close the panel, an animated presentation with photographs focusing on the learning process and transmission of living heritage in the South-East European region will be screened. Its aim is to attract the attention of the youth and raise awareness about the importance of the safeguarding of cultural heritage and education.

Organizers:

UNESCO Chair on Intangible Cultural Heritage and Comparative Law, University of Rome Unitelma Sapienza
Didyma Public Education Center, Didyma District Directorate of National Education
Secretariat of the UNESCO Network of Mediterranean Diet Emblematic Communities
Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe under the auspices of UNESCO
UNESCO Chair on Intangible Cultural Heritage in Formal and Informal Education, Department of Turkish Folklore, Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University, Turkey
Board of Trustees, Syrian Trust for Development, Syria.

Read the full program here.