26 February 2021
According to UNESCO, Intangible Cultural Heritage is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered to be part of a place’s cultural heritage. It also includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts.
Intangible Cultural Heritage is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing global polarisation and globalisation. An understanding of the intangible cultural heritage of different communities helps with intercultural dialogue, and encourages mutual respect for different ways of life.
Additionally, it is important to transmit intangible cultural heritage from one generation to the next, to also contribute to the socioeconomic empowerment of local communities and for mainstreaming social groups in developed and developing countries.
Link (if available): https://ich.unesco.org/en/what-is-intangible-heritage-00003