Regional Centre
for the
Safeguarding of
the
Intangible Cultural
Heritage in SouthEastern Europe
under the
auspices of
UNESCO
First annual meeting of category 2 centres active in the field of
Intangible cultural heritage
Sozopol, Bulgaria
24-26 July 2013
ESTABLISHMENT
of the
Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern
Europe under the auspices of UNESCO
 The Regional Centre in Sofia was inaugurated in 2008.
 It is a non-profit organization, a Bulgarian legal entity which carries
out coordination functions for the South-Eastern European countries
to promote the implementation of the Convention 2003 and
successful implementation of program initiatives of UNESCO
concerning to the intangible cultural heritage.
 Bulgarian Government provides the necessary funds
for the running costs of the Centre;
 Specific article in the Bulgarian Cultural Heritage Act;
 Cofounders: Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria, Ministry of
Foreign Affaires of Bulgaria and Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences;
Ministry of
Culture
Ministry of
Foreign Affairs
On 2009, with Resolution adopted
on the 35th session of UNESCO
General Conference, the Regional
Centre is recognised as a regional
centre (category 2) under the
auspices of UNESCO.
 The Regional centre was established on
the basis of an agreement between
UNESCO and the Government of
Republic of Bulgaria, signed in 25
October 2010 in Paris by UNESCO
Director-General, Irina Bokova and the
former Culture Minister Vezhdi
Rashidov .
 On March 16, 2011 Bulgarian
Parliament adopted the Law on
ratification of the Agreement between
the Government of Republic of
Bulgaria and UNESCO.
Official opening
On 20 February 2012 UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, together
with the former Foreign Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, Culture Minister,
Vezhdi Rashidov and the former President of Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences, officially inaugurated a Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of
Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe under the auspices of
UNESCO.
GOVERNING BODIES
of the
Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of
Intangible Cultural Heritage in South Eastern Europe under the Auspices of
UNESCO
G e n e ra l A s s e m b l y
 The Centre is guided and overseen by a General Assembly whose
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personal composition is renewed every four years including as regular
members:
two representatives of the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria
(Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) or their appointed
representatives;
a representative of the Director-General of UNESCO;
a representative of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences;
a representative of the Bulgarian National Commission for UNESCO;
a representative of each of the member-states
up to two representatives of any other intergovernmental
organizations or international non-governmental organizations, to
which membership could be granted by a decision of the General
Assembly;
The Executive Board is the managing body of the Centre,
composed of minimum 3 (three) members elected by the General
Assembly for 4 (four) years’ term of office. The founding entities of
the Centre shall be permanent members of the Executive Board
MFA
BAS
MC
ST R U C T U R E
of
t h e Re g i o n a l C e nt re fo r t h e S a fe g u a rd i n g
o f t h e I nta n g i b l e C u l t u ra l H e r i ta ge i n
S o u t h - Ea ste r n E u ro p e u n d e r t h e a u s p i c e s
o f U N ES CO
 Executive director
 Expert staff
 Technical staff
MISSION
 to promote the cooperation in the field of intangible
cultural heritage on national, regional and
international level;
 to carry out initiatives for safeguarding and
popularization of the intangible cultural heritage of
the countries in South-Eastern Europe.
OBJECTIVES
 Promote the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage and contribute to its implementation in the South-Eastern European subregion;
 Increase the participation of separate communities, groups and individuals in
safeguarding intangible heritage in the South-Eastern European countries;
 Enhance the capacity of the member-states in UNESCO from South-Eastern
Europe in safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage;
 Coordinate, exchange and disseminate information regarding the safeguarding of
intangible cultural heritage in the sub-region;
 Foster regional and international cooperation for safeguarding intangible cultural
heritage;
 Support the efforts for safeguarding of the elements of intangible cultural heritage from
the region that are included in the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural
Heritage and the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent
Safeguarding;
 Support and assist the countries from the region in the processes of identifying and
inventorying the intangible cultural heritage and in developing systems at the national
level for recognizing the intangible heritage present in their territories;
 Cooperate with the institutions engaged in studying and safeguarding the intangible
cultural heritage on a local, national and regional level as well as for establishment of
relations between them;
 Support and participate in activities for training of specialists in the field of intangible
cultural heritage;
 Make efforts for strengthening the cooperation with UNESCO and the respective related
institutions in other countries and regions.
SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS
The Centre’s activities and programmes shall be carried out in
conformity with the 2003 Convention and, in particular, its purposes
and objectives and definitions (Article 1 and 2);
 Instigate and coordinate research into practices of safeguarding ICH
elements present in the South-Eastern European countries as refer
to in Article 11, 12, 13 and 14 of the 2003 Convention;
 Organize training courses on the following subjects;
 Enhance international, regional and subregional cooperation
through networking with institutions active in the domain of ICH,
notably those established under the auspices of UNESCO (category
2), in order to coordinate activities, exchange information and
knowledge concerning the safeguarding of ICH, and promote good
practices.
PROGRAMMES
Long-term programme of the Regional Centre
 Identification and documentation of intangible cultural
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heritage elements;
Safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage;
Transmission and Dissemination of intangible cultural
elements;
International Cooperation;
Creation of expert networks;
Actions promoting the work of the Centre;
All the programmes of the Regional Centre are carried out in
conformity with the programmes of UNESCO.
MEMBER STATES
OF THE
REGIONAL CENTRE
Members of the Regional Centre:
 [AL] Albania
 [AM] Armenia
 [BA] Bosnia and Herzegovina
 [BG] Bulgaria
 [HR] Croatia
 [ME] Montenegro
 [MK] Macedonia
 [RO] Romania
 [RS] Serbia
 [TR] Turkey
Forthcoming Member States :
 [CY]Cyprus
 [GR]Greece
 [MD]Moldova
 [SL]Slovenia
Elements of the South-Eastern European countries
i n s c r i b e d o n t h e U N E S C O ’s R e p r e s e n t a t i v e L i s t o f t h e
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Until 2012 – 32 inscriptions from the region :
 2 9 e l e m e n t s on the UNESCO’s Representative List of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity ;
 1 e l e m e n t inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural
Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding (Croatia);
 2 m u l t i n a t i o n a l i n s c r i p t i o n s (with countries beyond
the region);
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
 The objective of all the activities of the Regional Centre is to
achieve sustainable development through the promotion of
lifelong learning, the sharing of best practices and models, the
exchange of information between the countries from SouthEastern Europe;
 The ongoing series of international workshops and conferences
aiming to promote and implement the Convention 2003 in the
South- Eastern European countries justify the sustainability in its
activities.
Integration of the Organization’s medium-term strategy
(37 C/4) and programme and budget for the coming
quadrennium (37 C/5) into the medium-term and shortterm planning of the respective centres, enabling them to
continue to contribute effectively to UNESCO’s work.
ACTIVITIES
F ro m i t s b e g i n n i n g u nt i l n o w …
The Regional Centre is working on:
1. Networking
2. Capacity building
3. Raise awareness
1 . Networking
 Launch of Website and Forum of the Regional Centre;
 First Meeting of Regional Centres for Cultural Heritage in South-
Eastern Europe: Cooperation, Partnerships, Funding – Zadar ,Croatia
(2012 ,March 23);
 Eighth Ministerial Conference on Cultural Heritage in South-East
Europe Intangible Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development
(2012 , October, 24-25 );
 Seventh session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the
Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (2012 , December, 3-7);
 Annual Session of the General Assembly of the Regional Centre
(2013, March 5);
 Seventh Annual Regional Meeting of Experts on Intangible Cultural
Heritage in South East Europe (2013, May 27-28);
8TH Ministerial Conference on Cultural Heritage in South-East Europe
Intangible Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development
(2012, October 24-25)
Seventh Annual Regional Meeting of Experts on Intangible Cultural
Heritage in South East Europe "New strategies for sustainable
development, tourism and partnerships“ (2013, May, 27-28)
 Supported by UNESCO Regional Bureau for Culture and Science in
Europe, Venice (Italy)
 10 countries
 30 experts
2. Capacity building
 Training seminar : “The Role of Youth in Safeguarding of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage: Implementing the 2003 UNESCO
Convention in South-East European States ” (2012, September,
24-25);
 Training seminar of experts from Southwest Bulgaria on
"Implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of
the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003) at national level“ (June,
24-25 2013 )
Training seminar “The Role of Youth in Safeguarding of the Intangible
Cultural Heritage: Implementing the 2003 UNESCO Convention in
South-East European States ” (2012, September, 24-25)
 Two-day workshop
 10 countries
 30 participants
Training seminar of experts from Southwest Bulgaria on
"Implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003) at national level“ (2013, June 24-25)
 Two-day workshop
 3 Bulgarian regions
 23 experts
3.
Raise awareness
 Album “Masterpieces of Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-
East Europe”;
 Premiere of the film "Dervishes - mystic of the East" ;
 Photo exhibition "Guard of Traditions " ;
 Bistrica babi at UNESCO Headquarters;
 „Balkan Cuisine”;
 Film “Carpets of Chiprovtzi”
Bistritsa Babi at UNESCO
(March, 18 2013 )
 Participation in a international
concert at UNESCO Headquarters;
 In collaboration with Sofia
Municipality;
Traditional Balkan meals demonstration
„Balkan Cuisine”
 2013 May, 25-26
 5 countries from the Balkan region
 in partnership with “Edita Group”
The way forward: regional
cooperation and future initiatives
 Establishment of an on-line platform for ICH;
 Capacity-building workshops in the region;
 Educational, awareness-raising and information activities aimed at
young people;
 Formal and informal education;
 Transnational cooperation and common work on
multinational/transnational nomination files;
 Publications/ papers on ICH ;
 Regional film production on ICH and crafts;
The way forward is the establishment of an effective network with
the category 2 centres in the field of ICH.
IRCI
CRESPIAL
ICHCAP
Network
ICH
Regional
Research
Centre Iran
Sofia
Regional
Centre
CRIHAP
T H A N K YO U F O R YO U R AT T E N T I O N !
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