ICH & Safeguarding

Living heritage continues when people can keep it alive.

Safeguarding is not simply about preserving records. It is about supporting the people, practices and environments through which heritage is sustained and transmitted.

Heritage lives through practice, meaning and transmission.

Intangible cultural heritage can include oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge concerning nature and the universe, and skills associated with traditional craftsmanship. Communities themselves play a central role in identifying what they recognise as heritage.

Safeguarding can involve documentation, education, transmission, awareness, research and support for the social conditions in which practices can continue. No single method is appropriate for every tradition or community.

A connected approach

From recognition to continuity.

Safeguarding is more meaningful when connected to everyday practice, learning, rights and the conditions for communities to make choices about their cultural future.

Listen and understand

Start with the context, priorities and perspectives of practitioners, communities and knowledge holders.

Support transmission

Consider how learning, mentorship, language, practice and intergenerational relationships help heritage continue.

Enable responsible futures

Explore tools and agreements that protect agency and context as cultural practices encounter new audiences and technologies.

Areas of attention

Safeguarding is a living process.

Community-led identification and participation
Documentation with appropriate consent and context
Education and intergenerational transmission
Language, practice and cultural environments
Ethical digital representation and access

A record can help memory endure. A living practice also needs people, time, space and the freedom to change.