First annual meeting of category 2 centres active in the field of Intangible cultural heritage Sozopol, Bulgaria July 2013 Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South- Eastern Europe under the auspices of UNESCO

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 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 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 Official opening

On 20 February 2012 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

General Assembly The Centre is guided and overseen by a General Assembly whose 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;

Executive Board 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 MFAMC BAS

STRUCTURE of the Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe under the auspices of UNESCO

Executive director Expert staff Technical staff

MISSION 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 sub- region; 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 PROGRAMMES

Long-term programme of the Regional Centre Identification and documentation of intangible cultural 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

Albania [ AL] Albania Armenia [AM] Armenia Bosnia and Herzegovina [BA] Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria [BG] Bulgaria Members of the Regional Centre :

Croatia [HR] Croatia Montenegro [ME] Montenegro Macedonia [MK] Macedonia Romania [RO] Romania Serbia [RS] Serbia Turkey [TR] Turkey

Forthcoming Member States : Cyprus [CY]Cyprus Greece [GR]Greece Moldova [MD]Moldova Slovenia [SL]Slovenia

Elements of the South-Eastern European countries inscribed on the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

Until 2012 – 32 inscriptions from the region Until 2012 – 32 inscriptions from the region: 29 elements 29 elements on the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity ; 1 element 1 element inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding (Croatia); 2 multinational inscriptions 2 multinational inscriptions (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 South- Eastern 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 short- term planning of the respective centres, enabling them to continue to contribute effectively to UNESCO’s work.

ACTIVITIES

The Regional Centre is working on: 1. Networking 2. Capacity building 3. Raise awareness From its beginning until now…

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, ); 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);

8 TH 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) Supported by UNESCO Regional Bureau for Culture and Science in Europe, Venice (Italy) 10 countries 10 countries 30 experts 30 experts

2. Capacity building

Training seminar 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 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, )

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

Raise awareness 3. Raise awareness

“Masterpieces of Intangible Cultural Heritage in South- East Europe” Album “Masterpieces of Intangible Cultural Heritage in South- East Europe”; "Dervishes - mystic of the East" Premiere of the film "Dervishes - mystic of the East" ; "Guard of Traditions " Photo exhibition "Guard of Traditions " ; Bistrica babi at UNESCO Headquarters; „Balkan Cuisine”; „Balkan Cuisine”; “Carpets of Chiprovtzi” Film “Carpets of Chiprovtzi”

Bistritsa Babi at UNESCO (March, ) Participation in a international concert at UNESCO Headquarters; In collaboration with Sofia Municipality;

Traditional Balkan meals demonstration „Balkan Cuisine” 2013 May, 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. IRCIICHCAP Regional Research Centre - Iran CRIHAP Sofia Regional Centre CRESPIAL Network ICH

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! webpage: facebook: Unesco Centre Sofia