Let’s start with a key question: what does your community do, know, or celebrate that should be seen as heritage? Often, things that seem simple — like a traditional recipe, a group song, or a local celebration — have deep cultural meaning.
Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) includes “the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage.” (UNESCO, 2003). This recognition comes from the community itself and is rooted in daily life and a shared sense of identity (Florêncio et al., 2016, p. 16).
Protecting ICH is more than just documenting it. It means keeping it alive, passing it down through generations, and allowing it to grow and change — especially when facing challenges like migration, globalization, or the loss of traditional knowledge (Florêncio et al., 2014). Supporting these cultural practices helps preserve diversity, encourages dialogue between cultures, and strengthens community ties (Council of Europe, 2005).
As Freire (2005, p. 80) said, “no one teaches another, nor is anyone self-taught, people teach each other, mediated by the world.” This idea also fits with ICH: it is a shared process of listening, respecting, and passing on culture together.