Tenth Annual Meeting of the South East European Experts Network on Intangible Cultural Heritage

The promotion of Intangible Cultural Heritage stands high among the political priorities in the South-East European region. All countries from the region have ratified the 2003 Convention.

In order to support the implementation process in the region, the South-East European Experts Network on Intangible Cultural Heritage was established in 2007 with the support of UNESCO, and annual meetings of the network took place in Aransas, Bulgaria, June 2007; Safranbolu, Turkey, May 2008; Zagreb, Croatia, April 2009, Râmnicu-Vâlcea, Romania, May 2010; Belgrade, Serbia, May 2011; Athens, Greece, May 2012; Sofia, Bulgaria, May 2013; Limassol, Cyprus, May 2014; Venice, June 2015.
These meetings contributed to enhance a common understanding of opportunities and challenges linked to the safeguarding of the ICH as a key asset of South-East European cultural diversity and promotion and safeguarding of World Heritage sites, as well as to develop institutional and professional capacities within the relevant national authorities serving as a regional platform for sharing knowledge and good practices.

In particular, during last year’s meeting in Cyprus participants fully confirmed the importance and relevance of the present network and agreed to maintain the annual meetings of the network.