ABSTRACT
Europe's cultural heritage is both rich and diverse. This huge wealth of heritage can engender a range of community benefits and act as an economic driver, so much so that the cultural heritage of Europe has been estimated to generate an annual revenue of 335 billion euros for the tourism industry, and many of the nine million jobs in the tourism sector are directly or indirectly linked to it. This heritage is both tangible (e.g. buildings, monuments, objects) and intangible (e.g. song, music, drama, skills, crafts). The study of the impact, value and benefits of tangible heritage has a long history, but intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is less-well studied. ICH is far more nebulous and difficult to pin down compared to assessing economic impact, for example. Moreover, it was only in 2003 that UNESCO launched the ‘Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage’ for its protection and promotion (UNESCO, 2003). 1 The UNESCO Convention lists the following examples of ICH: oral traditions and expressions; performing arts; social practices, rituals and festive events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; and traditional craftsmanship, and defines intangible heritage as:
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. This ICH, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity.
(UNESCO, 2003)