Periodic report sent to UNESCO

Finland reports to UNESCO on the implementation of the Convention on the safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural heritage for the first time since ratification in 2013. The 250-page report sent to UNESCO in mid-February 2022 sheds light on the status of safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in Finland. Other European countries are reporting simultaneously. A summary of the report will be published later in spring 2022 in Finnish and Swedish.

The report was prepared by the Finnish Heritage Agency and supported by the Cultural Policy Research Center Cupore. The report is based on research and an extensive consultation process with communities, NGOs and various institutions. A total of 206 actors and organisations responded to the Agency's four different questionnaires, and 188 people participated in the nine workshops organised. In addition, 74 municipalities replied to the survey.

Finland has a wide variety of organisations and communities involved in safeguarding at national, regional and local levels – thousands of NGOs and other civil society actors contribute to the safeguarding of ICH. Transmission and documentation is also carried out by a vast network of educational institutions, museums, archives and other institutions. Most of these receive public funding.

Finland does not have special legislation for ICH. Instead, there is a wide range of legal and administrative tools related to the safeguarding of living heritage, linguistic and cultural rights, inclusion and cultural accessibility. However, in the recent years the concept of intangible cultural heritage has become visible in the new museum legislation and in the Act on Cultural Activities in Municipalities. Work on living heritage also has strong links with the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. In order to better fulfil the SDGs, closer cooperation with other public bodies, ministries and agencies is needed.

In Finland the awareness and media attention towards ICH has been steadily rising since the ratification of the Convention. The inventorying of living heritage and inscriptions to UNESCO have been important factors in this process. International cooperation in the field is active. The work on ICH touches upon many other international organisations and Conventions. In the future, it is important to highlight these connections and to find more synergies.

However, the field of ICH is vast and there is still work to be done. In Finland many of the stakeholders of ICH don’t necessarily regard themselves as actors of ICH, and thus their safeguarding actions are not always implemented the best way possible in the spirit of the Convention 2003. Awareness raising and capacity building efforts should be emphasized in the future to overcome this challenge especially in the field of formal and non-formal education and transmission of ICH. The NGOs and the civil society will have a big role in the awareness raising and capacity building efforts for their capacities acting as mediators between the state and the communities. It is essential for all the actors to include better the viewpoint of cultural diversity in all of its forms. In Finland this means particularly the indigenous Sámi people and the heritage of other minorities.

The report has provided a lot of new insights and will also serve as planning tool for the safeguarding of living heritage in Finland for the next six years. During the current year, a new plan for the implementation of the UNESCO Convention for 2023-2028 will be prepared, in which the results of the report will be taken forward.

Download the report here (250 p, 2.3 M)

Periodic reporting on the UNESCO website

More information: leena.marsio@museovirasto.fi