LIVIND Webinars 2022

Living heritage builds on the continuity of cultural values that are entailed in the living practices. While some values are indeed supportive to sustainability, others can be seen as contradictory to it. What would this mean for the safeguarding of living heritage?

The cultural pillar, including living heritage, is important in achieving sustainable development. Social and institutional structures, such as associations or public cultural centres, are vital for the continuity of living heritage. What are their roles for cultural sustainability? And what measures should be taken to support the sustainability of cultural frameworks, especially in critical times?

In the last one in our series of LIVIND webinars on living heritage and sustainable development we present a keynote on the rights-based approach and showcase examples of established cultural heritage work in Denmark and of sustaining living heritage in today’s Ukraine. We will also learn about how local action by cities and local governments can contribute to strengthening the role of culture for sustainable development.

The LIVIND webinar on Living heritage and cultural sustainability – cultural rights and values was held on 14 November 2022 at 13.30–16.00 EET (12.30–15.00 CET).

Programme 14 November 2022

13:30 Opening & welcome, Leena Marsio & Elisa Kraatari, Finnish Heritage Agency

13:40 Rights-based approach to living heritage and sustainability – what would that mean? Anita Vaivade, Latvian Academy of Culture (LV)

14:00 Case examples of ICH and cultural sustainability

• The German minority in Denmark as an example of living cultural heritage, Harro Hallmann, Secretariat of the German minority in Copenhagen (DK)
• Living heritage in crisis: experience and considerations from Ukraine, Oleksandr Butsenko, Development Centre “Democracy through Culture” (UA)
• The importance of the cultural pillar for sustainability and local action, Jordi Pascual, United Cities and Local Governments, Culture Committee (ES)

14:45 Commentary note / Questions and comments
14:55 Break
15:00 Discussions in small groups: cultural sustainability and ICH
15:40 Summary of discussions
16:00 Closure

The webinar is free and open to everyone, whether you are a heritage practitioner, an NGO worker, a museum professional, an entrepreneur, an educator, an artist, an activist, or a researcher. We will bring together an exciting group of people working with different domains of living heritage including crafts, performing arts, environmental know-how, oral heritage, festivities, and food.

The webinar is part of the project LIVIND – Creative and living cultural heritage as a resource for the Northern Dimension region, coordinated by the Finnish Heritage Agency and covering nine countries from Northern Europe. The webinar and the workshop are organised by the Finnish Heritage Agency in cooperation with the LIVIND project partners. The language of the event is English.

The event is part of the European Heritage Days whose theme in 2022 is Sustainable Heritage.

For intangible cultural heritage to flourish and live on over generations, it is vital that different people can experience and participate in living heritage practice. This in turn helps to strengthen inter-generational bonds and social cohesion.

Positive encounters and social interaction through traditional dances or storytelling can enhance well-being, promoting both physical and mental health. How can we raise awareness about the positive social and health impacts that living heritage can have? How can living heritage practices be more inclusive? How can they support dialogue and peace-building? Which opportunities does digitization offer both for living heritage safeguarding and building stronger social bonds within and across communities?

Watch our webinar Living heritage and social sustainability – well-being and inter-generational dialogue, recorded on 19th September 2022 to hear more and share your vision and experience! The event brought together researcher viewpoints and practical field experience from different LIVIND partner countries.

Programme 19 September

13:30 Opening & Introduction to the Spinner of Living Heritage – Leena Marsio, Finnish Heritage Agency
13:40 A sustainable future – Agency, co-creation and well-being, Pauliina Latvala-Harvilahti, University of Eastern Finland / University of Turku (FI)
14:00 Comment, Leena Marsio

14:10 Case examples of ICH and social sustainability

1. Higher education on heritage crafts and its contribution to craft communities in Estonia, Ave Matsin, University of Tartu, Department of Estonian Native Crafts (EE)
2. Living heritage of dance and wellbeing, Tone Erlien Myrvold, Norwegian Centre for Traditional Music and Dance (NO)
3. Safeguarding oral practices and advantages of digitization in 'meänkieli' language community, Constanze Ackermann-Boström, Umeå University (SE)

14:55 Questions and comments
15:00 Coffee break
15:10 Discussions in small groups: social sustainability and ICH – possibilities and challenges.
15:45 Summary of discussions
16:00 Closure

The event was part of the European Heritage Days whose theme in 2022 is Sustainable Heritage.

Climate change and associated environmental risks have direct and indirect effects on living cultural heritage. The practice of living heritage can also contribute to climate action and it can play a role in ensuring ecological sustainability.

Many living heritage practices can assist in addressing ecological challenges, and need promotion and safeguarding. Some traditional practices are not sustainable; a few exist in tension with environmental regulations, for reasons that may or may not be justified. It is thus important to better understand how living heritage links to ecological sustainability, and how this relates to more sustainable action in other spheres of activity.

In the LIVIND webinar Living heritage and ecological sustainability - Understanding the issues and seeking local solutions you will have the opportunity to learn more about the topic and share your views. The webinar will features expert speakers and examples of the work of heritage associations, museums, and national parks in different countries across the Northern Dimension region.

Programme 25 May

13:30 Opening & welcome, Leena Marsio and Elisa Kraatari, Finnish Heritage Agency

13:40 Regenerating a new future from the past – a role for intangible cultural heritage in responding to contemporary environmental challenges, Prof. Rhys Evans, University College for Green Development (NO)
14:00 Traditional knowledge in the climate crisis, Kirstine Eiby Møller, Greenland National Museum and Archives (GL)
14:20 Case examples of ecological sustainability

• Sustainable use of herbs and the role of communities, Signe Pucena, NGO SERDE (LV)
  
• “The landslide took the museum!” Impacts and aftermath for a living museum, Elfa Hlín Sigrúnar Pétursdóttir, Technical Museum of East Iceland (IS)
• Empathy towards nature and heritage: reflections from Musteika village, Žymantas Morkvėnas, Baltic Environmental Forum Lithuania (LT)

14:50 Questions and discussion
15:00 Coffee break
15:10 Discussions in small groups: Improving ecological sustainability of living heritage.
15:45 Comments & Summary
16:00 Closure

The event is part of the project LIVIND – Creative and living cultural heritage as a resource for the Northern Dimension region coordinated by the Finnish Heritage Agency and covering nine countries from Northern Europe.

The event is part of the European Heritage Days whose theme in 2022 is Sustainable Heritage.

Living heritage offers many possibilities to livelihoods, but could we broaden our understanding of living heritage as an ecosystem that feeds local economies?

How could practitioners better navigate the changing markets and opt for sustainable solutions, also with attention to heritage-sensitive marketing? What mechanisms would support community actors in mitigating risks and maximizing benefit from living heritage engagement with the market?

Programme 27 April

13:30 Opening & Welcome, Leena Marsio and Elisa Kraatari, Finnish Heritage Agency

13:40 Living Heritage in local economies, Harriet Deacon, UNESCO ICH facilitator (UK)
14:00 Heritage sensitive marketing, Diego Rinallo, EMLYON Business School (FR)

14:20 Case Examples of Economic Sustainability

• Nature, mythologies and sustainable tourism, Satu de Weerd, Magic of Nuuksio (FI)
• Serfenta model - from crafts research to business, Paulina Adamska (PL)
• Kihnu island - heritage festivals’ impact on local economy, Mare Mätas (EST)

14:50 Questions and discussion with comments by Johan Barstad, University College for Green Development (NO)
15:00 Coffee break
15:10 Discussions in small groups
15:45 Comments & Summary
16:00 Closure

(Please note that in the recording Johan Barstad's comments were heard after the coffee break.)

The event was organised as part of theEuropean Heritage Days whose theme in 2022 is Sustainable Heritage!

The opening webinar started the series of events in the LIVIND project. With case examples from around the Northern Dimension region, we learned about how living heritage and sustainability are linked together. In the workshops participants chose a theme of sustainability that interested them and shared experiences with colleagues. The event will be followed by webinars and workshops held throughout the year 2022.

The events are open for everyone. We welcome practitioners of heritage, NGO workers, museum professionals, civil servants, educators, artists, researchers, entrepreneurs, activists and other parties interested! We hope to get together a great group of people working with different domains of living heritage including crafts, performing arts, nature related know-how, oral heritage, festivities, food etc.

Webinar Programme

You can see and listen to the webinar recording below. For English subtitles, please change the settings under the gear icon when needed.