Maypole dance in Saba © Stacey Simmons, 2016

Over twenty participants representing seven countries (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten and Suriname) will gather in Curaçao from 17 to 20 May 2016 for a workshop on developing plans to safeguard their intangible cultural heritage.

Reflecting diverse communities and practitioners, as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in the safeguarding of living heritage in the sub-region, participants are among the first to benefit from a newly developed training combining the use of interactive scenarios and role-playing games that will be delivered by UNESCO-trained experts.

This activity builds on the community-based inventorying training and field exercises recently undertaken in the Dutch Caribbean. Organized by the UNESCO Kingston Cluster Office for the Caribbean in close cooperation with national partners across the islands, it is a part of a capacity-building project to reinforce safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in the Dutch Caribbean islands and Suriname. It has been made possible thanks to a generous contribution from the Government of the Netherlands to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.