Group photo of workshop in Sofia © Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe

On 17 to 20 September, 25 facilitators from Europe gathered in Sofia, Bulgaria, for a training of trainers’ workshop on supporting policy development in the field of intangible cultural heritage. The workshop was generously co-organized and supported by the Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-Eastern Europe.

As the third training of trainers’ workshop in the region since 2011, this meeting was an important opportunity to bring together members of the European branch of the global facilitators’ network, upgrade their competencies in key content areas and solicit their feedback on the development of the capacity-building programme in Europe. The Secretariat also shared updates on thematic priorities for the programme, including the development of a capacity-building approach for the Convention’s overall results framework and strategies to integrate intangible cultural heritage into development plans, policies and programmes.

A member of the Asia and the Pacific branch of the network also participated in Sofia, creating a link with discussions from the training of trainers’ workshops organized earlier this year for the facilitators from Asia and the Pacific. This was an occasion to share experiences in developing policy and legislation related to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage cross-regionally and reflect collaboratively on how to strengthen the facilitators’ network going forward.