Overview
Before any funding application can be written or partnership approached, practitioners need to know where to look. This lesson maps the key digital and institutional resources available for researching ICH — from UNESCO’s own portals to national registers and scientific bibliographies.
Content
The UNESCO Convention Secretariat has developed a rich ecosystem of online tools specifically designed to support States Parties, NGOs, and communities in identifying, documenting, and funding ICH:
UNESCO’s ICH Portal (ich.unesco.org) is the primary gateway. It provides access to all six UNESCO Lists — the Representative List, the Urgent Safeguarding List, the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices, and the International Assistance database. Practitioners can search inscribed elements by country, domain, and year, study approved safeguarding plans, and download original nomination dossiers as models for their own work.
The Interactive Bibliography compiles over 1,000 academic references specifically linked to the 2003 Convention — covering anthropology, legal frameworks, community participation, and safeguarding methodologies. This resource dramatically reduces the time needed for literature reviews when preparing project proposals.
The Sustainable Development Toolkit offers more than 30 case studies demonstrating how ICH projects can be framed within the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Since most EU and UNESCO funding programs require applicants to demonstrate links to SDGs, this toolkit is an essential reference at the proposal-writing stage.
Video animations produced by the Secretariat address gender dimensions of ICH, the role of youth, and the intersection of ICH with climate adaptation — all of which are thematic priorities for current funding cycles.
At the national level, Bulgaria’s National Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage (maintained by the National Centre for ICH) provides a searchable database of inscribed elements with custodian communities identified. Municipal integrated development plans (MIDPs) — which all Bulgarian municipalities are required to produce for 2021–2027 — include a cultural heritage section that maps local ICH and often identifies underfunded areas where external grants could be applied.
The inThrace digital platform itself serves as a living resource, connecting communities, researchers, and practitioners across the Thrace region and making otherwise inaccessible local knowledge discoverable and citable.
Activities
Activity 1 — UNESCO Portal Exploration (10 min): Visit ich.unesco.org and search for three ICH elements from your own country. For each element, identify: (a) the safeguarding plan attached, (b) the organizations listed as responsible, (c) whether any international assistance has been granted.
Activity 2 — SDG Mapping (5 min): Choose one ICH element you know personally. Using the UNESCO Sustainable Development Toolkit, identify which 2–3 SDGs it most directly supports. Write two sentences for each SDG explaining the link.
Activity 3 — Local Register Audit (homework): Access your municipality’s Integrated Development Plan 2021–2027. Locate the cultural heritage section and list: how many ICH elements are mentioned, whether funding is allocated, and what gaps exist.
Key Questions
- Why is consulting the ICH Portal’s nomination dossiers — not just the final inscriptions — useful when preparing a new project proposal?
- How does linking an ICH project to the Sustainable Development Goals increase its chances of receiving EU funding?
- What risks arise when community-level ICH is undocumented and therefore invisible to national registers?
- How can the inThrace platform function as both a documentation tool and a resource mobilization tool simultaneously?
- What is the difference between an ICH element appearing on the Representative List versus the Urgent Safeguarding List, and what does each imply for funding priority?