Culture in Action: Economic Dimensions of Safeguarding Heritage

This workshop explores the economic dimensions of safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (ICH), with a focus on rights-based and community-led approaches. While economic activity can provide vital support for heritage transmission and practitioner livelihoods, it can also pose risks of over-commercialisation, misappropriation, and decontextualization. UNESCO’s analysis underscores that under-remuneration is as serious a threat to safeguarding as over-exploitation, and that community control, free prior and informed consent, and ethical protocols are central to sustainable outcomes. Ananya will share on Art for Life (AFL), initiated in 2005, which demonstrates how living heritage can drive inclusive rural development. AFL engages over 70,000 tradition bearers across performing arts, crafts, and festivals, and has transformed marginalised villages into cultural hubs through entrepreneurship, community-run museums, festivals, and immersive tourism. By integrating ICH inventorying, enterprise training, ethical marketing, and digital storytelling, AFL revitalises traditional practices while addressing poverty and empowering women and youth. Participants will critically examine how community-led strategies—ranging from heritage-sensitive business planning to protocols like “Consent, Credit, Compensation”—can maximise positive impacts and mitigate risks. Through group discussion and AFL case examples, the workshop will highlight tools for building enabling environments, fostering community agency, and aligning ICH safeguarding with the Sustainable Development Goals. Ultimately, the workshop affirms culture not as a consumable resource but as a lived process, where economic engagement strengthens both livelihoods and custodianship. It invites participants to rethink policy and practice, advancing culture as a human right and a pillar of sustainable development.

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