The UNESCO Chair in Living Heritage and Sustainable Livelihoods promotes the recognition, safeguarding, and transmission of “Living Heritage,” also known as Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH).
By working closely with communities, the Chair advances initiatives that support research, education, and engagement in eco-cultural knowledge, livelihoods, and community practices while also emphasizing the valuation of heritage languages as vital carriers of identity, culture, and knowledges.
We facilitate collaboration between organizations working in ICH and internationally recognized researchers and practitioners, including faculty at UNBC and other academic institutions in Canada and around the world.
Our Objectives
In the spirit of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, our specific objectives are to:
Because Canada has not ratified the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, research on ICH remains limited, highlighting the urgent need for policy development, effective language transmission, and recognition of the value of cultural expressions.
Our primary goal is to advance the recognition of ICH and the valuation of heritage languages by implementing the recommendations of our collaborators, as well as the communities, families, and diverse language custodians dedicated to keeping their living heritage vibrant. We aim to work closely with Indigenous communities while responding to the guidance of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.
Guiding Principles
ICH is living and evolving.
Intangible cultural heritage is both traditional and contemporary. It reflects practices inherited from the past while also embracing contemporary rural and urban expressions. By recognizing ICH as a living, dynamic force, we honor its ongoing role in shaping community identity and creativity.
Living languages repositories of knowledge.
Every heritage language carries unique stories, ecological knowledge, traditional practices, and cultural values that cannot be fully expressed in another language. Losing a language means losing centuries of community wisdom and identity. By supporting language custodians through collaborative projects, education, and policy advocacy, we promote intergenerational transmission, linguistic diversity, multilingualism, and the valuation of heritage languages, ensuring these vital expressions remain vibrant, socially and culturally significant, and an integral part of living heritage for future generations.
ICH strengthens social cohesion and identity.
Cultural expressions and languages foster belonging, resilience, and intergenerational connection. Communities that maintain their living heritage are better able to sustain practices that reinforce shared identity and responsibility toward each other and the environment.
ICH sustains livelihoods, innovation, and craftsmanship.
Knowledge embedded in living heritage supports economic and cultural activities—from farming, fishing, and beekeeping to eco-tourism, artisanal crafts, music, and culinary traditions—while, through languages, also encoding ways of understanding the world, including environmental stewardship, resource management, and community livelihoods. By safeguarding these practices and supporting the transmission of artisanal skills, techniques, and languages, communities can innovate, preserve cultural identity, foster creativity, and develop sustainable, locally rooted solutions that keep both cultural and economic lifeways vibrant across generations.
Linguistic diversity fuels creativity, shared knowledge, and ICH pedagogy.
Heritage languages carry unique knowledge, values, and worldviews that connect generations and sustain cultural identity. Embedding the value of multilingualism in education and integrating ICH-informed pedagogies ensures that these languages and practices are recognized, transmitted, and appreciated. This approach fosters intergenerational learning, strengthens social cohesion, and empowers communities to innovate while maintaining their cultural and ecological knowledge.
Cultural heritage extends far beyond monuments and collections of objects.
It brings tangible heritage to life, as intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and material heritage are deeply interconnected and mutually reinforcing. Understanding the ICH of diverse communities fosters intercultural dialogue, promotes empathy, and encourages mutual respect for different ways of life, enriching both local and global perspectives on culture.
Safeguarding Indigenous Languages and Living Heritages.
According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, more than a century of assimilationist policies targeted the languages and intangible cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples. Despite these challenges, Indigenous communities have shown remarkable resilience, continuing to maintain, transmit, and revitalize their living heritage in the contemporary world. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), further affirms that Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, protect, and develop the past, present, and future expressions of their cultures, including languages, ceremonies, technologies, arts, and literature.
Our work aims to support the rights of Indigenous peoples to practice and safeguard their cultural traditions while collaborating closely with communities and responding to the guidance of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.
Intangible Cultural Heritage in Canada
What is Living Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage?
Living heritage is made up of many elements of culture, a significant portion of which are intangible. These intangible cultural heritage (ICH) elements include traditions and living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to future generations. ICH is essential for the well-being of communities and families, as well as for sustaining livelihoods. Broad in scope, UNESCO’s 2003 Convention defines ICH as “the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts, and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups, and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage.”
Because Canada has not ratified the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)—which has been signed by over 180 nations—research, policy development, and support for ICH in Canada remain limited. This lack of formal recognition makes the concept of ICH especially fragile, leaving many cultural expressions, languages, and traditional practices vulnerable. The work of the UNESCO Chair in Living Heritage and Sustainable Livelihoods is therefore particularly critical, as it advances research, education, and community engagement to safeguard ICH, support effective language transmission, and promote the social, cultural, and economic value of Canada’s diverse living heritage.
Intangible cultural heritage is chronically at risk of disappearing, largely due to globalization. For it to survive, ICH must remain relevant to its communities and be passed from one generation to the next. Because of its vulnerability, ICH often requires support from organizations and governments. The UNESCO Chair in Living Heritage and Sustainable Livelihoods works directly with communities and ICH custodians to safeguard, transmit, and sustain both cultural practices and the livelihoods connected to them.
