Finland reporting to UNESCO for the first time on the 2003 Convention

Periodic reporting allows States Parties to assess their implementation of the Convention, evaluate their capacities for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, report on their inventories of intangible cultural heritage and update the status of elements inscribed on the Representative List. They are also one of the Convention’s key mechanisms for international cooperation, allowing States and communities to benefit from the experience gained in other States Parties and to exchange information on effective safeguarding measures and strategies.

The report is also meant to be used as a tool to make the Convention better known in Finland. The Finnish Heritage Agency is the focal point for the reporting with the support of the Centre for Cultural Policy Research Cupore.

Knowledge about the state of safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage will be gathered through different kinds of surveys, workshops and interviews. Surveys will be sent to various communities and organisations in the fields of culture and heritage, education, research, and to municipalities and counties. In addition, several workshops will be held to gather insights from different fields and groups.

The information gathered will also be used to help with the Cultural Heritage Strategy formulated by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The most important thing is to make intangible cultural heritage and the work done to safeguard and promote it visible.