CWG to host a webinar on "Living Heritage for Sustainable Future"

As a part of the series of Global Thematic Webinars being organised by The Culture Working Group (CWG) under India’s G20 Presidency and facilitated by UNESCO (Paris), as the knowledge partner, the second webinar on the topic “Harnessing Living Heritage for a Sustainable Future”, is scheduled for 13 April 2023, from 12.30 pm to 8.30 pm (IST).

The webinar organised by CWG will reflect on the importance of living heritage and on its role towards sustainability, bringing together experts from 29 countries including G20 members and guest nations, as well as several international organizations.

The objective of this webinar is to foster an inclusive dialogue and facilitate an in-depth discussion from an expert driven perspective on harnessing living heritage for a sustainable future. It seeks to promote knowledge sharing; capitalize on the best practices and experiences; identify gaps, needs, and opportunities in harnessing living heritage practices. The webinar will also inform the reflection of the G20 membership in formulating tangible and action-oriented outcomes.

It will have three speaking segments and experts will be distributed across these segments based on their respective time zones. The webinar will be moderated successively by representatives from Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) with expertise on the topic. It will be live streamed on the YouTube channel of UNESCO (Paris).

Living heritage is an embodiment of social practices, traditions, and knowledge passed down through generations that reflect a community’s history, identity, and values. It serves as social capital for communities, providing a sense of shared identity, fostering social cohesion, and promoting cultural continuity across generations. Many of these practices prioritize the use and reuse of natural resources, contributing to waste reduction and maintenance of a balance between social, economic, and environmental factors, thus contributing to sustainability. However, these traditional practices face the threat of misuse and of cultural appropriation of elements, design or knowledge of indigenous communities by transnational companies. Further, owing to limited research in the area, as well as due to the absence of community groups’ participation, the significance of these practices and knowledge systems has not been fully acknowledged.

The following global thematic webinars on priority three and four are scheduled for 19th and 20th April respectively.