2nd Global Webinar | Harnessing Living Heritage for a Sustainable Future

The Culture Working Group (CWG) under India’s G20 Presidency, in association with UNESCO as the Knowledge Partner, organized the second global thematic webinar on “Harnessing Living Heritage for a Sustainable Future”

Shri Govind Mohan, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, and Chair, CWG, in his opening remarks at the webinar said, “Living heritage bridges nature and cultural traditions and practices to provide sustainable and balanced solutions to contemporary global challenges”. The webinar brought together 41 experts from 29 countries, including G20 members and guest nations, as well as 11 international organizations, who deliberated and shared experiences and best practices on the potential of living heritage in promoting sustainable development.

During the webinar, the importance of living heritage in preserving cultural diversity and promoting social cohesion, as well as its contribution to economic growth, was highlighted. The experts stressed on the need to strengthen documentation and improve research for the preservation and promotion of traditional cultural practices and knowledge systems. Furthermore, they emphasised on the need to prevent and tackle cultural appropriation, which deprives countries and local communities of sustainable livelihoods.

Many countries underlined the importance of preserving indigenous languages as they were seen to contain valuable knowledge and practices related to sustainable agriculture, natural resource management, and traditional medicine, among others. Experts also shared examples of national policies aimed at safeguarding living heritage, notably supporting documentation, knowledge building and inventory creation, or sustaining the contribution of living heritage to ecological transition.

Several recommendations were made to the attention of the G20 membership, including the creation of a repository to map national policy schemes or case studies related to living heritage practices that contribute to sustainable development and addressing issues related to the misuse of intangible cultural heritage and cultural appropriation by transnational companies, among others.

A consolidated report of the four global thematic webinars will be produced and shared with G20 members, guest nations, and international organizations at the third CWG meeting, due in Hampi, Karnataka, from 15-18 July 2023. The aim of this report is to be a legacy of the joint work, deliberations, and discussions of the CWG process, with a view to ensure knowledge building over time. The remaining two global thematic webinars on priority three and four are scheduled for 19^th and 20^th April respectively.