The South-East European Experts Network on Intangible Cultural Heritage was established in 2007 by UNESCO through its Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe.

 Series of the annual meeting were held in different location in the countries of South-East Europe: Arbanassi, Bulgaria, June 2007; Safranbolu, Turkey, May 2008; Zagreb, Croatia, April 2009, Râmnicu-Vâlcea, Romania, May 2010; Belgrade, Serbia, May 2011; Athens, May 2012; Sofia, Bulgaria, May 2013; Limassol, Cyprus, May 2014; Venice, Italy (2015); Supetar, Croatia (2016); Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2017); Ljubljana, Slovenia (2018); Cremona, Italy (2019); online (2020 and 2021); Sofia, Bulgaria (2022); and Belgrade, Serbia (2023).

The Experts Network serves as a regional platform for sharing knowledge and good practices on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in South-Eastern Europe, as well as to support regional cooperation on this topic. 

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The Regional Centre Sofia – UNESCO initiated in 2018 and maintain a network of universities in the region of South-East Europe, that either teach or research subjects in the area of intangible cultural heritage. This will supplement UNESCO’s capacity building program in that field, with a view to raising awareness and promoting understanding and the safeguarding of ICH in accordance with the 2003 Convention. In discussing the existing practices in individual universities, the parties will consider the existence of ICH-specific programs, clearly distinguishable from those concerning the tangible cultural heritage. 

The aim of the network is to enhance the communication among universities, researchers, institutions respon-sible for the safeguarding of ICH, and its practitioners in South-East Europe, as well as exchange of information and future collaboration activities.

The Regional Centre Sofia – UNESCO has created and maintained a network of non-governmental organizations active in the field of intangible cultural heritage in the region of South-East Europe.

The aim of the network is to encourage the participation of such organizations in the processes of safeguarding and promoting intangible cultural heritage, as well as to have a platform for regular communication and share of information.

By organizing information sessions, the Regional Centre Sofia – UNESCO encourage more balanced geographical representation of NGOs accredited to the 2003 Convention with focus on the South East European region.

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The annual meetings of the Category 2 centres active in the field of intangible cultural heritage started in 2013 with the first meeting held in the town of Sozopol (Bulgaria) and hosted by the Regional Centre Sofia. The following meetings took place in Paris (France) in 2014; Guiyang (China) in 2015, Paris (France) in 2016, Shiraz (Iran) in 2017; Paris (France) in 2018; Algiers (Algeria) in 2019; online in 2020 and 2021; Paris (France) in 2022. The meetings are aimed at the representatives of the eight global centres – directors and staff, in Algeria, Bulgaria, China, Iran, Japan, Peru, Republic of Korea, United Arab Emirates, in order to enhance the communication and exchange between the network and UNESCO.

Annual Meetings