Ar Dàimhean is Dualchas / Our Relationships and Heritage

Intangible Cultural Heritage – or ‘living heritage’ - is an area of growing global significance. It is an acknowledgement that heritage is not just monuments and objects that have been placed in a museum - it's part of our culture in the present day and involves elements that are passed down between generations and taken with us into the future. Scotland’s Gaelic-speaking communities have a rich resource of intangible cultural heritage including language, traditions, rituals, songs, crafts and much more. This living heritage might not have a fixed shape, but is vital to understanding our places and making sense of who we are.

This online workshop is the last in a series of community conversation events we have been hosting to better understand how public bodies might improve support for living heritage with a strong focus on Gaelic. The aim of these sessions is to develop guidance that will support and benefit communities and practitioners in the here and now, and to help safeguard Intangible Cultural Heritage across Scotland for the future. We hope you will join us to discuss your experiences, insights, and ideas.

The Workshop

In this workshop, we will discuss examples of Intangible Cultural Heritage from the Highlands and Islands and across the world, and how this living heritage is protected, shared, and celebrated for the benefit of local communities. We will also explore how we can improve the ways we work together to protect and promote local heritage practices.

These workshops are being led by Historic Environment Scotland and the University of the West of Scotland, with funding from the British Academy Early Career Researcher Network.

Sessions will be held in English, and are open to anyone with an interest in Gaelic culture and the Gaelic language.

Outline Agenda

• 6.30pm - 6.50pm: Intangible Cultural Heritage, an introduction
• 6.50pm - 7.20pm: Interactive session - what does intangible cultural heritage mean to you?
• 7.20pm - 7.30pm: Break
• 7.30pm - 8.15pm: Deep-Dive Breakout Groups - opportunities and challenges for communities in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage
• 8.15pm - 8.30pm: Wrap up and next steps

If you have any questions about the event, please contact us at gaidhlig@hes.scot