World Forum for intangible Cultural Heritage

The 2025 World Forum for Intangible Cultural Heritage aims to provide a platform for dialogue and exchange on the intersection of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and economic activities. By bringing together experts, policymakers, and stakeholders, the forum seeks to highlight the economic potential of ICH and its role in fostering sustainable development and community empowerment. Discussions will focus on identifying opportunities for economic growth through heritage, addressing challenges such as over-commercialisation and decontextualisation, and exploring collaborative strategies for integrating ICH into local and global economies. The forum will also facilitate the sharing of good practices, case studies, and innovative approaches that balance economic benefit with cultural integrity, ensuring that ICH remains a vital and dynamic resource for future generations.

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) plays a vital role in shaping local identities, ensuring cultural continuity, and contributing to inclusive economic livelihood of the communities. In an increasingly globalised and digital world, ICH is not only a legacy of the past but also a living resource that supports sustainable development. Traditional crafts, performing arts, rituals, and culinary practices offer communities meaningful opportunities for economic diversification, job creation, and cultural entrepreneurship.
As digital platforms and global markets expand, many communities are finding new ways to generate livelihoods through heritage while safeguarding its integrity for future generations. However, these developments might raise important concerns about decontextualisation, cultural appropriation, and the need for equitable benefit-sharing. As such, ensuring that the economic use of ICH respects community rights and cultural values remains a critical challenge.
In response, the 2025 World Forum for Intangible Cultural Heritage will provide a timely platform for dialogue on how to ethically and sustainably connect ICH with economic activities. The forum will explore successful practices, policy frameworks, and community-led models that demonstrate how heritage can support local livelihood, social cohesion, and long-term cultural sustainability — while ensuring that the communities at the heart of this heritage remain its primary beneficiaries.

The 2025 World Forum for Intangible Cultural Heritage offers a valuable platform to explore how heritage can act as a catalyst for locally grounded economic opportunity. As traditional knowledge and practices intersect with contemporary sectors such as the creative industries, tourism, and digital media, the forum will examine how these connections can be fostered in ways that are community-driven, culturally respectful, and sustainable.
Gathering researchers, educators, cultural practitioners, and leaders of community-based organisations, the forum will spotlight grounded examples of how intangible heritage contributes to livelihoods while reinforcing cultural identity. It will highlight initiatives that have successfully generated economic value without compromising the integrity of the traditions they are rooted in — demonstrating how heritage can fuel inclusive growth, strengthen local economies, and support intergenerational continuity.
At the same time, the forum will engage with the complexities of bringing ICH into economic spaces, including the risks of over-commercialisation, erosion of meaning, and imbalanced benefit distribution. Through open dialogue and shared learning, participants will reflect on how to navigate these tensions and develop approaches that safeguard cultural depth while ensuring that heritage-based initiatives are meaningful and beneficial for the communities at their core.