Since the adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2003 and its subsequent entry into force in 2006, more than 170 countries have become States Parties to the Convention and 430 Intangible Heritage elements have been inscribed on the Urgent Safeguarding List, the Representative List and the Register of Best Practices. We can therefore admit that the spirit and the concept embedded in the convention have been globally accepted as the basic principles for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. Needless to say, in the process of implementation of the convention, stakeholders involved in this endeavor are diverse not only at the global level but also at the local and national level.

Meanwhile, the Center for Glocal Studies (CGS), Seijo University, has been striving to examine the socio-cultural dynamics in various settings not only from a global perspective but also from a local perspective, i.e. from a glocal perspective. Now, ten years after entry into force of the Convention, the CGS attempts to observe the realities and consequent issues relating to the UNESCO convention from a glocal perspective. That is why the CGS is organizing the pre-symposium meeting on “Glocal Perspectives on Intangible Cultural Heritage: Local Communities, Researchers, States and UNESCO.”

The main objective of this meeting is to overview at the international level how intangible cultural heritage has been safeguarded in reality, and to examine, from local as well as global perspectives, specifically how local communities, researchers, states and UNESCO have been interacting in the process of safeguarding this heritage.

At this pre-symposium, the following themes will be discussed:

1. How local communities, local officials, researchers and government officials collaborate for the implementation of the UNESCO’s ICH convention including inventory making, safeguarding, nomination and inscription.

2. What is the transformative impact of the Convention, notably how do communities assess its impact ?

3. What is the role of researchers as “cultural brokers” in assessing the impact of the implementation of the Convention?

4. What are the possible feedback mechanisms for local communities to communicate to UNESCO the impact of the Convention on them?