Prof. Mag. Maria Walcher - Austria

Born in Vienna in 1960. Studied Ethnology and Musicology in Vienna.

Since 1980, researcher and cultural mediator in the field of Austrian folk music.

From 1989 to 2003, Managing Director of the Austrian Folk Song Association.

From 2012 to 2015, lecturer in folk music at the University Mozarteum Salzburg.

From 2006 to 2016, head of the National Agency for Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Austrian Commission for UNESCO. Played a significant role in developing the topic of "Intangible Cultural Heritage" in the European context. Her focus on the field “knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe” (as defined by the 2003 UNESCO Convention) led to new approaches, especially regarding Traditional European Medicine.

Maintains international contacts in this area, for example through membership in the UNESCO Facilitator Network for Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Author of numerous publications on folk and Viennese music, folk-cultural topics, and intangible cultural heritage.

Awards:

- Austrian Award for Folk Culture (1999)
- Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of Austria (2004)
- Priessnitz Medal of the German Naturheilbund (2010)