Mag. Maria Walcher - Österreich
Abstract of the presentation
Intangible Cultural Heritage and Traditional European Medicine – Proposals for Greater Visibility of TEM through Inclusion in the Three UNESCO Lists
Branch: Naturopathy (Traditional European Medicine)
The adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003 by UNESCO has set new standards in dealing with living traditions. Based on a broad perception of culture, it led to a paradigm shift. All at once, culture included much more than artistic disciplines or social practices and rituals. Especially fields such as Traditional Craftsmanship and Knowledge and Practices Concerning Nature and the Universe—including traditional medicine systems—brought new perspectives.
In correlation with the highly appreciated World Heritage List concerning tangible monuments and landscapes, UNESCO opened three lists for ICH:
• The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
• The List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
• The Register of Good Safeguarding Practices
To get accepted on these international lists, member states to the convention have to nominate traditions from their national lists. T
he establishment of such a national inventory/list/register in close cooperation with the bearers of tradition is one of the major tasks in safeguarding intangible heritage. Some European States—for example, Austria, Finland, Germany, and Switzerland—can already refer to entries concerning TEM elements in their national registers.
In light of the various threats which living traditions are facing, especially in the field of TEM, a further step in raising awareness could be a multinational inscription in one of the three lists of UNESCO. The successful application of eight states for Midwifery for the Representative List can already be considered exemplary. Looking for more topics in this field could be helpful and motivating in view of further activities and cooperation.
Curriculum vitae
Maria Walcher is an ethnologist and expert on intangible cultural heritage. As Secretary General of the Austrian Folk Song Institute from 1989 to 2003, she discovered the most hidden corners of Austria through research and spent many years imparting her knowledge of folk music and Viennese music, both practically and theoretically. In this role, she contributed to raising public awareness and elevating the significance of folk culture through numerous projects. From 2006 to 2016, she was the responsible officer for intangible cultural heritage in the Austrian Commission for UNESCO, playing a key role in developing the topic and raising public awareness in Austria. Her current work focuses on disseminating information and publishing on intangible cultural heritage especially on traditional medicine and traditional crafts. Member of the Global facilitators network of UNESCO, Advisor in the Board of ANME – Association for Natural Medicine in Europe 2010: Prießnitz Medal from the German Naturopathy Association for outstanding services to traditional naturopathy
Please note that some of the texts also include machine-generated translations.
