TEHRAN—Isfahan is set to host an international conference aimed at raising awareness of possible harms that intangible cultural heritage in West and Central Asia may face due to climate change.

Experts from Iran, Armenia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkey, as well as guests from Japan and Indonesia, have been invited to attend the event, which will be held in the ancient city from October 17 to 19.

The event will lay great emphasis on the role of non-governmental activists to help shield intangible cultural heritage and discuss ways to promote its resilience against the effects of climate change in Western and Central Asia, ISNA reported on Monday.

Earlier this year, Iran was elected as chair of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage for the Asia-Pacific Group.

Ali Darabi, Iran’s deputy tourism minister, has said that the Islamic Republic firmly adheres to the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

“Iran is one of the most active countries in the world in the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage,” Darabi noted in an address to the 5th Ordinary Governing Council Meeting of the Regional Research Center for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in West and Central Asia.

Tangible heritage is born from the intangible heritage of nations and has revealed the secrets of human-oriented coexistence throughout history… In fact, intangible cultural heritage is the soul of a nation’s culture, the official stated.

“Although intangible cultural heritage has been popularized in international literature over the last two decades, in West Asia and consequently in Islamic Iran, this concept has been of interest for centuries,” Darabi said, adding that Iran is proud of promoting symbols and manifestations of rich intangible cultural heritage.

So far, a variety of Iranian elements, from traditional skills in building and sailing Iranian Lenj boats in the Persian Gulf to Radif Iranian music and from pilgrimages to St. Thaddeus Monastery to the art of the miniature, have a place in UNESCO World Heritage Sites Found List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity to protect the nation's cultural achievements.

According to the United Nations body on culture, intangible cultural heritage refers to traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as B. oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, celebratory events, knowledge and practices related to nature and the universe, or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional handicrafts.

The Convention for the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, adopted by the UNESCO General Conference on October 17, 2003, applies at both national and international levels.

AFM