Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage through formal education in Flanders: A critical analysis of the implementation of the 2003 UNESCO Convention

In 2003, UNESCO adopted the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. This paper investigates its implementation in the formal education system in the Flemish part of Belgium. Linking education not only in the Convention but also according to the Overall Results Framework (ORF), a tool to measure its impact. Three levels are examined. First, the national level is discussed; on this macro level, educational policy and learning outcomes take shape. Second, the educational providers (meso), who transfer these outcomes into curricula. Third, schools and teachers (micro), who bring the curricula into practice. In addition, recommendations to enhance implementation are proposed.
The results show that the 2003 Convention has not yet permeated into the policy processes. Although the Flemish government developed open learning outcomes that accommodate awareness-raising and – to a lesser extent – the safeguarding of intangible heritage, the 2003 Convention did not serve as a reference framework. Evidently, considering the short time frame since the conception of the ORF, the results need to be interpreted as a baseline measurement on which to build. To conclude, this paper aims to put the overall results framework to the test in a particular context. Nevertheless, when leaving the institutional and operational scope of the specific case in Flanders behind, the paper provides useful reflections and strategic learnings for the implementation of the 2003 UNESCO Convention in other contexts as well.