Can you say something about yourself and your personal interest in ICH?

Since 1982 I have been a researcher within a government organisation, the Istituto Ricerche Economico Sociali del Piemonte, based in Turin, Northern Italy. Within this organisation, which is a section of the Piedmont regional government, I have focused to a large extent on local development and its relationship with the natural environment and heritage resources. Exploration of these kinds of relationships necessarily involves consideration of the concept of intangible heritages, including how they relate to economics. Intangible heritages are very important to the economy because of their connections to, for example, environmental quality and a sense of community; people need to feel secure, have a sense of well-being, develop their creativity and a sense of trust. All of these factors are related to social capital and I feel that these ‘invisible’ aspects of community life affect visible economic phenomena. Like distant planets on a cloudy night, we are not always able to observe them directly, but we cannot ignore their impact on the heavens.

In Italy, the state bureaucracy ‘owns’ – or at least has responsibility for – almost the entire natural and cultural heritage. At the national level then, heritage is regarded as a concept mainly connected with material things. However, the regional governments and associated institutions, who own very little, are more open-minded on the matter of ICH. Hence, the cultural background of the regional research institute in which I work is a favourable environment for due consideration of the documentation, safeguarding and transmission of intangible heritage.