On June 25 and 26, Panama will host the third workshop "Building the capacities of community leaders and public managers for the Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding (PCI) Afro-descendant from the CECC SICA and Cuba region," aimed at completing the first phase of the work process in consensus and shared reflection among participating countries, especially with respect to the Afro-descendant VIVE Heritage Safeguarding and with respect to the eight countries of the SICA region (Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Dominican Republic and Panama).

That meeting will have the participation of fifteen Afro-descendant community researchers and nine governmental representatives from the nine participating countries and will also have an enabling team with a representative from ONECA and an outside consultant from CRESPIAL, with support for restraint and co-ordination by the project manager by CECC / SICA.

The workshop will develop a participatory work methodology, with a share of the participants' previous knowledge and with an emphasis on dialogue and interchange among countries for the construction of new training related to the safeguard of Afro-descendant VIVO Heritage. That will be undertaken through individual and group work for reflection and exchange, theoretical exhibitions to motivate discussion, plenary to share and agree on what worked and a hybrid final assessment, individual and group, to review the work process and to identify needs and proposals for adjustments for the future (phase 2).

The organizing partners of this project include the Central American Educational and Cultural Coordination (CECC / SICA) with support from the Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Latin America (CRESPIAL), the Central American Black Organization (ONECA), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO San José) and the Ministries of Culture of the region, among other partners.

Project background

The 1st Workshop on "Building the Capacities of Community Leaders and Public Administrators for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (IPC) Afro-descendant from the CECC SICA and Cuba" was also held in Panama from 1 to 5 May 2023. At this workshop, four intervention modules were developed: Module 01 - Key Concepts of the IPC, Module 02- Public Policies for the Safeguarding of the IPC, Module 03- Community participation in the framework of the safeguard of the IPC and Module 04- Measures and tools for the safeguard of the IPC (Inventories).

Moreover, the second meeting of the workshop "To put together the processes of safeguard of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (PCI) Afro-descendant from the region CECC / SICA and Cuba" was held in El Salvador from July 17 to 21, 2023. During this workshop, national mapping was shared and training capsules have been developed to project inventories of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Similarly, representatives of each participating country have been provided with a basic management of the necessary methodological tools for the production of an Afro-living status of the safeguard of the national heritage.

To get more information about the evolution of this event, you can follow social networks from:

• CECC / SICA, https: / / www.facebook.com / CECCSG, @ cecc _ sica at Instagram, https: / / www.youtube.com / user / ceccsica and @ se _ CECCSICA at twitter.
• Besides @ miculturapma for Instagram and twitter and Panama's Ministry of Culture for Facebook and Youtube.