UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network

From 2018 to 2021, a joint project by UNESCO and the European Commission titled Engaging Youth for an Inclusive and Sustainable Europe focused on shared priorities in the areas of intangible cultural heritage and education. Developed as part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage and launched in 2019, the project aimed to encourage and stimulate young people to explore their cultural heritage and actively participate in its safeguarding and transmission. The initiative paved the way for new approaches to teaching and learning with living heritage in primary and secondary education institutions. Ten innovative pilot projects—"Raising awareness for and learning with intangible cultural heritage in European schools"—were implemented in cooperation with ten ASPnet (UNESCO Associated Schools) from both primary and secondary levels. These projects explored and developed various methods for integrating intangible cultural heritage (ICH) into different school subjects. Based on UNESCO's work, as well as reports and experiences from the pilot projects, a highly practical resource kit for teachers was created. This handbook provides step-by-step guidance on how to teach using ICH, along with additional materials such as collections of examples and practical tools. The handbook illustrates, through concrete examples, how ICH and its many forms can be creatively used in the classroom.

While the Glöcklerlauf attracts fewer and fewer young participants, most of the students at the Bad Goisern Middle School felt a strong connection to this intangible cultural heritage. They were familiar with the examples given by the teachers and the objects integrated into the lessons and found their inclusion meaningful. Teachers noted that their students showed greater motivation to participate because of this experiential approach. Despite challenging exercises, such as digitizing complex patterns, students enjoyed themselves and achieved excellent results. All learning objectives were met and teachers expressed their interest in continuing to teach through intangible heritage in the future.