CLICHE (Capitalizing on Local Intangible Cultural Heritage around Europe) is the name of an Erasmus+ project that unites 7 European schools and other institutions from 6 countries. For three years (2018 – 2021) the schools will work together capitalizing on their local intangible cultural heritage (ICH) for a positive sustainable development of our regions.

AIMS

A well-known fact is that globalization has an impact for every EU citizen with implications at an economic, social and individual level. Cultural activities maintain, strengthen and support regional and local interests against globalizing effects and radiate, besides continuity and stability, a kind of genuine local spirit and general sense of security. Through our project, we want to make students and the wider community aware of what they can be proud of emphasizing 
-the relevance of this capital for today, as an endogenous resource and an asset and 
-the entrepreneurial dimension of the cultural and creative industries. 

WORK PROCESS

As a first step, students will research and inventory their local ICH by using a joint participatory wiki. It will provide a multilingual platform through which schools and the wider communities can highlight their local ICH, ranging from individual local phenomena to large-scale national elements and learn about the ICH of other communities or countries. Being confronted with other cultures and mindsets and understanding the difference between ‘ours’ and ‘theirs’ will help students and communities to make the raison d'être of their own cultural heritage visible. 
But we will not stop there. By creating a vision and a mission statement concerning the safeguarding of ICH and after making a SWOT analysis considering our strengths and weaknesses, we intent to valorize this immaterial capital. Students using their talents creatively and mimicking the real world will think about state-of-the-art ideas, namely startups, apps or virtual enterprises to capitalize on the exploitation of their ICH.

EXPECTED RESULTS

With the organization of thematic workshops at schools and an international fair, we intent to gather useful and implementable knowledge from the project partners about the best practices for the safeguarding and capitalization of intangible cultural heritage, integrating several activities with a multidisciplinary approach: culture and traditions, sustainability, technology and social inclusion. Showcasing innovation based on local traditions can set a good example for all. 
By disseminating the results of our project, we aspire to create a wide network. Networking can be an effective tool towards designing widely-recognized regional brand names making regions clearly discernible and identifiable. Key actors of this networking, apart from schools, are those bearing and updating the local intangible cultural heritage: families, communities, associations, entrepreneurs producing local products and services and other organisations on the field of regional management and development. 

CLICHE PRESENTATION 1 2018.pptx