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A Capacity Building Workshop on the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and Community Resilience in Vanuatu took place in Port Vila, Vanuatu, 23 – 27 April 2018. It was organized the Vanuatu Culture Centre (VCC) with the financial assistance of the International Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific region under the auspices of UNESCO (CRIHAP), Category II Centre in China. The Workshop was facilitated by Mr Sipiriano Nemani from Fiji and Mr Richenel Ansano from Curacao, UNESCO accredited ICH facilitators.

Vanuatu was chosen as a venue for this Workshop in the light of the fact that its diverse ICH has been exposed to natural disasters and climate threats. Twenty participants (eleven men and nine women) took part in the Workshop. The participants learned the mechanisms for the implementation of the ICH Convention at the national level, in particular, the Community-based ICH Inventorying (CBI) methodology. 

Relating to the specific topic of the Workshop, they identified the traditional ways of managing different types of disasters such as cyclones, earthquakes and volcanic activities, and discussed their safeguarding plans in order to ensure their viability. These ICH incorporated into modern Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategies are effective in enhancing community resilience in the event of disasters.

Ms Brigitte Lang, the former VCC staff, shared her experience in taking a lead of the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) of culture following Tropical Cyclone Pam in 2015. This assessment not only provided the useful information on the damage sustained by the Chief Roi Mata’s Domain, World Heritage site in Vanuatu, but also shed light on the built-in mechanisms of Nakamal, indigenous architectures in Vanuatu, against cyclones and their related building skills, knowledge and traditional craftsmanship.

The participants then took part in the field trip to Nguna Island. After having obtained consent from the village chiefs, the participants engaged in the community-based inventorying of Laplap, traditional food, and Nakamal both of which play an important role in the disaster preparedness and mitigation.

This Workshop was the fifth activities that were carried out in the Pacific in partnership with CRIHAP, following Apia (2014), Sydney (2015), Tonga (2016), and Auckland (2017).