AZERTAC informs that on October 13, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Intellectual Property Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the partnership of the Federation of Creative Industries of Azerbaijan, the company "Global Communications and Innovations" launched the next, fourth training course within the framework of the "Development of Heritage Management Skills" training program.

The subject of the training course covers UNESCO's "2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage".

Mr. Vasif Eyvazzade, Chairman of the Board of the Federation of Creative Industries, head of the training program, gave brief information about the previous three training courses held within the framework of the "Development of Heritage Management Skills" training program. He said that those training courses included the Hague Convention of 1954, the conventions on the protection of cultural heritage during conflicts, and the protection of cultural diversity.

Noting that the main trainers are from Turkey, Mr. Vasif Eyvazzade said: "In two days, the training will be held on the Convention on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO. In the trainings, intangible cultural heritage, its importance for countries, points in the text of other conventions, important issues in the instruction document will be discussed, information will be given about the forms of preparation of nomination files, the types of representative list”.

Deputy Minister of Culture Mrs. Sevda Mammadaliyeva wished success to the work of the course and noted that the training course started today is dedicated to an important topic. The Convention is of particular importance for the Ministry of Culture in terms of its content and activities, as its main goal is to protect cultural examples at the national and international level, which are the product of the creativity of people in UNESCO member countries. Since Azerbaijan officially joined this convention in 2006, it has been active in UNESCO and supported a number of projects. As a result of successful activities at UNESCO, 15 nominations of our country were included in the world heritage list.

Stating that new nominations will be included in the list this year, the Deputy Minister said: "We closely cooperate with the Turkish side in our activities. Such trainings contribute to the development of skills, the creation of relations between institutions and the training of specialists."

Speaking at the event, the head of the Office of the Intellectual Property Agency, Mr. Khudayat Hasanli, emphasized the importance of organizing a training course on the "2003 Convention on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage" of UNESCO. He noted that in accordance with the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated March 12, 2007, the Ministry of Culture, the Intellectual Property Agency and the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences are authorized bodies within their powers to protect intangible cultural heritage in the territory of Azerbaijan under the specified UNESCO Convention.

Highlighting the active participation of the Intellectual Property Agency in the implementation of the procedures related to our country's accession to this Convention, Mr. Khudayat Hasanli said that the Agency also plays an important role in creating a normative and legal framework in the field of intangible cultural heritage protection. Thus, the draft of the Agency's "Regulation on state registration of Azerbaijani folklore expressions (traditional cultural expressions) and traditional knowledge of Azerbaijan" and "Sample of the Certificate on state registration of Azerbaijani folklore expressions (traditional cultural expressions) and traditional knowledge of Azerbaijan" of the Cabinet of Ministers 2021- was approved by the Decision dated August 20. While preparing the rules, in addition to the Laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On Legal Protection of Azerbaijani Folklore Expressions" and "On Copyright and Related Rights", the provisions of UNESCO's "Convention on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage" were also taken into account.

Mr. Khudayat Hasanli noted that methodical recommendations and books were published by the Agency to increase awareness and knowledge in the field of intangible cultural heritage protection, as well as various events were held. Professor Kamran Imanov has published several high-quality books on this topic. In his book "Intellectual Property: Protection of Folklore and Traditional Knowledge and Armenian Plagiarism", the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage, the procedures for registering intangible cultural heritage samples as intellectual property, the composition of intangible cultural heritage and other related issues are explained in detail.

Representatives of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and regional departments and cultural institutions operating under it, as well as the State Tourism Agency, the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts, the public legal entity "ABAD", the State Agency for Vocational Education under the Ministry of Education, Special representation of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the liberated territories included in the Karabakh Economic Region, "Shusha" City State Conservation Department, "Icherisheher" State Historical-Architectural Reserve Department, Heydar Aliyev Center, Institute of Manuscripts of ANAS, University of Culture and Arts, Association of Culinary Specialists of Azerbaijan, "Arts Council Azerbaijan" organization and the Composers' Union participated in the training course.