2010 International Conference on “Human Resource Development for the Transmission of Traditional Skills:

National Approaches and Their Application to Woodworking”

26 January -28 January 2011, Nara Japan

The International Conference on “Human Resource Development for the Transmission of Traditional Skills: National Approaches and Their Application to Woodworking” was successfully held in Nara Japan from January 26 to 28, 2011. It was organized by the Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU Nara), the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, in cooperation with WHITRAP Shanghai.

The conference aims to highlight the challenges involved in transmitting traditional skills and materials to posterity, by looking at different national systems including their legislation for repairing cultural heritage, focusing on levels of overall maintenance and actual operations at work sites, while taking a comprehensive view of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

On Jan 26, the participants visited the Matsuyama which is designated as important preservation districts for groups of traditional buildings and the restoration site of Tanzan-jinja Shrine. On Jan 27 and 28, in the Nara Prefectural New Public Hall, the keynote speeches and case studies were presented by the experts and scholars in the field of cultural heritage preservation from UNESCO Bangkok Office, China, Pakistan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippine and Japan. Meanwhile, the participants brought an extensive discussion on the transmitting traditional skills, especially in the challenges of failure to be handed down to the future generations and its experiences.

As one of the organizers, WHITRAP Shanghai sent a six-people delegation to the conference. Mr. LI Jinsheng, Chief Planner of Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of Shanxi Province, cooperated with Ms. WANG Ying, Professor of Taiyuan Engineering College, delivered a keynote speech on “Current Issues and the System of Repairing Cultural Heritage in Shanxi, China”. Associate Professor GUO Xuan illustrated a case study on “Current State of and Future Tasks for Conservation of Wooden Heritage in China”. Ms. LU Wei, Director of Cooperation and Development Unit, address a speech in the opening ceremony. This is the first collaboration after the Memorandum of Understanding signed between WHITRAP Shanghai and ACCU Nara in July 2010.