ROLE OF PARTICIPATORY GOVERNANCE IN SAFEGUARDING THE TRADITION OF THE SONG AND DANCE CELEBRATION

Abstract

The authors discuss the role of participatory governance in safeguarding and developing intangible cultural heritage using the Nationwide Song and Dance Celebration (SDC) tradition as an example for an analysis. Although the surveys of the community show that the SDC tradition maintenance is considered to be satisfactory and the organisational system at the moment is working fine, for fostering the tradition and increasing the role of the tradition bearers’ stronger involvement and support for the bottom-up activities of the community would be recommended. This is also needed to develop a more democratic and sustainable approach to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, as recommended by the international standard setting instruments that introduce the concept of participatory governance. Moreover, occasional dissatisfaction with authoritarian and top-down governance of the SDC emerges in public and social media, implicitly indicating the need for a more bottom-up approach and greater involvement of community members in the decision making. In addition, the principles of participatory governance should be incorporated in the Song and Dance Celebration Law to be in line with the more recent Law on Intangible Cultural Heritage. Taking into account the activities of the most powerful NGO Latvian Song Celebrations Society, the overall direction can be considered as positive, although there is still a need for improvements.