On Friday 17 October 2025, from 9:30 to 10:30 (CEST), the EU-funded TRANSITION project, coordinated by the University of Duhok, hosted a webinar to mark the UNESCO International Day of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The initiative was also framed in the #ErasmusDays celebration.
The one-hour session focused on how higher education can contribute to preserving the intangible cultural heritage of minorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Yemen, and how academic offer and teaching courses can better address cultural heritage preservation and minority issues. The webinar opened with welcoming remarks by Silvia Marchionne, Senior Project Manager at UNIMED, who presented the objectives of the TRANSITION project and the rationale for focusing on cultural heritage and minority communities in these two contexts.
The presentation of the TRANSITION report
At the core of the event was the presentation of a new report – realised within the framework of the WP2 led by UNIMED and Soran University – on existing higher-education curricula related to cultural heritage and minority issues in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Yemen. The report, presented by Prof. Botan Tofiq Maghdid from Soran University, maps current course offerings and programmes, identifies gaps and weaknesses, and highlights promising examples that could inspire future reforms in strengthening cultural heritage preservation and minority protection in the academic curricula. Discover the executive summary and the report.
Intangible cultural heritage insights from Kurdistan region of Iraq
Moving from academia to the field, Dr. Ali Khidher, Manager of the Peacebuilding Centre at the University of Duhok, drawing on his presentation “Intangible Heritage of Minorities in the Kurdistan Region – Participation Enhances Protection Opportunities”, explored the richness and diversity of intangible heritage in the Kurdistan region. He highlighted how traditional crafts, clothing, food practices, religious music, and the linguistic heritage of Kurdish and Syriac dialects formed a living bridge between communities, and how shared cultural elements strengthened dialogue and mutual understanding. At the same time, he pointed out two key challenges, such as the impact of technology, migration, limited institutional support and resources, as well as the gradual loss of knowledge and skills among younger generations.
Intangible cultural heritage insights from Yemen
The webinar also featured a dedicated focus on Yemeni musical traditions and their role as a pillar of the country’s intangible cultural heritage. In his contribution “Safeguarding the Musical Memory of Yemen: The First Recordings in Aden (1935–1960)”, Jean Lambert, Assistant Professor at the Eco-Anthropology Laboratory, National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) of Paris, and Associate Researcher at CREM-LESC, Université Paris-Ouest Nanterre, retraced the history of the first Yemeni recordings on 78 rpm records in Aden and beyond, and the central place of instruments such as the Yemeni lute (qanbûs) in local musical culture. He also illustrated the dramatic consequences of conflict on this heritage, including the plundering of the Center for Musical Heritage in Sanaa in 2017 and the theft of its rare collection of around 400 historical records, thereby underlining the urgency of reconstituting and digitising this corpus in cooperation with Yemeni researchers in the country and in the diaspora.
Other cultural insights from Yemen are available in this presentation of Dr. Gharam Nabeel Ismail, Lecturer at the Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, University of Aden.
The role of universities: the example of the TRANSITION project
In conclusion, the intervention of the TRANSITION Project Coordinator, Dr. Dilshad A. Haleem, Vice President at University of Duhok, underscored the pivotal role of universities in addressing these challenges and advancing the protection of intangible cultural heritage. Participants highlighted the need to integrate this heritage into curricula, to train and empower teaching staff with tools and adequate skills to better identify and valorise this rich and diversified heritage.
By organising cultural diversity events, establishing live and virtual museums on campuses, encouraging research on minority heritage, and building strong partnerships with civil society, the TRANSITION project can really make a difference in raising awareness and advocating for peace, resilience and dialogue through cultural heritage protection and minority valorisation.
The recording of the webinar is available here.