Intangible Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development in Italy: A Legal Perspective Towards the Global Legal Protection of Biocultural Diversity

This essay examines the implementation of the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), adopted in 2003, in the Italian context, both at national and regional levels, and tries to connect the ICH with sustainable development. Starting from the examination of the legal definition of ICH, the essay shows how in Italy the concept of culture is exclusively defined in material terms: the code of cultural heritage, which is the organic law on the subject, excludes any protection of intangible heritage. In spite of this evident shortcoming of the Italian legal system, numerous laws have been passed at a regional level aimed at safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. Finally, the analysis shows how intangible cultural heritage is strongly connected to that of sustainable development, since many practices and traditions included in the UNESCO List of intangible heritage are essential for safeguarding biodiversity, landscape, and the most fragile territories. In this sense, it emerges, at an international level, the concept of “biocultural diversity,” that is the diversity that connects nature and environment. Through the examination of concrete cases and current legislation, the essay emphasizes the need to develop an international discipline on the subject in order to safeguard, at the same time, the ecosystem in which we live and the cultural traditions that make our communities alive.