Intangible cultural heritage | Geopark Schelde Delta

Heritage, a complicated word just like intangible, but what does it really mean? Heritage stands for everything from the past that we consider worth preserving for future generations. Intangible heritage are cultural expressions that are "alive" and thus provide a sense of identity, for example. These can therefore be social customs, rituals, knowledge, experiences, crafts, representations or traditions. Unesco also has an international list for this type of heritage. This list was created to show the diversity of intangible cultural heritage worldwide.

International Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

The International Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Humanity consists of 677 elements from 140 different countries (December '22). This list is part of Unesco's Intangible Heritage Convention. As a mandatory part of this treaty, every country must have an inventory of intangible heritage; so do the Netherlands and Belgium. Naturally, heritage items from these databases are named on the International Representative List of Intangible Heritage of the World. These heritages are not specific to the Geopark area but just as relevant. The entire list can be found here.

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Molen tijdens zonsondergang (Pexels - George Becker)

Craft of the miller

The miller's craft includes the skills and knowledge to operate and maintain a mill. Although this is a typically Dutch profession, it is a dying craft. There are currently about forty professional millers. To protect the craft, various training and educational activities are organized. Also in the Geopark area millers are still active. You can often visit these!

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Beer culture

Producing and enjoying beer is an important part of Belgian culture. Beer culture is more alive than ever with different types of beer and ways of brewing. With that also comes many breweries that pass on the art of beer brewing to younger generations. There are even several courses in mainstream education to do something with beer brewing. Curious about the different beers in the Geopark? Find out more about beer tasting here.

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Weervisserij in Verdronken Land van Zuid-Beveland (VVV Brabantse Wal)

Weir fishery

Weir fishing is probably as old as mankind. It is an official fishing technique in which fish are guided into a trap by stone or wooden structures. Hardly any mechanical aids are used so the technique is very labor intensive. For centuries, anchovies have been fished from Bergen op Zoom. But nowadays weather fishing has declined sharply worldwide. Also in the Eastern Scheldt the profession is declining due to overfishing.

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