The role of social media in the conservation and safeguard of gastronomy as intangible cultural heritage

Abstract

Since 2003, when UNESCO launched the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and gastronomy was included in the World Heritage List as ICH in 2016, the importance of this topic has increased. However, globalization and the mixing of different cultures means that gastronomy as a heritage and related cultural traditions may be lost, requiring urgent action toward its preservation. Nowadays, social media platforms and their importance in today’s society in various fields can be a useful tool in protecting intangible cultural heritage through its dissemination. This study was carried out in the framework of the EURICA project aimed at preserving ritual cuisine as a manifestation of heritage and folklore, making it easily accessible and usable through digitising ritual recipes. In this context, this study aims to identify and analyze already existing international platforms and networks related to gastronomy as cultural heritage, as well as the presence of these platforms in social media. As a result, three international platforms related to the theme of gastronomy as heritage were found and analyzed in terms of their amplitude and spread in social media. It has been found that many countries in different parts of the world have, relatively recently, shown a trend toward preserving their cuisine as a cultural heritage.