This workshop aims to encourage lively discussion by the participants about the following issues affecting the Management of Intangible Heritage in African museums:

Management
What are the issues affecting the management of our intangible heritage at institutional, local, regional, national, and transnational levels? Are our museums and cultural institutions prepared to deal with intangible heritage and what are the policy and legislative and regulatory frameworks, and management tools with which they should work?

Skills / Capacity
What are the existing human and physical resources, and how do museums and cultural institutions develop new skills, knowledge and methodologies?

Collection and Preservation
How do we preserve our intangible heritage and reduce threats? Who is responsible for collection of intangible heritage? What are the policies guiding collection? What is the role of the owner of the knowledge or heritage? Who are the owners of the knowledge and what are the copyright and intellectual property challenges? What is the role of museums and cultural institutions in collecting/appropriating this knowledge, and should museums compensate the owners of the knowledge? How effectively are collection and preservation of intangible heritage tied to public education and awareness programs?

Research
What are the new methodologies of research? What are the research relationships and where does the research take place? What is the politics of knowledge in research on intangible heritage? What strategic relation should exist between research and preservation? What is the state of research in different trans-national regions in Africa on intangible heritage and what is the history of this research? What research programs and partnerships exist and should be developed for the collection and preservation of intangible heritage.

Implementation
What are the challenges to the implementation of cultural policies, or to drawing up cultural policies and legislative frameworks where there are none? How can the international conventions be implemented in national frameworks and in museums and cultural institutions in dynamic and creative ways.