On 1 December 2022, during the UNESCO 17.COM in Rabat, Morocco, #HeritageAlive and the ICH NGO Forum had the pleasure to award Laura Lopez of CIOFF the first Albert van der Zeiden Prize to recognize her contributions to #HeritageAlive and her work supporting the spirit of the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Through her work at her NGO, she has put forth admirable efforts to support communities and ICH bearers.
The Albert van der Zeiden Prize was established to honor our friend and colleague. Albert van der Zeiden was an active member of the #HeritageAlive Editorial Board since 2012. He was a highly involved member of the ICH NGO Forum. In the summer of 2021 Albert van der Zeiden unexpectedly passed away. This eponymous prize was introduced to acknowledge his prestigious work for the ICH NGO Forum and #HeritageAlive.
The ICH NGO Forum awarded a scholarship of €500 to the winner, and suggested #HeritageAlive Editorial Board to be in charge of the prize the #HeritageAlive Editorial Board convened a jury and reviewed candidates under the following criteria:
- A young writer (under 35 years of age)
- Representing an NGO
- Published an article in #HeritageAlive
- The article should contribute to the NGOs work in the field of ICH
With a unanimous decision, the jury decided that Laura Lopez fulfilled the criteria for her exceptional work and participation in the ICH field.
