Centre for Agrarian History (CAG)

The non-governmental organization CAG (Centre for Agrarian History) is officially recognized by the Flemish Government as an expertise centre for the heritage of agriculture and food. CAG aims to study and safeguard the history of agriculture, countryside and food since 1750. CAG wants to make this heritage accessible for a broad, national and international public.

Therefore, CAG offers support, advice and tailor-made cooperation with all active participants, organisations and people interested in the heritage of agriculture and food. CAG aims to inform, educate as widely as possible, by means of publications, lectures, events and the internet. The necessarily academic support is provided by its sister organization the Interfaculty Centre for Agrarian History (ICAG) of the University of Leuven.

CAG deals with the heritage of agriculture and food in an integrated way with attention to movable, immovable and intangible heritage. During the past 12 years, CAG has been developing much experience with safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. Since July 2012, a CAG employee is particularly concentrating on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage of agriculture, countryside and food in a profound and renewed way. CAG helps the heritage communities with recognizing, identifying and transmission of intangible heritage.  In other words, we design tailor-made safeguarding trajectories so that the ICH of agriculture, countryside and food actively can survive.

Additionally CAG takes part in a national network on ICH in Flanders. In close cooperation with the other network partners CAG invests in promoting and communicating UNESCO’s policy on ICH in general and contributes to the implementation of the related ideas and beliefs in Flanders. To that purpose CAG is one of the organisations involved in the contributing content to www.immaterieelerfgoed.be, an interactive website with database, and in guiding practioners and tradition bearers towards the site by pointing out its relevance and importance to them.

 Year of accreditation: 2013

Domain(s): (d) knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe;
(e) traditional craftsmanship.

Main countries where the NGO works: Belgium

Local, national or international level of the NGO: National NGO, operating in international perspective and networks