Exploring the "Intangible" through ICT

In recent times in most EU countries educational policies encourage schools to sustain and promote awareness of local cultures and heritage; as a consequence, spreading knowledge about local traditions is becoming a target also for educators, who need suitable tools and pedagogies, as well as appropriate sources of information. This paper refers to those cultural expressions that are defined by UNESCO as ICH (Intangible Cultural Heritage) and argues that ICT-based tools can contribute to their diffusion and to the "passing down" to the new generations of the rare know- how behind them. After briefly dealing with the concept of ICH and its value within local communities, the paper refers, as an example, to Cantu a Tenore, a typical singing expression from Sardinia-Italy which is listed in the "Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity". The Cantu a Tenore is a cultural practice that is not yet well known outside Sardinia and so far its transmission has been mainly based on practicing together with peers, looking at and listening to master singers. Corrently, Net -Technologies can play a major role in supporting the diffusion of information regarding the Cantu a Tenore and also its "learning" and "transmission". This feeling is also widespread among the "living human treasures" themselves, namely in those humans who are the depositary of this peculiar and relevant cultural heritage. As a matter of fact, on the one hand a huge amount of information and data (historical, geographical, technical, etc.) are accessible on the web and, on the other, web 2.0 tools can effectively contribute to spreading the rare know- how behind Cantu a Tenore beyond the local communities, to reach learners, general public and researchers. In addition, cutting edge ICT tools can well serve the scope of contributing to the transmission of specific skills to apprentices; the educational platform developed in the framework of the i-Treasures project (an Integrated Project co-financed under the 7th Framework Programme) is an outstanding example of how to exploit the potential of tools and technologies to this end.