Goa, April 18 -- Vivek Menezes

Today is the 43rd World Heritage Day, with a theme of great relevance to Goa and the world at this moment: Emergency Response for Living Heritage. International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) -which has steered the annual commemoration for over four decades -says it wants to bring "visibility to the work undertaken to conserve and protect the world's culturally significant 'Living Heritage' increasingly at risk from accelerating disasters and conflicts unfolding in complex, multi-hazard contexts.

UNESCO defines 'Living Heritage' as the 'oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals and festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe, and the knowledge and s...