Begin this activity by asking students to define the term cultural heritage. Student responses might include:

• Race, religion, traditions, language, food, clothing, music, dance, stories

Confirm students’ responses as appropriate and then share with them that there are typically two types of cultural heritage that we know about and celebrate-tangible and intangible cultural heritages. As needed, define for students that intangible refers to items you can not touch or feel. You can again prompt students for examples of tangible and intangible cultural heritages or you can provide the definitions and examples. 

• Tangible Cultural Heritage-generally refers to physical artifacts, structures, and sites of significance. This might include monuments, art, religious objects or everyday objects such as pottery or tools that highlight life long ago
• Intangible Cultural Heritage: generally refers to traditions, practices, knowledge or skills that are passed down between generations. This might include music, dance, rituals, stories or languages/dialects.

Introduce students to UNESCO-the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and explain that part of their work in promoting international cooperation is to develop mutual understanding and respect. Identify that one way UNESCO does this is by highlighting and preserving both Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritages. 

Display for students the UNESCO proclamation of the Manden Charter as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity from 2009. Following reading the proclamation, ask students to make predictions on what they will find in the charter.

• Given the timeframe and the context, what types of rules and expectations for the society would you expect to see in the charter? 
• Do you think these rules and expectations will be the same for all people? If not, who do you think the rules and expectations may differ for?
• Will these rules and expectations align with how we live our lives in the twenty-first century? 

Provide students with a copy of the Mande Charter. Examples can be found online in pdf form. You may need to review and choose if you feel that you would like to provide students with all of the charter or select excerpts. After providing students with review time, have them revisit their predictions to determine if they were accurate or not.