UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme

Launched in 1992, the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme aims to strengthen higher education and research by establishing UNESCO Chairs in key areas aligned with UNESCO’s fields of competence. The network fosters international academic cooperation, knowledge sharing, and dialogue between institutions. As of May 2025, the programme includes 950 Chairs across 120 countries.

Since 2018, the University of Tartu’s Institute of Cultural Research has hosted the UNESCO Chair on Applied Studies of Intangible Cultural Heritage, founded by Professor Kristin Kuutma and since June 2025 led by Associate Professor Elo-Hanna Seljamaa. On March 7, 2019, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and University of Tartu Rector Toomas Asser signed a cooperation agreement, formally establishing the Chair within UNESCO’s global framework.

The Chair supports the University of Tartu’s strategic goal to internationalise teaching and research in the humanities. Activities are primarily focused on master’s and doctoral level studies, especially in the fields of ethnology and folkloristics. This includes the English-taught master’s programme Folkloristics and Applied Heritage Studies, launched in 2017.

In the field of intangible cultural heritage, the University of Tartu aims to deepen collaboration with partner universities from Latvia to Belgium and Morocco to Mexico—many of which also host UNESCO Chairs. Strengthening the link between cultural heritage and higher education is a growing priority within UNESCO, and the Chairs network plays an important role in implementing the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Since 2021, a second UNESCO Chair has been established in Estonia—at the Estonian Academy of Arts, within the Department of Cultural Heritage and Conservation. The UNESCO Chair on Heritage Studies is coordinated by Associate Professor Riin Alatalu.

For more information about the UNESCO Chairs network, visit the UNESCO website. Guidelines on how to apply for a UNESCO Chair are available here. To express interest in joining the programme, please contact the Estonian National Commission for UNESCO at unesco@kul.ee or call +372 644 1431.