The Elderly s Role in Preserving and Transmitting Intangible Cultural Heritage

The elderly play a crucial role in safeguarding and transmitting intangible cultural heritage (ICH), ensuring the continuity of traditions, languages, and knowledge across generations. Their lived experiences, oral histories, and mastery of traditional practices serve as a bridge between the past and the present. This essay explores the significance of their contributions in various cultural contexts, emphasizing the need for intergenerational dialogue to maintain and revive endangered practices. Furthermore, it argues that empowering the elderly in these roles not only strengthens cultural identity but also fosters social cohesion in modern societies. This essay begins with a theoretical framework and a review of the current state of research on the topic, followed by a brief description of the case of Extremadura, Spain. The study also incorporates findings from my own fieldwork, highlighting the specific contributions of older generations in this region to the preservation of intangible heritage. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.