ARCHO
Abbreviation | ARCHO |
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Formation | November 11, 1111 |
Official language | English |
The Astyrian Regional Culture & Heritage Organisation (ARCHO) is an organisation in Astyria dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the region's distinct cultures and heritage.
Registries
ARCHO maintains two separate registries of inscribed heritage. The older and better known is the Registry of Cultural and Heritage Sites, which inventories sites deemed to be of particular significance in the development of a culture and/or historic and heritage landmarks that exemplify features of that culture. ARCHO was originally established to supervise this inventory and lobby national and regional authorities for their conservation. The inscription of sites on this registry is at the discretion of ARCHO, which maintains strict standards on the status and management of sites. The more recent registry, inaugurated in 2001 following the Millennium Conversation on the Historic Future of Astyria, is the Registry of Intangible Cultural Heritage (RICH). The RICH documents traditional practices and concepts characteristic of indigenous cultures. These include techniques of boat-building and fishing, traditional instruments and music and methods of producing food and drink. The definitions employed by the administrators of the RICH have not been without their controversy, and the registry has struggled to gain the traction that the ARCHO sites list enjoys, in part by dint of the greater visibility associated with dramatic landmarks as compared to idiosyncratic cultural practices.
Regions
For administrative and funding reasons, ARCHO sites are grouped into geographical categories called regions. An ARCHO region generally comprises a number of countries which are relatively close together and often share cultural affinities and tightly interwoven histories. A handful of countries are divided among two or more regions; for example, ViZion, which has territory in both Lorecia and Teudallum.
†: Nations with territory in more than one ARCHO region.
Items in italics are non-sovereign dependencies of other nations.