Denmark asks Unesco to give 'hygge' World Heritage status
Denmark has applied for the art of hygge - its own brand of everyday happiness - to be inscribed on the Unesco list of “intangible cultural heritage”, protecting it for generations as an essential and historic part of global society.
The wellness trend - pronounced ‘hoo-gah’ - made waves in 2015, broadly embodying the Danes’ ability to appear constantly relaxed and refreshed, and spawning a fury of coffee table books, pub A-boards and self-help articles.
Last year, hygge, which is credited as the reason Denmark is regularly polled as one of the happiest nations on the planet, was shortlisted as the Oxford English Dictionary’s most influential word of 2016, losing out, perhaps tellingly, to post-truth.
The word - and its way of life - was seen as “a pleasant antidote to the high-profile political debates and celebrity deaths” of the year, teaching instead a “quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being - regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture”.
Now, Denmark is asking the guardians of the world’s cultural heritage to add hygge to a list that includes the likes of the Mediterranean diet, traditional wine-making in Georgia, and coffee culture in Turkey.
“With increasing societal pressures and the growing importance of wellbeing, hygge’s emphasis on togetherness and equality can have real and tangible benefits, not only to the Danish people but to anyone that practises this uniquely Danish social ritual,” said Meik Wiking, founder and CEO of the Happiness Research Institute, which is supporting the bid.
“The importance of intangible cultural heritage is that you have to live it. While it’s something we inherit from our past, hygge is absolutely relevant today and will have real value long into our future.”
The application coincides with a VisitDenmark campaign inviting tourists to “experience the transformational effects of hygge for themselves”. “The campaign reminds people that hygge is an intangible feeling that you cannot buy in a shop,” the tourist board said.
It suggests a bike ride through Copenhagen, a canal tour or a Dine with the Danes home-cooked meal experience as ways to experience hygge.
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Unesco’s committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage meets annually to evaluation nominations for the list. A separate list notes cultural aspects “in need of urgent safeguarding”.
In 2017, Unesco added to the main register the “art of Neapolitan” pizza from Italy, the craft of operating windmills in the Netherlands and uilleann piping in Ireland. To the endangered list, the whistled language of Turkey was inscribed.