Ponte…nas ondas!: A Model for Safeguarding the Intangible Heritage of the Luso-Galician Border

Ponte…nas ondas! (PNO!) is an educational and cultural initiative from the Luso-Galician border that, over three decades, has transformed the Minho River frontier into a shared space for learning and transmitting intangible heritage common to both peoples. In 2022, the safeguarding model it inspired was inscribed on UNESCO’s Register of Good Safeguarding Practices for Intangible Cultural Heritage, officially designated as «Intangible cultural heritage of the Luso-Galician border: a safeguarding model created by Ponte…nas ondas!».

From school radio to a safeguarding model

The project originated in March 1995, when a group of sixteen schools along the Minho decided to build a bridge of another kind—made of radio waves—to celebrate the inauguration of the road bridge between Monção, in Portugal’s Alto Minho, and Salvaterra de Miño, in Galicia’s Pontevedra province. From that first radio marathon, broadcast from the studios of Ecos da Raia in Monção and a temporary studio at Salvaterra’s Casa da Cultura, an association and a methodology were born.

The project’s name reflects this dual meaning: the physical bridge connecting two territories and the intangible link that school radio enabled between children and youth sharing the same linguistic and cultural roots. Over time, the initiative expanded to dozens of schools and evolved into a structured program for identifying, documenting, and transmitting their shared legacy.

A heritage shared between Portugal and Galicia

The Luso-Galician border preserves a wealth of oral, musical, and festive traditions that transcend political boundaries: songs, games, legends, gastronomy, crafts, and celebrations born from a common Galician-Portuguese heritage. The Ponte…nas ondas! model operates on the principle that this heritage can only be safeguarded if actively practiced by younger generations, not merely inventoried.

To achieve this, it combines multiple transmission strategies: classroom work, teacher training, direct engagement with tradition bearers, and the use of communication technologies—particularly radio—to disseminate and valorize this legacy. It is a participatory model where the educational community plays a central role in safeguarding, aligning with the principles of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The merit of Ponte…nas ondas! lies less in cataloging traditions than in making children active protagonists of their transmission—a reversal of the usual logic where heritage is studied rather than lived.

UNESCO’s recognition in 2022

The inscription was approved during the 17th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, held in Rabat, Morocco, in December 2022, following a joint application by Portugal and Spain. It marked the first Portuguese—and Galician—entry on the Register of Good Practices, a distinction for exemplary and transferable projects, separate from lists recognizing manifestations like fado or the Mediterranean diet.

UNESCO highlighted the initiative’s participatory nature and its use of school radio, Lusophony, and the rich legacy of traditions shared by these neighboring regions, recommending the model as inspiration for border areas and educational contexts worldwide. By joining the realm of intangible cultural heritage in Portugal, Ponte…nas ondas! demonstrates that safeguarding can first and foremost be an act of education and cross-border citizenship.