The question of intangible heritage and museums is attracting a growing attention within the international cultural organizations. A milestone in the development of an agreed framework for dealing with this subjkect is given by the UNESCO Convention of Intangible Heritage. We are pleased to publish here an article sent by Ewa Bergdahl discussing some key-issues related to this challenging subject. 
Ewa Bergdahl is since 2009 Director of Public Engagement at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm and was Managing Director at Norrkopings Stadsmuseum and at the Ekomuseum Bergslagen.
This article will be published in a book on intangible cultural heritage edited by Prof. Peter Davis.

Robert R.Janes is the Editor-in-Chief of "Museum Management and Curatorship.

This article is abridged from Robert R. Janes' new book Museum in Troubled World: Renewal, Irrelevance or Collapse (Routledge, 2009) and was originally published in MUSE (September/October, 2009). The author wishes to thank Vera Kiriloff (Editor) and the Canadian Museums Association for permission to reprint this article.