The Association of Water Users, also known as Ob Umed (literally “water is hope”), a Tajik NGO, works toward increasing the environmental education of the population, emphasizing certain attitudes toward water based on folk traditions and ancestral knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe. To formally dedicate time to reflect on the importance of water and its survival today, Ob Umed organizes and celebrates holidays within the framework of a project called “Revival of Traditional Methods of Water Resources Management in Mountain Communities”.\n\nOn 13 May, one such holiday, the beginning of the irrigation season was organized in the town of Dzhiruddjara–Tishordara. Representatives of water users of all nine Jamoat villages, employees of relevant state structures, public organizations, and mass media were invited to the holiday.\n\nEarly in the morning, the final works (hashars) were carried out to repair canals and irrigation ditches, a process in which village water users took part. As noted at the beginning of the event, the holiday is part of the national traditions; it does not only mean the beginning of the irrigation season but also an event that unites all water users and directs them to mutual understanding, consensus, and joint solution of issues relating to water problems in the area.\n\nDuring the ceremony, several water-related rituals were performed, including the pronunciation of prayers at the main sources, poetry reading, and other types of ancient traditional practices. Since the area is known for its water scarcity, these traditional practices are believed to be capable of encouraging residents to increase the volume of water in the sources and changing people’s attitude to water and its fair distribution. The event also provides the younger generation an example on how to respect water according to the teachings of tradition. A festive banquet followed and enriched the bond of the participants.\n\nPhoto : Ob Umed © Aiza Abdyrakhmanova

Rituals and traditional practices lay the basis for people to gather together to worship, sing, feast, dance, or create music. In Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley, the Newar community holds a festival known as Sithi Nakha, which is chiefly about how people positively relate to customary water sources. Sithi Nakha is celebrated either in the month of May or June, depending on the lunar calendar, by cleaning ponds, wells, water sprouts—any water source that was historically important to the Nepali people. It should also be noted that the celebration of Sithi Nakha falls on a time before the beginning of the monsoon rain, when water is scarce, so it is the ideal time to clean the sources of water.\n\nIn the old days before the pipeline system was introduced, traditional water sources were the only option for drinking water in the valley. As a symbol of piety, people built stone sprouts and wells; the belief that providing water to the thirsty is an act of nobility. The construction of water facilities is favorably viewed since people consider such will bear merits for seven generations in the family as well as merits after life. Due to these reasons, there are numerous water structures within the Kathmandu Valley and beyond, where the same thought had a perceptible influence. Other than cleaning water sources, people participating in the celebration also partake in a special dish—pancake made up of various lentils.\n\nThis year the festival was celebrated on 19 June 2018. In addition to community members cleaning water sources, some schools also organized educational cleaning programs in the water sprouts. Sithi Nakha has been a valuable reminder of the importance of water and environment, the need to take care of the planet for now and the future.\n\nPhoto : School children cleaning a water sprout during the Sithi Nakha Festival © Oxford Practical English School

Homegardens are traditional systems that combine agriculture, forestry, and livestock and provide economic, environmental, and social benefits for the householders. These agroforestry systems are often cited as the epitome of sustainability, yet the scientific community has long ignored them. Today, however, these age-old systems are receiving increasing attention owing to their potential to mitigate environmental problems such as reduced biodiversity and rising levels of carbon dioxide while providing economic gains and nutritional security to their owners.

"Ambae Island, Vanuatu: Home to more than 11,000 people, the people indige- nous to the land. In April 2017, Ambae’s Manaro volcano, Mount Lombenben, rumbled continuously, spewing torrents of volcanic matter and gas from its crater, covering the majority of the island in thick layers of ash, hampering water sources, and destroying vegetable plots and gardens. The government of Vanuatu ordered a mandatory evacuation of the island and the people of Ambae were forced to relocate to neighboring islands— Pentecost, Maewo, and Espiritu Santo—leaving their homes, animals, and crops behind. The impact was devastating. Schooling was disturbed, livelihoods perished, and many people struggled with trauma and the challenges of integrating into new communities where they didn’t have strong connections or access to land and natu- ral resources."

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is the most populated city in the country. It is also one of the most populated cities in the world with a density of 23,234 people per square kilometer within a total area of 300 square kilometers. The Greater Dhaka Area has a population of over 18 million as of 2016 (World Population Review, 2017). According to the UN World Urbanization Prospects (2014), the population of Dhaka was only 336,000 in 1950. Dhaka has always been a center of cultural vibrancy and has a long history and tradition of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The cultural vibrancy and heritage that have given glory to Dhaka for centuries often get buried under different modern-day civic problems. As an ever-expanding mega city, Dhaka is losing its cultural spaces to religious and ruling coteries. Many of the city’s prime spaces are now earmarked for various public and private business, commercial, or military purposes. The situation was not so deplorable even during the Pakistan era from 1947 to 1971.

Shadhona is an institute situated in the heart of Dhaka. Other than being an institute for training in different dance forms of the sub-continent, they promote cultural tourism and safeguard ICH traditions through practice and exposure to performing artists, exchange programs and extensive documentations through photography and video recordings.

I would like to send my sincere congratulations on the tenth anniversary of the ICH Courier. It is surprising that the excellent worldwide magazine has been published, recognizing the importance of information sharing in the field of intangible cultural heritage. In addition, I feel very rewarding and proud that the Korean government has contributed to promoting intangible cultural heritage of the Asia-Pacific region internationally through the ICH Courier. I believe that the ICH Courier has been a key channel for conveying treasures of the Asia-Pacific region. I would like to express my applause to the excellent work of the editors and ICHCAP who have been working for the magazine for the last ten years. I hope that the ICH Courier will further develop and become a medium that leads in disseminating intangible cultural heritage information and leads global trends in this field.

What do sauna bathing, folk dance tikkuristi, rag rug weaving, picking mushrooms and snow games have in common? They are all part of living intangible cultural heritage, present in the everyday life and celebrations of the people in Finland. They are practised by people of all ages, in different corners of Finland. And yes, they are very much alive! \nAll of the Nordic countries have ratified the UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Web-based inventories have been created in all of them to make it possible for strong standing of grass-roots communities to create more awareness for their ICH and to dig deeper into safeguarding. This paper looks more closely on the example of Finland with its Wiki-Inventory for Living Heritage. As a good example of Nordic cooperation, the web platform Nordic Safeguarding Practices is introduced.

"In December 2011, ICHCAP approved US$15,000 in funding to implement the project, Strengthening Intangible Cultural Heritage Database and Disseminating Best Practices of Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding between December 2011 and March 2012. The project was coordinated by the Department of National Heritage, Culture and Arts and facilitated by the Fiji Arts Council with assistance rendered by the Institute of iTaukei Language and Culture on certain activities. \nThe project was twofold: \n The first part looked at strengthening the current Fiji Arts Council database to emulate that which was with the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs, looking after the indigenous population only. \n The second portion of the project tried to facilitate awareness raising on the Cultural Mapping programme undertaken by the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs and to disseminate the program as a best practice initiative for mapping other ethnic communities in Fiji and as a possible nomination as best practice model for ICH safeguarding on the UNESCO Register for Best Practices. \n2. Objectives \n• Ascertain ICH elements to be used as basis for data collection from ethnic communities in Fiji; \n• Raise awareness of the 2003 ICH Convention with implementing institutions and local organisations, such as women’s groups, youth associations, and churches. \n• Strengthen the Fiji Arts Council database on artists to be inclusive of all other ethnic groups; \n• Facilitate the nomination drafting of cultural mapping as a best practice methodology with UNESCO; \n• Facilitate the Living Human Treasures initiative through consultation with the relevant stakeholders and their inputs considered fully. "

The Taumako voyaging arts include a wind-position based, systematic model of wayfinding, complex swell patterns not yet reported for other traditions, weather modification, and ancestral lights that signal the direction and distance of land. In this paper I observe that transmission of the ancient voyaging arts has promoted cultural fulfillment, and can result in greater resiliency and sustainability once a basic skill levels have been mastered and partnerships between islands have been re-established.

Director-General Samuel Lee, distinguished guests, and fellow participants of this important and significant UNESCO conference to reflect on the efforts to safeguard intangible cultural heritage and prospects for the future, it gives me pleasure and great honor to take part in this historical moment primarily as a student. I want to learn, to relearn, and also to unlearn, especially about intangible heritage that has suffered for\nmore than a hundred and fifty years—a great deal has suffered to a point of cultural marginalization or even annihilation, especially in the motherland of the cultural heritage. Of course, I am referring to Confucian tradition—not just temples, academies, and tangible structures, but Confucian tradition as one of the most precious intangible cultural heritage elements of East Asia, which includes not just China, but also Korea,\nJapan, Vietnam, and East Asian diaspora around the world.

The International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (ICHCAP) is an international organization established under an agreement between UNESCO and the Korean government in 2011 for safeguarding ICH in the Asia-Pacific region. ICHCAP’s core functions are in information and networking, and the recently revised agreement articulates the Centre’s growing role in information sharing and networking in the region. The Program for Supporting Digitization Project of ICH-related Analogue Audiovisual Materials is one of our flagship projects.\n\n‘Information’ and ‘networking’ constitute the key functions of ICHCAP, and at the same time, they are the methodologies. That is, they contribute to our mission of safeguarding ICH through enhancing the visibility of the 2003 Convention, building a mechanism for sharing ICH information, and establishing a close-knit network that connects various actors at different levels.