To ensure the possibility of cooperation and networking amongst relevant higher education institutions in the Asia-Pacific region, ICHCAP and UNESCO Bangkok Office co-organised the First Meeting for Asia-Pacific Tertiary Education Network for ICH Safeguarding in July 2018, in which 19 universities and educational institutions from 11 countries arrived at a consensus to establish a higher education network for ICH safeguarding. Later that year, the Asia-Pacific Education Network for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (APHEN-ICH) was officially formed, beginning with 15-member institutions. A similar direction was journeyed in Europe when the European Network on Cultural Management and Policy (ENCATC) carried out an extensive mapping of higher education programmes throughout the continent, identifying a total of 146 programmes at all levels containing ICH subjects. This 2017 UNESCO-ENCATC project dubbed as “Learning on intangible heritage: building teachers’ capacity for a sustainable future” pushed recommendations for the further insertion of ICH in higher education curricula, which have to do with sharing terminologies and rationales, envisaging the needs of the job market, sharing knowledge and practices, as well as cross-disciplinary pollination and cross-assessment of relevant policies. Dr. Cristina Ortega Nuere shares networking experience of higher education institutions for ICH safeguarding in Europe. \n\nCRISTINA ORTEGA NUERE works as the Chief Scientific and Operating Officer of the World Leisure Organization since January 2016. She combines her principal professional activity with teaching at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, and as an invited professor in different universities such as the University of Zhejiang, China. Doctor in Leisure and Human Development, she holds a Master degree in Leisure Management – specialized in Cultural Management and Policies, graduated from the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy from the University of Deusto, Spain, and completed her studies in London, at Middlesex and Westminster University.

With the 2003 UNESCO Convention adopted as a normative tool and essentially a basis to build ICH international cooperation, further attention was driven to a question of building functioning and sustainable ICH networks. In most cases networks do have more or less defined rules of the game, to which all the members agree when joining and acting as members. In this regard, the purpose a network was created for, its mission and the objectives set are the primary considerations. We will see that some networks tend to have more clearly identified obligations and duties for the members while others are more flexible and offer higher degree of freedom. Joining a network on the other had offer certain benefits that differ depending on the nature of a network, and its objectives. Researchers identify three types of networking: operational, personal, and strategic. While operational networks are normally employed to have the job done efficiently, personal networks aim at personal and professional development through external contacts and are oriented to future potential interests. Strategic networks in turn are both external and internal and are needed to identify future priorities and challenges and making stakeholders support them. Although operational, personal, and strategic networks are not mutually exclusive, to maximize efficiency effective leaders learn employing networks for strategic purposes.

The UNESCO Silk Roads Program Overall Goal is in line with the objectives of the UN 2030 Agenda, in particular with SDG16 (Sustainable Peace and Development), advocating for intercultural dialogue and mutual understand and respect as well as social inclusion and cohesion. Interactions along the Silk Roads have played a vital role in connecting cultures and people across many borders. It is an instructive example of a long-lasting legacy of exchange, influence and cooperation. In the first phase, roads of dialogue among the people of Eurasia began in 1988 and the five expeditions along the Silk Roads collected information for analysis about shared heritage. During the second phase, the major goal was to raise awareness about the shared heritage along the Silk Roads. This occurred by empowering youth through an annual photo contest and a Silk Roads youth research grant. The third structure was to develop, compile and disseminate knowledge through a Silk Roads online platform. This work promotes interactive possibilities for an ICH Silk Roads network with ICHCAP and IICAS by identifying and promoting concrete fields and elements that have facilitated and have been generated through cultural interactions and exchanges along the Silk Roads.

ICCN, Interurban Cooperation Network for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, is an international organization of local governments and cultural institutions which includes 31 states, 29 cities and 34 associations. Its main objective is the protection of the intangible cultural heritage around the world and the promotion of sustainable local development. Moreover, it also seeks to achieve cultural peace through mutual understanding and intercultural dialogue between the different populations that are part of it. Julio Nacher shared some good examples of cultural events that successfully held in pandemic situation.

UNESCO organized, in collaboration with ICHCAP an intersectoral online expert meeting on ‘Education-related indicators in the Overall results framework (ORF) for the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and their relationship with SDG 4. This online meeting held in three sessions in December 2020, generated important knowledge on the interface between living heritage and education, identified examples to illustrate the relationship, and provided advice for future monitoring and reporting in these related fields.\nThe public webinar aims to raise awareness for the benefits and challenges of monitoring living heritage in education by sharing the results of the above-mentioned intersectoral expert meeting. It will include a brief presentation on the education-related indicators of the ORF and how they can inform the monitoring system of SDG 4. Speakers will be invited to share their experiences and discuss the benefits of this intersectoral monitoring to inspire relevant stakeholders from the education and culture fields to undertake their own initiatives in this innovative intersectoral field. "he intersectoral expert meeting that was held in three sessions in December 2020 was a platform for international experts in the field of culture and education from across the world to deepen the understanding of the education-related indicators and demonstrate more clearly the linkages this has with the reporting on the progress towards quality education for sustainable development and peace. It generated important knowledge on the interface between living heritage and education, identified examples to illustrate this relationship and provided advice for future monitoring and reporting in these related fields. The webinar welcomes all governmental and non-governmental stakeholders interested in culture and education to join this debate on monitoring living heritage in education.

In 2018, UNESCO partnered with the European Union to launch the Silk Roads Heritage Corridors in Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Iran—International Dimension of the European Year of Cultural Heritage. The project focuses on safeguarding, preserving, and promoting the common heritage along the Silk Roads. The action aims to promote the region’s cultural heritage and develop heritage-based tourism, diversifying tourism products and delivering high-quality visitor experiences along in participating countries and improve the livelihoods of the communities in the region, including youth and women, through capacity building and the creation of opportunities for income-generation and jobs, and, through this, demonstrate the role of culture in sustainable development. The project is implemented along the following main components: 1. Valorization and promotion of tangible and intangible cultural heritage 2. Strengthening capacities in heritage safeguarding, protection and management for the promotion of sustainable tourism 3. Strengthen human and institutional capacities 4. Awareness-raising initiatives to further promote and facilitate partnerships and improve communication.

The transversal contribution of culture to development and the central role of living heritage in the Pacific both as a coping mechanism that ensures social cohesion during a crisis, as well as a way of contributing to the 2030 Development Agenda is undeniable. With almost all PSIDS having ratified the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the focus is now turning towards the implementation of the Convention and more specifically on ways the Convention can contribute to sustainable development. To this end, the UNESCO Office in Apia is currently producing a policy brief that will aim to inform policy and decision makers, as well as raise awareness around the important contribution of culture and its relevant institutions in the recovery phase following COVID-19.

Since its inception in 2006, the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU) noted very limited professional heritage expertise in the culture sector. In Uganda, both private and public universities do not offer fully fledged degree courses and therefore those with professional qualifications in heritage were trained outside the country. Over the past 14 years, CCFU has carried out trainings for development partners and designed training manuals on heritage preservation and promotion, but soon realized this was not sufficient. In 2017 CCFU, in consultation with partner universities, applied for assistance from UNESCO’s ICH International Assistance Fund to design a degree course on ICH and Sustainable Development for universities in Uganda. As the coordinating organisation, CCFU ensured that representatives from four universities, the Ministry of Education and Sports, the Uganda National Commission for UNESCO, the Department of Culture and Family Affairs, as well as the National Council for Higher Education formed a Steering Committee and working groups that were responsible for designing the university course syllabus. Emily Drani talks about inter-regional field experiences on curriculum development in Uganda. \n\nMS. EMILY DRANI is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda, an organisation dedicated to promoting the value of ‘culture in development’ approach. She holds a Master of Philosophy in Development Studies with a focus on Endogenous Development.

Seong-Yong Park talks about the importance of ICH for the sake of sustainable development along with the characteristics of Silk Roads region. He also discusses the various Information and networking programs ICHCAP has implemented in collaboration with Central Asian nations, especially nations along the Silk Roads, showing ICHCAP’s interest in developing projects along the Silk Roads. At the same time, He proposes to develop a broader network targeting the Silk Roads region with upgraded functions of sharing information and building networks. In addition, he argues that for better opportunities for future collaborations, establishing a Silk Roads ICH Network would be a meaningful journey through cooperative and multilateral partnerships among the stakeholders to recreate the glory of the Silk Roads through ICH.

Human-Anito-Nature Relationship: Indigenous/Local Knowledge, Anitism, and Sustainable Development\t\nBobby dG. Lopez (PhD Researcher, University of the Philippines, Diliman)

Of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, one in particular, SDG 14 Life Below Water, encompasses the conservation and sustainable use of “the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.” To this end, UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) laid the foundation for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-30) (hereafter Decade), which is about to start its Implementation Phase. The Decade is a vital opportunity to improve focus on the ocean’s cultural heritage including intangible/indigenous/traditional culture that can be safeguarded in order to reach a sustainable future in the face of modernisation or climate change. Networks created by stakeholders focusing on Maritime Living Heritage ensure that cultural heritage can be acknowledged as a medium for engaging the public in addressing the sustainability of our coasts, seas, and oceans.