This publication contains papers from the 2021 World Intangible Cultural Heritage Forum held online for three days, from September 29 to October 1, 2021. The event was hosted by the National Intangible Heritage Center and organized by ICHCAP.\n\nThe forum was held under the theme of “Rediscovering Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Era of Convergence and Creativity” to re-examine the creative value of intangible cultural heritage and present the possibilities by examining examples of innovation and value creation through intangible cultural heritage.

In this new century, barriers are falling, customs are changing, and yet there is a core of meaning, of affect, of memory that people refuse to give up. In this flowing and foaming world, people rush towards the new, at the same time that they want to cling to meanings and shared experiences with other. Why? Because this sharing gives them a sense of self and of identity in an open world. The loss of such references are keenly felt, psychologically and politically, as is very evident in the world today

I would like to thank Dr. Samuel Lee for inviting me to give this tour of the impacts of the 2003 Convention in the Asia-Pacific Region. I’d also like to thank Dr. Weiming for giving a talk that situated the work we do in a broader context and explained our work with intangible cultural heritage. I found it to be a very stimulating talk and a great way to start this day and a half. I am going to talk on a more basic level about what has been done as a result of countries coming together to ratify an international agreement that aims to safeguard intangible cultural heritage. It was a very ambitious program in the beginning. I was privileged to see a little bit of it working with Ms. Aikawa at the UNESCO headquarters during the time leading up to the Convention.

Dr Diego Gradis expressed his regret at Dr Karma Phuntsho’s inability to attend the conference. Mr Guri asked Ms Joanne Orr to expand on the conditions and the environment for NGO network building. He asked Mr Gauthier whether NGOs in Quebec had other focuses besides research. Regarding African countries, he explained that since societies survived for generations before development, it is possible to build on indigenous knowledge—not for the sake of culture, but for the sake of development.