This book explores creative and historical traditional food of the world through the articles provided by sixteen authors from different countries. Food is a critical element in human life and is intimately linked to the history and identity of individuals and communities. Traditional food and food ways of a community, region, or an ethnic group have become unique practices through close interactions reflecting the diverse features of the community, including the natural environment, society, politics, economy, and culture. Traditional food and food ways are then firmly embedded in the community while they are transmitted, adapted, and recreated across generations. As such, traditional food is an indispensable element in communal life and is the root of life. This book presents information on ICH reflected in traditional food and allows readers to explore the intangible value of traditional food through historical backgrounds and stories concerning the food.

The 2018 Sub-Regional Meeting for Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding in Northeast Asia jointly organized by ICHCAP and the UNESCO Beijing Office and hosted by the Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO, was held on 10 and 11 October 2016 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia under the theme of ICH education: towards joint collaboration for promoting ICH in formal and non-formal education\nThis report is composed of country reports and case studies discussed at the meeting and generated participation from five Northeast Asian Member States—namely DPRK, Japan, Mongolia, China, and ROK—and international experts as well as the outcome document.

"“Intangible Cultural Heritage NGO’s Strategy in Achieving Sustainable Development: Goal 2. Zero Hunger” is the 3rd outcome of ICHCAP’s Project PINA, or Project Promoting ICH Safeguarding Activities of NGOs in the Asia-Pacific Region.\n\nThis book is a collection of eight selected NGO activities on ICH that are vital to achieving food security from six countries namely, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Tajikistan, and Viet Nam. It provides an opportunity to look into community-based NGO activities and experience that greatly contribute to the promotion of local communities’ welfare by revitalizing and transmitting ICH. Significantly, their approach emphasizes the relationship between ICH and SDG 2: Zero Hunger through their projects on food security and improved nutrition, and sustainable agriculture.\n\nICHCAP hopes that local, regional, and global public awareness about NGOs and their ICH safeguarding activities in the Asia-Pacific region will be substantially raised by this book."

The early history of the Nagas is shrouded in obscurity and many theories abound of their origin  and  migration.  How  and  when  they  came  to  settle  in  the  north‐eastern  region  of India is an unsettled question. \nSeveral  traditions  exist  within  the  multi‐ethnic  Naga  communities  on  their  origins. \nAccording to the oral traditions passed down through songs, folklore and word of mouth the Ao emerged from six stones at Long‐terok, which exists to this day near Chungliyimti, the first legendry settlement of the Ao. ‘Long’ meaning stone and ‘Terok’ six, refers to the six stones from which emerged three pairs of male and female progenitors whom the Ao claim  to  be  their  ancestors.  The  Ao  is  distinguished  with  two  phratries  –Chongli  and Mongsen. The Chongli claim  that the  three males and  females who emerged at Longtrok were Tongpok and his sister Lendina, Longpok with his sister Yongmenala and Longjakrep with  his  sister  Elongshe.  They  were  the  first  human  beings  who  emerged  at  Longtrok. \nEach  male  member  along  with  his  sister  formed  the  three  phratries  of  the  Chongli. \nTongpok founded the Imsong‐Pongen clan, Longpok the Longkumer clan and Longjakrep with  his  sister  founded  the  Jamir  clan  respectively.  The  three  siblings  intermarried  and through  these  marriages,  the  Ao  clans  came  into  existence  and  a  well‐  knitted  clan exogamy marriage evolved that is followed to this day. 

For a very long time, the publication of a book on the intangible cultural heritage of Hà Nội has been a deeply held wish of all the researchers and staff of the Centre for Research and Promotion of Cultural Heritage (CCH), an affiliated organisation of the Association of Cultural Heritage of Viet Nam. The aim of this book is to identify and introduce the richness and great value of the living cultural heritage of Hà Nội, our capital city and a great centre of 1,000 years of civilisation in our country. Our volume is thus a means of documenting and memorialising the boundless merits of our ancestors, and of the many generations of the communities who have continually created and sustained an extraordinarily diverse array of cultural expressions, making Hà Nội a precious repository of ancient traditions and living creativity: a land rich in cultural values, and a source of pride to all Vietnamese citizens, and especially to all the people of Hà Nội.

Present Promotional book was developed by experts of Uzbekistan in line with provision of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003). The Promotional book is the output of the joint cooperation project between National Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan for UNESCO and ICHCAP under the title of “Publishing an ICH Promotional Book in Uzbekistan”.

The book describes different elements of Bhutanese intangible culture under five chapters. Learning, studying, promoting and transmitting the Bhutanese culture, and its essence — the intangible cultural heritage — is a sublime obligation for each and every Bhutanese today. This book will not only serve as a basic manual for the study of the ICH of Bhutan for the future generations, but also inspire them to renew and share their awareness of (and engagement in) the research of our culture and traditions.

Traditional knowledge has been receiving more attention due to its recognized potential. However, for sometime, the word traditional was generally seen as synonymous to old or outdated. Toward the end of the twentieth century, the many problems facing modern society—including environmental degradation and dehumanization—got many people to question the limits of the so-called modern approach to the world. In post-modernist discourse, a central task has been to overcome the negative side of modernity in the fields of not only the arts and humanities but also social, natural, and applied sciences. And many are looking to traditional knowledge or intangible cultural heritage for alternatives. Re-examining, reinterpreting, and applying traditional knowledge in a contemporary context often leads to viable solutions.\n\nThe editors of this book have compiled informative articles on traditional knowledge from the Pacific that may provide solutions and ideas for problems facing modern society. To help create a clearer platform for conveying ideas about traditional wisdom, we have categorized the articles under five themes: Worldviews, Relationships and Social Cohesion, Harvest and Landscapes, Voyaging and Seascapes, and Art and Technology.

Based on the ICHCAP Field Survey on Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in some South-East Asian countries (2009-2012), this summary provides a brief overview on the ICH situation in Cambodia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos, and Myanmar . The summary focuses mainly on ICH safeguarding systems, safeguarding policies, and ICH inventories as well as on pending issues and the urgent safeguarding needs of these countries. Moreover, information on the main entities in charge of ICH safeguarding and opinions of each country on the issue of community involvement are provided. To give a quick overview these countries’ participation in ICH safeguarding at the international level, some additional information related to UNESCO is specified as well. Apart from the main topic, information on the situation of intellectual property related to ICH safeguarding in each country is included. This survey report offers a large sample of the diverse ICH situations in South-East Asian countries. Each country has a different background on the issue of intangible heritage. For instance, Indonesia is the only country participating in the field survey that has a programme in the Register of Best Practices. Viet Nam developed ICH-related definitions in its Law on Cultural Heritage; whereas the Philippines has a strong legislative background and solid network of public structures protecting cultural heritage. Cambodia recognises the link between cultural heritage and development of national economy and runs relevant activities on promoting traditional culture while maximizing its economic benefits to the country. For Laos, training local artists rather than researchers in ICH safeguarding, including IPR, is deemed to be essential, as the artists are the important resources that master their arts. Among the South-East Asian participants, Thailand and Myanmar are the newest to approach ICH safeguarding. Although all countries are concerned about the threats ICH faces, most countries participating in the survey haven’t defined ICH and haven’t established national ICH lists. Meanwhile, drawing up an inventory of traditional cultural expressions in different forms—register, cultural map, or database—is a common activity in these countries. Moreover, each country expresses a high degree of motivation and encouragement for safeguarding ICH, sharing experiences, and promoting international cooperation.\n\n- Ratified the ICH Convention in 2013; conducted survey in 2016.\n- As of March 2018, has 1 ICH element on the RL and no accredited NGOs.