ICH Courier is the quarterly magazine on ICH in the Asia-Pacific region issued by ICHCAP since 2009. Every issue has its own theme under the title of the Windows to ICH, and the theme of the Vol 11 is 'ICH AND WEAVING WITH BARK AND PLANTS'.

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.

On 28 October 2020, ICHCAP and the UNESCO Apia Office co-organized the 8th Pacific Network Meeting virtually. This meeting report includes presentation materials from the meeting as well as summaries of the meeting with the intent of providing information to promote international cooperation among experts and institutions in the ICH safeguarding field in the Pacific region.\n\n

ICH Courier is the quarterly magazine on ICH in the Asia-Pacific region issued by ICHCAP since 2009. Every issue has its own theme under the title of the Windows to ICH, and the theme of the Vol 27 is 'Auspicious Events and Special Food.'

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.

The 2016 South-Asia Sub-regional Meeting of NGOs on Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage for Sustainable Development was held between 25 and 27 August at the Sanskruti Bhawan, Panjim, Goa, India. The meeting was organized by Contact Base, a social enterprise working under the trading style of banglanatak dot com and specializing in culture and development in collaboration with ICHCAP, UNESCO Office in New Delhi and the Directorate of Art and Culture under the Government of Goa.\n\nThirty NGOs from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka participated in the meeting. This report provides a detailed documentation of the meeting and the related activities.

The Conference on exploring and safeguarding shared ICH in East Asia jointly organized by ICHCAP and the UNESCO Beijing Office and hosted by the Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO, was held on 10 September 2021.\n\nThis report is composed of eight case studies of East Asian Member States—namely China, Japan, Mongolia, and ROK.

This book is the outcomes of the 2020 Expert Meeting for Building Network on Maritime ICH, or ICH Webinar Series on Maritime ICH, which held on October 29-30, 2020. It was hosted by ICHCAP in collaboration with UNESCO Apia Office and sponsored by the Cultural Heritage Administration of the Republic of Korea. The theme of the webinar series is “Maritime Living Heritage – Building Sustainable Livelihoods and Ecosystems in the Asia-Pacific Region.”\n\nThe webinar is divided into two sessions, in which scholars, relevant NGOs, and practitioners of maritime ICH were invited to present cases and studies on the state of maritime ICH in the region, as well as relevant safeguarding activities. On the first day of the webinar, it focuses on traditional maritime skills and knowledge for inclusive social and economic development. On the second day, it examines how living heritage is used to enhance environmental sustainability and to achieve resilience.

Based on the ICHCAP Field Survey on Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in some Pacific countries (2009-2013), this summary provides a brief overview on the ICH situation in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands, the Marshall Islands, Tonga, Palau, Vanuatu and Federated States of Micronesia. 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 Pacific countries. Each country has a different background on the issue of intangible heritage. Although all countries participating in the survey are concerned with the threats facing their ICH, most of them haven’t defined ICH and haven’t established inventory national ICH list or inventory. However, each country expresses a high degree of motivation and encouragement for safeguarding ICH, sharing experiences, and participating in international cooperation efforts. Compared to some Asian countries, Pacific countries seem to be well aware of the emerging intellectual property issues related to ICH. This might be related to the internationally publicized infringement and violation of intellectual property rights by outsiders on the Pacific’s traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, and genetic resources . Moreover, these countries appear to collaborate closely with the World Intellectual Property Organization on various awareness-raising and capacity-building activities on protecting traditional culture in a broad sense. To date, out of the eight Pacific countries participating in the survey, five countries (Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Palau, and Vanuatu) are drafting laws on the protection of traditional knowledge and expressions of culture. Furthermore, in terms of technical terminology, the Pacific countries tend to use “traditional knowledge” and “expressions of culture” as equivalent terms to “intangible cultural heritage”. Pacific countries are also conducting cultural mapping projects, which is another common point that they share. Finally, the Pacific region has the highest rate of indigenous populations of any other region of the world and the highest rate of customary or traditional land ownership.\n\n- Has not ratified the ICH Convention yet; conducted survey in 2011\n- As of May 2013, has no elements on the ICH Lists of UNESCO and no accredited NGOs

Based on the ICHCAP Field Survey on Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in some South Asian countries (2010–2013), this summary provides a brief overview on the ICH situation in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka . 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. Some information on the ICH safeguarding status of Pakistan is updated, based on Periodic Report No.00794/Pakistan on the implementation of the Convention and on the status of elements inscribed on the RL submitted to UNESCO on December 2012. \n\nThis survey report offers a large sample of the diverse ICH situations in South Asian countries. Each country has a different background on the issue of intangible heritage. Although all the participating countries are concerned about the threats facing ICH, most of the countries participating in the survey haven’t defined the ICH and haven’t established national ICH lists and/or ICH inventories.However, each country expresses a high degree of motivation and encouragement for safeguarding o ICH, sharing experiences, and cooperating internationally. A common point noticed among them is that they tend to pay more attention to traditional performing arts in comparison to other ICH domains. Apart from the main subject, information on the situation of intellectual property related to ICH safeguarding in each country is included. However, this issue is very briefly reflected, so it is necessary to go through the ICHCAP Field Survey on Intellectual Property Issues in the Process of ICH Information Building and Information Sharing (2011–2012) to obtain more comprehensive and concrete information on this topic.\n\n- Ratified the ICH Convention in 2005; conducted survey in 2013.\n- As of December 2014, has eleven elements on the RL and twenty-eight accredited NGOs.

East Asian region is developed a rich of variety in the intangible heritage manifests, from oral traditions, performing arts, customs, and rituals to festivals, clothing, crafts, and food throughout the centuries. However, as with other counties in the Asia-Pacific region, which is a treasure house of ICH, traditional cultural heritage of East Asia was in a crisis of extinction due to shifts in industrial structures and the population outflow of younger generations to urban areas. In response, the Republic of Korea and Japan introduced the concept of intangible cultural heritage in policies related to safeguarding cultural heritage more than fifty years ago. Mongolia, with the support of its respective government, followed suit by establishing an institutional foundation for national ICH inventory making and ICH safeguarding after ratifying the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003). Moreover, in relation to ICH safeguarding activities, UNESCO Category 2 Centres, which support ICH safeguarding activities, have been simulataneously going through the establishment process in the Republic of Korea, China, and Japan. As a well-intentioned objective for the future activities, the three centres are making efforts to build a cooperative mechanism among themselves. Another effort made in the region is the establishment of the ICH safeguarding system in Mongolia. The government of Mongolia has drawn up a national ICH inventory and identified bearers as well. The countries in East Asia have been very active in safeguarding, and their participation at regional and international levels. Therefore, countries in the region need to build trust and collaborative relationships while safeguarding ICH at national, regional, and international levels.\n\n- Accepted the ICH Convention in 2005; conducted survey in 2013.\n- As of December 2014, has twenty-two ICH elements on the RL and eight accredited NGO.

ICH Courier is the quarterly magazine on ICH in the Asia-Pacific region issued by ICHCAP since 2009. Every issue has its own theme under the title of the Windows to ICH, and the theme of the Vol 16 is 'TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE.'