“Borderless cultural heritage”is the result of the perpetual transmission and dissemination of culture, intercultural exchange, and migration of peoples throughout human history. The view that a country constitutes a culture (heritage) and national borders serve as cultural borders is in line with a modern nationalistic perspective, which may not accurately reflect reality when considering diverse characteristics of culture. This is even more true for intangible cultural heritage (ICH), which is viable only when it is practiced by individuals or communities, than for tangible cultural heritage. Therefore, it seems obvious that transborder cooperation among communities and countries is critical to the safeguarding and transmission of ICH.

Bhutan is considered one of the culturally and spiritually richest countries in the world. Culture and traditions being resultant of the evolution of human civilization, they have developed according to the socioeconomic needs and conditions of the Bhutanese people, as well as within the physical and environmental constraints and opportunities of the place or the region. But most importantly, their origin is deeply rooted in Buddhism.

Traditional music: the soul of the universe! Traditional music: the unspoken language!\n\nAll around the world music plays an important role in communicating human expressions and emotions. Besides being an artistic and creative form of expression, music is associated with festivity—the celebrations of new beginnings, birth, initiation, courtship, marriage, and death. Music, with or without instruments, is an integral part of traditional occupations and daily chores, such as planting, harvesting, and processing food, herding, fishing, and craft making, such as carpentry, pottery, and basketry. \n\nMusic communicates meaning during rituals and rites and is often used as a tool for meditation. With or without song, the sounds of flutes, drum, trumpets, gongs, bagpipes, and others can evoke memories and transport people to places of happiness, peace, hope, nostalgia, and melancholy. As Plato, the philosopher said, “music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” The ability to sing and create music is a gift bestowed on a person regardless of his or her social status. Regardless of its source, music can be embraced by people of all walks of life and is an intrinsic part of cultural heritage

It has become recognized nowadays that cultural heritage encompasses more than collections of objects or monuments; it includes just as much also intangible manifestations such as traditions and living expressions. This intangible cultural heritage (ICH) stretches into a wide range of domains of our society, such as performing arts, social practices, oral traditions, rituals and festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature, and the knowledge and skills used to produce traditional crafts.

The term intangible cultural heritage (ICH) refers to the diverse knowledge, techniques, performance arts, and cultural expressions recreated endlessly by collectives and communities through the interactions with their surroundings, nature, and history. ICH is characterized by communal retention within a collective and comprises a living aspect of culture, which is inherited through the daily lives of people. As a result, the international community, including UNESCO, has begun to newly recognize the value of ICH, and although the international community is showing greater interest towards the protection of ICH, trends such as globalization and urbanization have led to the extinction of many intangible heritage assets. ICH is a field in which the loss of the capacity for continuation and cultural abandonment are risks with high potential. It is for these reasons that there is a grave necessity to imbue the field of ICH with renewed vitality.

This Webinar Series begins with an assessment of the impacts of COVID-19 on intangible cultural heritage (ICH), considerably identifying the possible roles ICH might take in critical times. As the pandemic has been disrupting many forms of cultural practices, the effects of which worsen the vulnerability of the stewards of heritage, the first session intends to hold a discussion toward innovative solutions for ICH safeguarding and transmission during a time of global crisis and social unrest.

"1. Presentation of project proposals: \nLand disputes and the majority of civil cases before Vanuatu courts are partly due to development and the economic strategies that are currently being pursued from all directions. Land is Ni-Vanuatu’s life and identity. Ownership of land is closely connected with culture and is very diverse in Vanuatu. Land cases take longer than expected before decisions are reached and made. \nThis could be in the form of knowledge with the elders in villages, or knowledge that is communicated in dialects or through rituals, songs, drawings, and so many more. Expert witnesses that are knowledgeable in customs and traditions are requested to testify in court (through sworn statements); however, in some unfortunate cases, the expert witnesses dies with the knowledge that they have without passing it on to others in the clan or their communities. \nUnless documented, this knowledge will fade away and be lost altogether. I strongly feel that an information data system will assist legally and culturally to preserve these traditions, customs, and knowledge. \n2. Link between law and culture\nUNESCO’s Definition of ICH is “traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions; performing arts; social practices; rituals; festive events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts are key components of what we are trying to protect.”\nLand ownership is governed by custom and culture, and it our view of land is encompassed in the saying, “My life, my land.” Land is our identity as we are known by the world around us. Land is owned by families, clans, and tribes; and with this common inheritance, we share cultural expressions that have been passed from one generation to another. These expressions have evolved in response to their environments and have contributed to giving us a sense of identity and continuity as is being promoted by UNESCO. That wealth of knowledge must be passed on to assist with settling land disputes and to keep the peace within families. It is very "

Shanghai Zhongguo High School has promoted cultural heritage throughout its eighty-year history. Its current mission is to cultivate qualified citizens who have ‘their hearts in China, their eyes on the world, and dreams for the future’.

To fully appreciate the theme of the Fifth Melanesian Festival of Arts and Culture—Celebrating Cultural Diversity—it is imperative that we question the meaning of cultural diversity.

Sitting on an unwalled cement floor with a coconut frond roof (a recently imported trend in outdoor architecture), a group of about thirty people listened on while a man explained how over one hundred years ago his grandfather gave leaves of the plant they were just now talking about to his donkeys, for strength. This would help them carry their loads much more easily. The fact that it thundered for several seconds at the exact moment the man finished talking was taken as a natural sign of confirmation. Some agreed somewhat jokingly about the thunder; others were quite clear this was a confirmation and matter-of-factly went on with the rest of the conversation; still others wanted the rest of the group to at least reflect on such a relationship with nature a little longer before continuing.\nThis is one of the latest settings in which traditional medicine, espe-cially herbalism is being explored, safeguarded, revitalized, transformed and shared. The group is Bo salú ta den bo kurá (Your health is in your yard) and meets every third Sunday of the month in a space donated for the meetings those Sundays. Medicinal and nutritional qualities of local herbs are discussed, traditional healing wisdom shared, planting methods are shown, local natural products sold and networking happens among healers, agriculturalists, healthy living advocates, community activists, retirees, people from all walks of life. The place is Curacao, and although this kind of exchange is relatively new it is based both on traditional forms and on traditional wisdom, combined with the latest information from the internet, connections to international networks, and environmental science.