Bangladesh is rich in intangible cultural heritage in all the five domains outlined in the 2003 ICH Convention namely oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, and festive events, knowledge about nature and the universe and traditional craftmanship.Four elements are inscribed in the UNESCO representative list and two applications are submitted in 2019. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs has a list with literature of 54 elementsunder the 5 ICH domains, while researchers identified 123 elements. Comprehensive inventorying of living heritages is under process with the Government. Bangladesh, by ratifying 2003 Convention, assumes its obligation of safeguarding these elements of ICH. Among the elements, some are sustainable for the economic output of the objects associated with the elements. Others remain vulnerable for change in lifestyle, knowledge pattern, social and economic advancement, science and technology. Require safeguardfor sustainable development that includes transmission of the ICH elements for generations.

Chak-ka-yer or tug-of-war is one of the oldest traditional team games of Thailand. It is believed that chak-ka-yer derived from imitating the work of humans pulling a trolley with a heavy load, the behaviors of bulls, buffaloes, or elephants in pulling heavy things, and a Buddhist ceremony called Chak-Phra, in which a Buddha image is placed on a beautifully decorated cart and pulled in a procession so that people pay respect to the Buddha image as it rolled by.

The UNESCO 2003 Convention was adopted because of the need for safeguarding ICH and ensuring its safe transmission to future generations. While promotional activities allow increasing awareness about ICH among populations, formal and non-formal education ensures its sustainability as well as continuity. It is for this specific reason that the delivery of ICH-related knowledge and skills through formal and nonformal education plays one of the central roles in safeguarding efforts.

Today, it is generally acknowledged that indigenous culture and knowledge around the world is under threat by globalization, rights infringement and violation, and other effects of modernization, including the general lack of respect for traditional culture and the individuals or communities through which that culture is manifested.

Strengthening the human capacity of creativity is at the basis of much of UNESCO’s work, which recognizes creativity as a multifaceted human resource that can inspire positive, transformative change for present and future generations. Creativity, embracing cultural expressions and the transformative power of innovation, is an integral part of human ingenuity and contributes to finding imaginative and appropriate responses to development challenges. Tapping into creative assets is a viable way of making globalization more human, now and in the future. Creativity is essential to promoting peace and sustainable development. For these reasons, UNESCO included ‘Fostering creativity and the diversity of cultural expressions’ in the list of strategic objectives of its current Medium-Term Strategy and attributed a central place to the safeguarding of intangible cultural in the program and action under this objective.

Mehrgan is an autumn harvest festival celebrated during or after gathering a harvest. In ancient times, Mehrgan marked the autumn equinox, and according to an old Iranian calendar, celebrated on the mehr day of the mehr month, equal to 8 October. In the Republic of Tajikistan 15 October is the official day of Mehrgan.

Ms Suzanne Ogge, Heritage Specialist and ICH Consultant/ Accredited trainer for the UNESCO Global Capacity-building Program in the Asia Pacific Region. \nThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) ratified the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention (hereon ‘the 2003 Convention) in 2008. Since then, the country has nominated three elements to the Convention’s Representative List, which is aimed at drawing attention to the importance of living heritage in general, both within the nominating country, and on an international level. As most of you would be aware, State Parties to the Convention may prepare nomination files for the purpose of listing a living tradition (also referred to as ICH) and in doing so, contribute to raising awareness both nationally and internationally about the importance not only of the element inscribed on the list, but of intangible heritage in general.

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.

The Muong Cultural Space Museum is a cultural and art institution in Vietnam, deeply inspired by an artist’s desire to reproduce a whole living space of the Muong tribe. The Muong museum was the creation of its owner, Mr. Vu Duc Hieu. The museum is situated in the hills above a small, narrow limestone valley about 80 km from Hanoi to the west, in Hoa Binh City, where the ancient Muong people used to live. After almost ten years collecting and preparing, and another year for construction, the Muong Cultural Space Museum was officially inaugurated on 16 December 2007 by the chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, with a performance of the symbolic Muong gongs.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) ratified the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention in 2008. Since then, the country has nominated three elements to the Convention’s Representative List, a mechanism of the Convention designed to draw attention to the importance of living heritage in general, on an international level. The first two elements listed by the DPRK were Arirang Folk Singing in 2014 and Traditional Kimchi-making in 2015, both of which were also listed separately by the Republic of Korea (ROK). Last year, when both countries listed an element jointly for the first time—traditional Korean wrestling, ssirum (also spelled ssireum) —it marked an historic moment in the cultural relations between the DPRK and the ROK and allowed culture to play a bridging role currently inaccessible through most other channels of cooperation.

People around the world have a natural fondness for stories. Many cultures use storytelling as a way to pass on information, traditions, and knowledge to the younger generations. Most of these stories are transmitted via word of mouth. Kathmandu Valley is filled with many stories, which are told in homes, villages, and during rituals. Humans don’t always play a central role in these tales. Many of the animals in the stories are normal animals found in our environment, although some are mythical. Many of these animals are even given the status of deities and are worshipped by the people. The origin of the Kathmandu Valley itself has an interesting story. Thousands of years back when the valley was filled with water, making it a huge lake, a bodhisattva named Manjushree arrived from Tibet and saw a light in the middle of the lake emanating from a lotus. In order to get to the lotus, he used his sword to cut a gorge into one of the hills, which people believe is the southern hill named Chovar, thus allowing the water to drain out of the valley. The temple Swyambhu was built on the spot where the lotus came to rest.