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 42 is 'ICH FESTIVALS ON THE SILK ROAD.'

This book is a collection of the eight selected NGOs’ ICH safeguarding activities in accordance with achieving Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 4: Quality Education. With the inclusion of NGOs from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, and the Philippines, this book provides an opportunity to look into the current ICH safeguarding status and environment of the seven countries and to seek measures to overcome the many different challenges involved with ICH safeguarding.

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.'

ICHCAP published the book Living Heritage Series, Water: Interconnectivity between Intangible Cultural Heritage and Science in collaboration with the i-WSSM.\n\nThe subject of this publication is water. This book was made with contributions of nine authors with stories about ‘water management’ and ‘water and culture’ of the Asia Pacific region. The objective of the publication is to expand the boundary or interface of water centering on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6, Clean Water and Sanitation.

The implementation of the Mongolia?ICHCAP Joint Project of “ICH Documentation Workshop and Pilot Filming” in Mongolia has been carried out from May to August, in 2013, with collaborative efforts of UNESCO Accredited NGO in Mongolia ? Foundation for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage (FPNCH) and International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (ICHCAP).\n\nThis Joint Project has been initiated with regards to the i) lack of capacity in Mongolia in the professional experiences and expertise of ICH audio-visual documentation and production of films and documentaries utilizing the latest technologies and methodologies, and involvement of documentation experts and ICH experts to work together, and ii) based on the results of and the continuation of the joint efforts to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage, efforts which took place between 2009 and 2012, with aims to improve the legal system to safeguard ICH, to safeguard, restore and digitalize the ICH using modern technologies.\n\nThe ICH Documentation Workshop and Pilot filming exercises aimed at:\n\n- to conduct a Workshop with regards to share experiences and information on ICH Safeguarding through ICH documentation and dissemination in Mongolia and Korea;\n- to improve capacity of Mongolia, its personnel by applying the professional methodologies and techniques discussed through the Workshop meeting and Pilot filming;\n- to practice the Mongolian and Korean collaborative Pilot filming exercises; and\n- to gain expertise and strengthen capacity building at a practical level for ICH documentation in Mongolia, and to identify future challenges and collaboration.

“Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future.” — Elie Wiesel.\nAs a living heritage, intangible cultural heritage means that memories you hold and memories I hold represent shared and penetrating history. Contemporary society has experienced a loss of intimacy among people and has seen the environment of transmission changed beyond recognition. However, intangible cultural heritage reveals its presence, quietly saying, “I am still here next to you.” Let’s visit Kyrgyzstan, Bhutan, Laos, and Samoa to see what kind of voice they give us.

Due to the countless reasons affect the intangible cultural heritage of Mongolia, number of heritage elements are on the very brim of extinction. Therefore, establishing concrete and inclusive system for the safeguarding of the ICH is crucial in Mongolia.\nOne of the measures taken by various stakeholders for the protection of ICH as well as development of overall safeguarding capacity of ICH was the Mongolian-Korean Joint Cooperation Project ‘Establishing a Safeguarding System for ICH in Mongolia’. This project was launched in 2008 by Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO. By the implementation of the first-phase activities under the framework of the Project, a number of meetings were held among the Project partners, implementers and coordinators.\n\nWithin the framework of the second-phase of the Project:\n- Continuation of field surveys in other regions, including Central, Eastern and Gobi aimags\n- Organization of the symposium and workshop on the issues of intangible cultural heritage and safeguarding thereof\n- Elaboration of tentative list of ICH and its bearers\n- Text preparation of guidebook of ICH in Mongolia were planned to be implemented respectively

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- Ratified the ICH Convention in 2005; conducted survey in 2009 and updated in 2016.\n- As of March 2018, has 7 ICH elements on the RL, 7 elements on the USL, and 1 accredited NGO.

The creation of this reference book, “The Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Mongols” sticks to the vision, principle and classifications of the UNESCO Convention of the ICH. This book consists of five chapters, each dealing with a domain of the ICH and explaining every episode. The national language and dialect, romantic oral literature, folk knowledge, wisdom and method, tangible art, delicately inventive and traditionally undying crafts, folk art, national toys and games, human feelings, decencies, solemn ceremonies and festivities of Mongolia are inexhaustibly rich sources and have subtle differences in nuance.

In 2011 and 2012, field surveys were conducted to examine the intellectual property issues that could arise in the process of ICH information building and sharing. The survey was conducted in eleven countries—Cook Islands, Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam. The purpose of the surveys was to highlight the IP-related problems that ICH-related organisations may encounter while conducting ICH information–related activities, such as identification, documentation, digitisation, etc., and promoting the groundwork for a guide to protect IP-related aspects of ICH in the process of information building and sharing.

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.

Based on the ICHCAP Field Survey on Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in some East and Central Asian countries from 2009 to 2012, this summary provides a brief overview on the ICH situation in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan . 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. This survey report offers a large sample of the diverse ICH situations in East Asian and Central Asian countries. Although each country has a different background on issue of intangible heritage, depending on its cultural, economic, and socio-political situation, the countries participating in the survey share a commonality: They are post-communist countries that were once under the Soviet system. Moreover, they share a traditional culture shaped by nomadic pastoralism that offers a variety of cultural similarities. For instance, they keep an ancient and rich tradition of epic singing, and they are highly concerned about this oral heritage as it is on the brink of disappearance. In this sense, they have much to exchange and share in regards to safeguarding ICH. The countries participating in the survey are concerned with the threats against their ICH, but most of these nations are in the early process of defining ICH and establishing independent national ICH lists. At the same time, each country expresses a high degree of motivation and encouragement for safeguarding ICH, sharing experiences, and participating in international cooperation programmes. Apart from the main subject, a brief glimpse is taken on the situation of intellectual property in ICH safeguarding in each country. Compared to the Southwest Asian countries that participated in the field survey, the East Asian and Central Asian countries provided little information on intellectual property issues, so it is recommended that ICHCAP undertake the Field Survey on Intellectual Property Issues in the Process of ICH Information Building and Information Sharing in some countries to see their status on this subject.\n\n- Ratified the ICH Convention in 2011; survey conducted in 2012\n- As of December 2014, has two ICH elements on the RL and two accredited NGOs