Many of the cultural organizations in the Pacific are challenged by the lack of human capacity and resources to support the aims and objectives of their cultural groups or organizations. I will illustrate through examples some of the work I have been involved in since I began in the sector in 2009 as a youth volunteer in the field of ICH. My presentation is mainly focused on my work in Fiji and Vanuatu as a youth\nvolunteer worker with the Pacific Islands Museums Association, who is registered in Vanuatu as a charitable trust, and Vanua Youth Development youth organization in Fiji. I will also highlight some of the issues and challenges faced when working as a volunteer in terms of sustainability and highlight the benefits of supporting institutional strengthening. Networking with organizations and with key personalities/champions in the region to make those linkages and strengthen the sector and promote the ICH practitioners.

The arrival of a newborn baby is cause for great joy, particularly for a newly wedded couple if it is their first child. In traditional Fijian society, when a married woman was expecting, her husband and his kin would plant uvi (yams), a root crop known as dalo (Colocasia esculenta), and stock pigs in pens. The matriarchs from both the man’s and woman’s sides would also begin weaving new mats in anticipation of the birth. In the past, marriage was a decision made carefully, based on kinship connections and traditional alliances, because the shared commonalities facilitated collaboration on both sides.

In 2003, the Bose Levu Vakaturaga (Great Council of Chiefs) and the vanua (confederacies) of Fiji raised concerns about the need to safeguard the traditional knowledge systems of the iTaukei as well as the cultural expressions of the people. However, to implement legal safeguarding mechanisms, villagers needed to establish some kind of an inventory to see what rituals, ceremonies, dances, customary practices, etc. existed in their territories. Thus there was a need to develop a system by which the vanua and different tribes could freely participate and thus ensure that their stories and traditional knowledge could be documented. In other words, to satisfy their various needs in relation to intangible heritage safeguarding, the Cultural Mapping Initiative was established.

This Book is the outcomes of the 2021 Expert Meeting for Building Network on Maritime ICH, which is held on 29 October 2021.\n\nThe expert meeting was co-organized by ICHCAP and SPC under the theme of Maritime Living Heritage: Coastal Communities in the Asia-Pacific Region and Their Traditional Food System.\nThis meeting consisted of two sessions with the different approaches to the costal communities and their traditional food system; ecocultural approach and socio-cultural approach. This book contains nine case studies of experts and scholars.

Lialiaci is a publication of the iTaukei Institute of Language and Culture, Ministry of iTaukei Affairs. Lialiaci means to ponder or reflect upon deeply.\n\nThat is the intent of these articles and perspectives on culture.

1.0 SNAPSHOT OF FIJI \n\n1.1 The Fiji islands has a population of about 900,000 spread out over 100 islands, administered in 14 provinces or prefectures by an indigenous administration system and into four major divisions administered by Government. The 14 provinces fit into the 4 major divisions of Northern, Central, Eastern and Western. Approximately 51 % of the population are the ethnic iTaukei indigenous population, 49% are those of Indian descent and the Chinese and other Pacific islanders. Major languages spoken are English, iTaukei Fijian and Hindi.

"Whether we call it clan, kin, family, tribe, or community, there are multiple ways of knowing and identifying ourselves in the Pacific. A few of these ways are captured here. This section explores how social relationships and their hierarchies within the Pacific islands are vital ways of understanding intangible cultural heritage. Social and spiritual rituals, religious ceremonies, and various other cultural practices reflect how Pacific islanders prioritize social cohesion as a pathway to sustainable prosperity, ensuring the transformation of skills, knowledge, and wisdom for survival. \nThe themes in this section are pivotal to ICH because relationships represent an important organizing principle of life among Pacific islanders and determine how intangible heritage can be safeguarded. Relationships are marked in ceremonial events and rituals such as the communal harvest of balolo in Fiji and other ceremonies such as the bel kol in PNG. Likewise, the omengat, the first-birth ceremony in Palau, brings unrelated clans and families together and is central to family ties and social cohesion. The essays on these and other topics collected in this section illustrate that Pacific islanders take care to mark and honor relationships important to them, as these relationships ensure family, clan, and tribal ties and help to achieve enhanced social cohesion and sustainability."

"In a region as geographically immense and culturally diverse as the Pacific, intangible cultural heritage must be seen in terms of diverse worldviews, each with its own knowledge system and philosophy of life that structures and informs. This section addresses how intangible cultural heritage is reflected through specific cultural worldviews. As specific and unique as they are, however, each Pacific worldview can be seen as having a commonality structured by three dimensions: the spiritual, the physical, and the afterlife or ancestral realm. \nDespite their commonalities, the themes in this section still represent Pacific elements of knowing, philosophy, governance, and wisdom that sculpt life from vastly unique perspectives. The Tongan concept of heliaki, for instance, is not just a knowledge of language and prose, but rather a construct through which the Tongans build views about themselves and their interactions as well as the hierarchy within their society. In a similar way, Palauan place names are much more than words to mark locations; they are capsules of knowledge, events, and history that help the Palauan people identify themselves and their connections to one another. In these and the other themes in this section, the included values incorporate how the Pacific peoples perceive reality and interconnectedness and how their knowledge has shaped their worlds."

Lialiaci is a publication of the iTaukei Institute of Language and Culture, Ministry of iTaukei Affairs, Fiji. Lialiaci means to ponder or reflect upon deeply. That is the intent of these articles and perspectives on culture. This publication topics are as follows:\n\nThe Vanua Spirituality written by Mr. Anasa Tawake, \nFijian Bread written by Mr. Ulaiasi Taoi,\nThe five Cultural Protected Water Body Types in Fiji by Mr. Ron Vave.

The Pacific is known for its lush surroundings, white sandy beaches, deep blue ocean, acres and acres of land, friendly people, and mouth-watering delicacies. Fiji is no exception to this.

iTaukei intangible cultural heritage has contributed to sustainable lives in the past and has continued to sustain lives of iTaukei people at present. The concept of sustainable development is not new to iTaukei\ncoastal communities, as their cultural and social practices towards environment sustainability, inclusive social development, economic development, and peace and security have proven otherwise. iTaukei coastal communities are quite familiar in addressing the needs of the present and future generations, the needs of the vanua1 as a whole, and ensuring sustainable lives for each member of the community. It ensures balances between nature and communities, economic and social stability. Sustainability can be associated with the iTaukei concept of sautu.2 Sautu in the iTaukei context can mean peace, wellbeing, prosperity and fertility of fishing grounds. Therefore, different sociocultural practices ensure a sustainable food system in iTaukei coastal community.