Since ancient times, Central Asia has been populated by numerous nomadic and sedentary peoples and ethnic groups. The region is characterized by a rich cultural diversity as well as the interaction and interpenetration of different cultures, each of which is original.

AJIYER Fair Trade Ltd. began working as a social business enterprise for the betterment of Bangladesh communities in 2002. It aims to strengthen the livelihood of rural agricultural practitioners, craftsmen, and artisans; empower women and children; revive cultural heritage; and ensure food and nutritional security.

The parent organization of CEE Himalaya is the Centre for Environment Education (CEE), which was established in August 1984. CEE is a national institution with its headquarters in Ahmedabad and has been given the responsibility by the central government of promoting environmental awareness nationwide. It undertakes demonstration projects in education, communication, and development that endorse attitudes, strategies, and technologies that are environmentally sustainable. Based in the city of Lucknow in the state of Uttar Pradesh, CEE Himalaya has been working in the states of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) for over two decades. The mission of CEE Himalaya is to enhance understanding of sustainable development in formal, non-formal, and informal education through its work with schools, higher educational institutions, local and Indigenous communities, policy makers and administration, youth, and the general commu-nity. The primary objective of CEE Himalaya is to improve public awareness and understanding of environmental issues with a view to promote the conservation of nature and natural resources by integrating education with traditional streams of knowledge and cultural expressions. This approach demonstrates and grounds sustainable practices in rural and urban communities and facilitates the involvement of the business and public sectors to respond to the effects of climate change and variability.

The food we eat is an important part of culture. It is also an expression of community identity. As American folklorist Millie Rahn writes, The kitchen, historically, is the place where families gather and where the everyday and the ceremonial meet and overlap. Here families interact and share private traditions, expressing identity through their food to each other and to the world. Creativity is alive in this space, from daily mealtimes to more elaborate feasts that mark rites of passage, religious and secular holidays, and other special events. This is where knowledge is passed on, from traditional ways of preparing and using various ingredients, implements, tools, and techniques to legends, stories, anecdotes, and cultural exchanges that have become part of familial and regional folklife. We all eat, and associate different layers of cultural meaning to the food we consume. Explorations of food, then, can be an easy conduit into the complex world of intangible cultural heritage. This article gives several examples from the safeguarding initiatives of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador that have used foodways as a means to get people thinking about, and engaged with, concepts of cultural transmission and heritage conservation.

The life of the Bauls of Bangladesh revolves around body-centric ascetic practice termed sadhana. Bauls believe in the co-existence of every element of the endless Brahmanda, meaning universe in the human body. Thus, they make caring for the body their highest priority over anything else. They have created extensive verse about body-centric sadhana codes that they transmit through song. The verses or songs include descriptions of control over the consumption of daily necessaries, mainly food. And, they believe in the doctrine মানুষ যা খায়, সে তাই (a human is what he or she consumes). They also judge food as medicine, as the need to live a hale and hearty.

An inventory generally refers to a comprehensive list of tangible items, such as property, goods on hand, contents in an area. So within this idea, one must wonder whether it is possible in the field of culture to inventory each item.

The parent organization of CEE Himalaya is the Centre for Environment Education (CEE), which was established in August 1984. CEE is a national institution with its headquarters in Ahmedabad and has been given the responsibility by the central government of promoting environmental awareness nationwide. It undertakes demonstration projects in education, communication, and development that endorse attitudes, strategies, and technologies that are environmentally sustainable.

The main contents of this publication are reports from thirty-two nations collected by ICHCAP from 2009 to 2015 as part of its annual projects to collect information on intangible cultural heritage safeguarding in the Asia-Pacific region. We have also compiled information from other reports and conference materials collected by ICHCAP to present key data, such as national inventories and information on related organizations, in an easily accessible format.

The punnuk is a tugging ritual of the village folk from three communities in Hungduan, Ifugao in Northern Luzon, Philippines. It is performed at the confluence of Hapao River and a tributary as the final ritual after the rice harvest. Its consummation brings to a close an agricultural cycle and signals the beginning of a new one. \n\nThe punnuk is a ritual of pomp and revelry. Garbed in their predominantly red-col-ored attire of the Tuwali ethno-linguistic subgroup, the participants negotiate the terraced fields in a single file amidst lush greens under the blue skies. The tempo builds up as the participants reach the riverbank, each group positioned opposite the other. The excitement is sustained through the final tugging match, and the sinewy brawn of the participants is highlighted by the river’s rushing water.

The Loden Foundation is a pioneer organization in Bhutan bridging cultural heritage with socio-economic development. Loden literally means ‘the intelligent one’ and is an epithet of the Bodhisattvas, who work for the world using wisdom and compassion. Loden first started as a modest child sponsorship scheme in 1999 to help poor students go to school. Since then, it grew incrementally to become a leading NGO in Bhutan. Led by a group of people with shared visions, concerns and interests, Loden has three programs supported by a wide network of donors, volunteers, management team and partners.

“ICH and Gender” introduces the mutual relationship between gender norms and ICH and emphasizes that understanding the intimacy between ICH and gender is important for effective ICH safeguarding and gender equality.

The time is opportune for nations across the world to take up the cause of safeguarding intangible heritage, for there is a growing awareness and renewed interest worldwide, as evidenced by UNESCO’s initiative to develop the 2003 Convention as a standard-setting instrument for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage.