Since the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was initiated in 1946 to promote world peace and development based on international understanding and cooperation, there have been continuous efforts to safeguard cultural heritage of humanity. However, it is undeniable that tangible cultural heritage, which includes natural and cultural heritage, received greater emphasis than intangible heritage. The Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage adopted in 2003 in Paris ("2003 Convention" hereinafter) is regarded as a milestone that changed the historical perception and marked a turning point.

"About the Centre for Intangible Heritage Studies (CIHS) The Centre for Intangible Heritage Studies (CIHS) is an academic center based at the Sree San- karacharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady (SSUSK) in the state of Kerala in India. It is the first academic center in India established exclusively for the study of intangible heritage. It should be noted here that the discipline or subject of intangible heritage is relatively new, coming into existence only with the launch of the 2003 UN Convention for the Safeguard- ing of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Up to then, all discussions on heritage were restricted to its tangible aspects. More than a decade since the 2003 Convention, there remains a lack of awareness about."

Key matters on modern significance of intangible heritage and its safeguarding Intangible heritage is living cultural heritage which can express human’s wisdom and sensibility intactly by this time. Even though some of them already disappeared, are about to disappear and would disappear not before long, there still remain many of them in our thoughts and experiences. Such heritage is the infinite future resources and traces of the past that human can enjoy in this digital era. The traditional cultures can play a more important role for us in feeling human’s emotions and humanity in the digital era because they contain old human’s memories, and can be an economic means as well. These intangible heritages, in essence, may have the same function even though their forms are different. In particular, we can see that certain cultures spread to neighboring regions, which led to the creation of a new form of culture in a community that accepted them. This process is important as an asset for sharing humanity and at the same time becomes a meaningful source for each community to have its cultural identity as an expression of diversity of human thought.\nTherefore, how to preserve the shared or coexisting intangible heritage among cultural communities is a key topic in the international society today. Meantime, there have been some cases in which even though they are the same kind of heritage, certain heritages in some areas were inscribed on the list of World Heritage but others were pushed aside, in spite of their equally excellent values. In today’s fast-changing society, if culture is neglected even a little bit, it will disappear. Then, if it disappears, total amount of culture in that society will eventually shrink, which means that the future values will be lost. What is called culture inevitably comes to vanish without those who use it, no matter how creative it is. In order to preserve traditional heritage that may disappear at any time, it is an essential process to persuade the society, develop modern utility and seek for strategic methods, deeply thinking of its future value of such heritage.

Intangible heritage is living cultural heritage which can express human’s wisdom and sensibility intactly by this time. Even though some of them already disappeared, are about to disappear and would disappear not before long, there still remain many of them in our thoughts and experiences. \n\nSuch heritage is the infinite future resources and traces of the past that human can enjoy in this digital era. The traditional cultures can play a more important role for us in feeling human’s emotions and humanity in the digital era because they contain old human’s memories, and can be an economic means as well. These intangible heritages, in essence, may have the same function even though their forms are different. In particular, we can see that certain cultures spread to neighboring regions, which led to the creation of a new form of culture in a community that accepted them. This process is important as an asset for sharing humanity and at the same time becomes a meaningful source for each community to have its cultural identity as an expression of diversity of human thought. \n\nTherefore, how to preserve the shared or coexisting intangible heritage among cultural communities is a key topic in the international society today. Meantime, there have been some cases in which even though they are the same kind of heritage, certain heritages in some areas were inscribed on the list of World Heritage but others were pushed aside, in spite of their equally excellent values. In today’s fast-changing society, if culture is neglected even a little bit, it will disappear. Then, if it disappears, total amount of culture in that society will eventually shrink, which means that the future values will be lost. What is called culture inevitably comes to vanish without those who use it, no matter how creative it is. In order to preserve traditional heritage that may disappear at any time, it is an essential process to persuade the society, develop modern utility and seek for strategic methods, deeply thinking of its future value of\nsuch heritage. To preserve the intangible heritage, it is necessary to build the favorable environment in which communities with such technological culture can keep working on new creative works. For this, each society has to make continuous efforts in cooperation with communities not to wither this\nheritage away. These efforts are important not only in terms of the transmission of tradition but also as cultural resource to form sustainability for a society in the digital era. Here, we should pay keen attentions to preventing such intangible heritage from being fossilized, remaining fixed cultural system and eventually being eliminated. Intangible heritage should exist as one culture, but its way of expression should adapt to the senses and demands of a new generation by constantly making creative transformation. By doing so, the original form can be also preserved as a part of diversity. In other words, the practical benefit based on tradition is a prerequisite for the transmission through generations.

This paper deals with traditional boat building in our country Traditional boat building refers to boats and other watercraft mostly using wood and other locally-available raw materials in our archipelago. The fabrication and construction methods as well as their operation draw largely from long term indigenous experience in traversing the inland seas in Southeast Asia, the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) and the vaster Pacific and Indian Oceans. Boat building technology is part of the broader Malayo-Polynesian culture. The major components of this broad culture include the use of Austronesian languages, bilateral family structure, mutually-supportive clans and kinship groups that include maternal and patriarchal affines led by the most able chief. Most important feature of Malayo-Polynesian culture is boat building and sea faring that enabled them to disperse by 1,500 BCE from the core area in Southeast China, Taiwan, Malaya, Indonesia and the Philippines as far as the Madagascar to the west, east to Pacific Island Groups across the Pacific up to the offshore islands of Argentina in South America.

This networking program is based on experiences and achievements obtained from the collaborative work of UNESCO-ICHCAP in the living heritage field in Central Asia over the last decade.\n\nFor reference, the networking program comes on the heels of a three-party MoU signed by ICHCAP and organizations in Uzbekistan in 2019 and was followed by a Central Asia network meeting in Kazakhstan in 2019. In 2020, ICHCAP in cooperation with International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS), conducted a survey project about ICH festivals along the Silk Roads, particularly with countries along the steppe route. Regarding the survey result, ICHCAP, IICAS and Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Secretariat of the Korea Foundation (KF) held an online webinar and a strategic meeting to consider the need for realizing the multilateral values of Silk Roads-related cooperation

As India is surrounded by Arabian Sea in the west, Bay of Bengal in the east, and the Indian Ocean in the south, the fishing tradition had its roots in Indian civilization from ancient past. Moreover, India is also considered the land of rivers as there are several rivers flowing across the country. The origin of fishing traditions can be traced back to the ancient Harappan civilization. The earliest available records on the life of the fishermen of the Southern region of Indian is from the Sangam literature, such as Ahananuru and Kuruntogai Anuru, which have literary references of the fishermen communities, including their cultural, economic, and social history. Sangam literature, though it was written in Tamil, sheds light into early Kerala life and dates back to the first five centuries of the Christian era. The physiographic divisions of the Sangam period were termed as tinais or five eco zones. The neythal(coastal) region was occupied by people like Minavar, Parathavar, Parthavas, Nulayars, and Turaivans. In Thiruvilayadalpuranam, a collection of epic stories written by Paranjothi Munivar, described the fishermen as neyther, parathavar, valayar, karayar, arayar, and pattanavar. The term valayar was derived from the Tamil term valai, meaning net. The term karayar was derived from the Tamil world karai, meaning shore. The term pattanavar, was derived from the Tamil word pattanam meaning town with the natural advantage of coastal region as the people engaged in fishing and salt making as their livelihood.

Indigenous Fijians feel a close connection with the sea, land, and nature. In Fiji, jewelry making began way back in the time of the ancestors, dating back to the eighteenth century or even earlier. Traditional indigenous knowledge, beliefs, and practices were seen in the unique creation of hand-crafted jewelry and adornments. These pieces were mainly worn to display social status, functioning as symbols of rank and leadership, or as markers of clan membership.\nThere were distinctions in the types of jewels and adornments worn by a chief (turaga), a warrior (bati), the wedding attire of a bride (yalewa vou) and groom (tagane vou), and those used in ceremonies and celebrations where men, women, and youths adorned themselves with necklaces of shell (taube qanivivili), bead (taube), or clay (coko qwele). Chiefs and warriors mainly wore breastplates (civavonovono), whale ivory (tabua), sperm whale tooth necklaces (waseisei, also known as wasekaseka), boar tusk necklaces and hand bands (bati ni vuaka), while white cowry shells (buli vula) are mainly worn by brides and grooms, and also worn during a traditional dance/performance (meke).

The tradition of jewelry making in India began with the prehistoric factories of the Harappan civilization which produced metal and bead jewelry and has continued unbroken over five thousand years in the continuity of its form, technique, and symbolism. Some of the earliest excavations of bead and stone factories have uncovered evidence of sophisticated tools like burins, scrapers, cylindrical drills, and micro-drills used to drill holes in beads and etch designs on precious and semiprecious stones. These beads, along with sheet gold and gold wire twisted into intricate earrings, necklaces, bangles, waistbands, and more, represent the humble beginnings of the Indian jewelry tradition. Jewelry has since been used to demonstrate affection, status, power, and skill.

List of ICH Festivals applied for the Silk Roads Living Heritage Network Membership

The painting industry and paint products in Vietnam have a long tradition. The first vestiges of paint materials were unearthed hundreds of years before the Christian era. Since ancient times, plastic latex was extracted from bark for its stickiness, durability, and resistance to rain, sunshine, salt water, and high humidity. Therefore, Vietnamese people used it to plaster boats and paint on wooden furniture, rattan, and bamboo to increase aestheticism and durability. Previously, the Nguyen lords took plastic resin from forests in Quang Tri in Quang Ngai Province or Nam Dong district of Thua Thien Hue and later mainly from Phu Tho and Yen Bai provinces.

The geography of Korea is ideal for growing lacquer trees. Optimal climate, topography, and soil conditions can be found across the country, and the lacquer produced is of the highest quality. This led to lacquerware crafts being highly valued in Korea over the years, and a uniquely Korean culture of lacquerware being developed.