Aida Alymova is an anthropologist and a director of the Public Foundation "Consortium of Museums". She has a Ph.D. in History and her research topic was about the life and culture of the peoples of Central Asia in the late XIX - early XX centuries. For her work on the development and popularization of museums in Kyrgyzstan, she was elected as president of the National Committee of ICOM in Kyrgyzstan in 2019. Aida Alymova is also awarded a diploma from the Ministry of Culture of the Kyrgyz Republic for outstanding achievements in the field of culture. She also acts as a Museum expert at the Turkic Academy based in Nursultan, Kazakhstan.\n\nCurrently, as a director of the Consortium of Museums, she promotes museum development activities, with an aim to ensure the social purpose of museums as institutions for cultural, educational, and scientific functions. She coordinates and implements museum activities to solve professional and social issues and problems in the museums of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Ms. Leena Marsio works in the Finnish Heritage Agency as a Senior Adviser. The Agency is a Governmental organisation with over 200 staff members, responsible for implementing the Government’s policies on heritage. Marsio has been coordinating the UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Finland since 2014. She is also the National coordinator of European Heritage Label. She holds a Master’s degree in Arts management from the Sibelius Academy and a BA from the University of Helsinki in Arts research. Before working for the Government, she worked ten years as a free-lance researcher and producer in several organizations in the field of arts and culture both in Governmental level, NGOs and companies. As a researcher her interests have been in cultural diversity, cultural rights and arts education. Marsio has worked as a producer in arts and development projects in Finland, in the Balkan region and in South Africa.

Keneshbek Almakuchukov is a researcher at the National History Museum of the Kyrgyz Republic. He is a Doctor of Economics (economics of culture). The topic of his doctoral dissertation was dedicated to “Marketing management in the sphere of culture”.\nDr. Almakuchukov has published a total of 36 scientific papers, including 7 monographs, and 3 textbooks.\n\nHe is also the head of the Public Foundation "Central Asia - Arts Management" which implements projects to support and develop bio-cultural diversity in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia. His Foundation is well know for the organization of annual International Jazz Festivals since 2006 in Bishkek, the capital city of Kyrgyzstan. In total, the foundation has organized about 17 International Jazz Festivals. \n\nIn 2021, Dr. Almakuchukov was in charge of the First Biennial (Forum) of Cultural Initiatives. The Biennale included an exhibition of the results of projects of 20 public organizations in the socio-cultural sphere, more than 20 creative events (master classes, performances, etc.), as well as a business program (panel sessions, open lectures, etc.).\n\nCurrently, he is engaged in museum activities and continues his research of cultural heritage-related topics. \n

Dr. Jyldyz Doolbekova is an anthropologist, researcher, and consultant with a background in traditional ecological knowledge, place-based education, and local development to support and preserve the biocultural diversity and the well-being of mountain local communities in Kyrgyzstan. \n\nShe participated in the research within the project "Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Contribution to SDGs - Community Education and Development" initiated and supported by International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in Asia-Pacific (IRCI, https://www.irci.jp/). The results of the study entitled "Visionary Local Communities in Promoting Intangible Cultural Heritage in Kyrgyzstan" (2020), and "The Evolving Role of Community Museums in Intangible Cultural Heritage Preservation: A Case Study from Kyrgyzstan" (2021) were presented at the International Symposium in Tokyo (online).\n\nShe has 15 years of experience with the Christensen Fund Central Asia Program (California, San Francisco) as a Special Advisor, Program Manager, and Regional Coordinator. Before joining The Christensen Fund, she was the University Projects Officer for the Aga Khan Humanities Project (AKHP), based at project headquarters in Dushanbe (Tajikistan), where she developed and implemented programs in conjunction with Central Asian universities to promote pluralism in ideas, cultures, and people through innovative humanities curricula rooted in traditional arts and knowledge. \n\nShe received a Ph.D. in anthropology, ethnology, and ethnography with a thesis on "Traditional ecological culture of the Kyrgyz (on the example of the Murghab Kyrgyz in the mid-19th and early 20th centuries)" at the Institute of Cultural Heritage of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic; received the equivalent of her MA from Kyrgyz National University Department of History and also earned a Master’s in International Relations from the International University of Kyrgyzstan. \n\n

Aibek Baiymbetov graduated from the Kyrgyz National University named after Jusup Balasagyn with a Master's degree in International Relations. He also studied at the University of Tsukuba in Japan as an exchange researcher. Besides, he studied the Chinese language and oriental culture in Guangzhou, China. \n\nAibek Baiymbetov has been working in the field of cultural heritage and journalism for more than 10 years, with a focus on safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage, popularizing the traditional knowledge and practices of nomadic culture, as well as creating a value-oriented, modern creative network in the field of traditional music, journalism, animation, film, and theatre art. \n\nRecently, he has been actively working on preserving the biocultural diversity, adapting the cultural meanings to modern perception - through digital and creative products. Aibek Baiymbetov is a co-founder of the musical project "Kyrgyz Kairyk" which focuses on the safeguarding and popularisation of traditional music, he also acted as a consultant in several projects on the restoration and popularisation of Kyrgyz traditional art. \n\nHe took part in many research expeditionary initiatives to study the traditional culture of the indigenous people of the Tian Shan, Pamir, Himalayas, and Altai. He is a founder of the Public Fund "Peace Dialogue and Holistic Development", which has been working for more than 5 years in the field of safeguarding ICH, as well as creating a network of expert councils in the fields of climate, ecology, philosophy and traditional cultural and spiritual practices. He is an author of a short documentary anthology film "Man - Universe". At the moment, he is a researcher at the Department of Cultural Heritage and Humanities at the University of Central Asia. \n\nAibek Baiymbetov's academic and research interests lie in the area of the religious and cultural heritage of Kyrgyzstan/Central Asia - traditional Islam and traditional practices of the nomadic ideology. In the field of biocultural diversity and traditional cultures of indigenous people. Traditional art - Kyrgyz folklore, epic heritage and music. \n\nHe is the winner of the UNESCO 2021 “Silk Road Youth Research Grant” competition among the young researchers, as well as the winner of international and local film festivals in the field of documentary films about ICH. \n

Prof. Mónica GUARIGLIO. Lawyer, Faculty of Law, University of Buenos Aires. Coordinator of the Plural Council of the Network of Academic Cooperation in Intangible Cultural Heritage of Latin America and the Caribbean (ReCAPCILAC). Professor at the National University of Avellaneda, holder of the chair "Cultural diversity and social inclusion" and project leader of the UNESCO Chair "Cultural diversity, creativity and cultural policies".  Advisor to the Undersecretariat of Cultures of the city of Quilmes, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Former National Director of Cultural Policy and International Cooperation at the Ministry of Culture of Argentina and former General Director of Museums at the Ministry of Culture of the Government of the city of Buenos Aires. Representing Argentina, Prof. Guariglio was a member and acted as focal point of the Intergovernmental Committee of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005).