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

Jacob MAPARA is cu「rently the Director of the\n \n\nCatego’Y\n \nInstitute of Lifelong Learning and Development Studies of Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe. He is Professor and Chairperson for Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Living Heritage. At present he is leading\nthe “Inventorying oral traditions, expressions , local\nknowledge and practices of the Korekore of Hurungwe district in Zimbabwe” pr이ect. He holds a Dlitt et Phil (PhD)\n \nand a Maste「s’\n \ndegree in African Languages from the\n \nUniversity of South Africa. He has an Honours degree in Shona (one of the languages of Zimbabwe) as well as a Graduate Certificate in Education from the University of Zimbabwe. In addition , Dr. Mapara holds a Certificate in Environmental Education (now Education for Sustainable Development) from Rhodes University, South Africa

Dr. Saifur Rashid is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and has been a member of the faculty since 1993. He obtained his PhD in Anthropology in 2005 from Curtin University of Technology, Australia, and worked there as a Post-Doctoral Research and Teaching Fellow from 2006 to 2008. Dr. Rashid has been working with various UN agencies, Government organizations, national and international NGOs, and academic and research institutions of home and abroad for last 25 years. His areas of research interest include E-Governance, Heritage, Indigenous Knowledge, Natural Resources Management, Ethnicity, Migration and Visual Documentation. He has published several books and written many research articles in refereed scientific journals. His recently authored and co-authored books include ‘Connecting State and Citizens: Transformation Through e-Governance in Rural Bangladesh (2018)’, ‘Traditional Medicine: Sharing Experience from the Field (2017)’ and ‘Pains and Pleasure of Fieldwork’ (2016), Intangible Cultural Heritage in Urban Context (2020). He has made a number of documentaries on various ICH elements of Bangladesh for ICHCAP and Google Arts & Culture and awarded Distinction Prize for one of the documentaries made for ICHCAP, South Korea. Dr. Rashid is now working on two book projects: one on ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Bangladesh’ and another on ‘Anthropology and Heritage’. He is also working on another two book projects: one on ‘Migration, Fraudulence and Social Mediation’ and another on ‘The Told and Untold Stories of Bangladeshi Migrants in the Europe’. Professor Rashid is a member of the ICH National Expert Committee of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and member of the executive committee of APHEN-ICH (Asia-Pacific Higher Education Network for Intangible Cultural Heritage) of ICHCAP. Professor Rashid visited more than 40 countries for attending meetings, seminars and conferences and gave lectures as key speaker and has been a Visiting Professor of Chonnam National University and Chonbuk National University, South Korea since 2015.

The principal role of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre since its establishment in the early 1960s has been to document and record the culture and cultural history of Vanuatu. This has been done by the Centre’s staff and a network of over one hundred volunteer fieldworkers. The documentation efforts focus on details of remembered histories and traditions; details of ritual practices, classification systems, and languages; details of cultural landscapes and particularly sites of cultural significance; and records of contemporary events of historical and cultural significance. The latter, which is essentially a history-in-the-making, is recorded on video as examples of material culture collected for museological display, but almost everything else is documented on audiotape. This is because our indigenous cultures are primarily oral, and therefore, all our cultural knowledge is retained and transmitted orally. This documented knowledge is held by the Centre and has been used as source material for the revival of certain traditional cultural practices no longer being practiced.

The Tharu Cultural Museum and Research Center is founded on the idea of preservation and promotion of indigenous cultural heritage, particularly that of the Tharu as one of Nepal’s largest and most marginalized ethnic groups. The organization is working on the preservation of Tharu culture and arts and community development through museum collections. In addition, they are conducting research on Tharu tradition, literature, arts, legendary stories, songs, festivals, rituals, as well as their indigenous knowledge, technology, and skills.

AJIYER promotes community led responsible tourism where community has the rights and ample knowledge to operate tours to promote and conserve not only their cultural heritage but also safeguard their surrounding environment. It operates in Tangail, Jhikorgacha, CHT, Monipuri community where local community engages into economic empowerment through tourism to promote and safeguard their cultural heritage (crafts, music and instruments) and indigenous knowledge (organic farming).

Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK) is founded with the mission to protect indigenous knowledge of Bangladesh. It mainly workd in the fields of biodiversity conservation and community development and engages in exploring and incorporating indigenous knowledge and practices into contemporary development programs. Throughout the years, BARCIK has promoted and contributed to integrating indigenous knowledge in development initiatives in its efforts to empowering local and indigenous communities.