Ms Yau is graduated with a BA (Japanese Studies), MA (Cultural Management) from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and PgDip in Cultural Heritage Management from The University of Hong Kong (HKU). She is an accredited heritage conservationist (HKICON), Project Management Professional (PMI) as well as a member of the Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement (Docomomo) Hong Kong Chapter. \n\nMs Yau has been involved in heritage revitalisation, management and education since 2009. Her experience covers both tangible and intangible cultural heritage conservation in both urban and rural areas. Her achievements includes project development and execution of rural sustainability programme at Lai Chi Wo – awardee of 2019 UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Conservation Award; establishment heritage museum and community network for Mei Ho House Revitalisation Project – awardee of 2015 UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Conservation Award; project planning for Bridges Street Market News-Expo Museum; as well as lecturer and academic coordinator for Cultural Heritage Management related programmes and training in the Asia Pacific region.

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.

In the 1960s, Late Komal Kothari ,a renowed folklorist and ethnomusicologist and his very close friend, Vijaydan Detha an eminent Rajasthani writer realized that the problem of language covered the whole way of life of people and soon set out on a goal which became larger than collecting tales and songs. They further expanded their archival and research work in the field of folklore encompassing folk songs, folk tales, folk beliefs, proverbs, folk ballads, folk epics of long plays, folk gods and goddesses, social practices, rituals, fairs and festivals, rural food, nomads and pastoral ways of life. Until 1990’s they travelled more than 29000 villages to collect the large repository of cultural heritage both intangible (oral) in the form of audio video and tangible object’s of daily life made from natural resources. During 30years of intense study by them on folklore (in ethno-geographic regions) they finally looked into the traditional ways of knowledge transmission where the practice is to “learn but not to teach” in a structured way. In the year 1995 Komal Kothari got the recognition of his work by the Government of India and has been awarded Padma-Shree in 1983 and Padma Bhusan in 2004.

Arts-ED is a non-profit organisation based in Penang, Malaysia. It provides innovative communitybasednarts and culture education in rural and urban communities. Our programmes focus on thentheme of arts, culture, and heritage, utilising creative educational approaches that encouragenlearning around real issues.\nSince its inception in 1999, it has worked with over 15,000 young people in Penang. Thenorganisation is known for its creative and innovative approaches to education, developed over 19nyears of experience and through exchange and learning with organisations within Malaysia as wellnas regionally.

The National Institute of Folk & Traditional Heritage, popularly known as Lok Virsa, was established by the government of Pakistan in 1974 with a mandate to collect, document, preserve, and disseminate Pakistan’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Within three decades, Lok Virsa has grown from a fledgling endeavor, to creating a science of folklore into a developmental complex whose projects and activities span over the roots of the entire nation. nThe Research Centre of Lok Virsa encourages research in regional languages, folk literature, cultural history, arts, crafts and various aspects of folklore such as folk songs, seasonal songs, work songs, folk romances, folk tales, children games, legends, nursery rhymes, children tales, animal fables and legends attached to mountains, lakes, rivers, ruined castled, traditional festivals, superstitions and beliefs, customs and rituals, celebrations at birth, weddings and funerals among others.\nLok Virsa calls upon all master artisans, folk musicians, folk dancers and performers from the rural areas and remote regions of the country at the Artisans-at-work festival, popularly known as Lok Mela, each year. Over 100,000 eager participants come to visit this festival. Lok Virsa supports craftsmen and musicians by giving cash awards and proud recognition to them as living national treasures.

Institute for Sustainable Development Strategy (ISDS) has been established in 2012. ISDS programs reach out to youth, especially those who live in remote rural areas, and empower young people to become biocultural diversity leaders to create positive change in their communities based on continuous intergenerational exchange.\n\nSince 2012, over 200 initiatives have been supported, of which more than 50% are covered by the revival and preservation of historical and cultural heritage. ISDS’ priority topics are the following: \n(1) Cultural identity, values, and traditional wisdom; \n(2) Well-being and sustainability of local communities; \n(3) Lands, territories, and access to natural resources; \n(4) Agrobiodiversity and food sovereignty.\n\nIn 2020-2021, ISDS participated in the “Visionary Local Communities” study jointly “Taalim Forum” Public Fund supported by the Japanese Center for ICH. The study was based on ICH safeguarding in the remote mountainous regions (Chon-Alai district of Osh province – southern part of Kyrgyzstan where ISDS focused on safeguarding patterned handweaving and establishing a community ethnographic museum). ISDS is an active member of regional and global indigenous movements for the conservation of cultural and natural heritage.