The Ban Narasilp (or Narasilp House) community in Wat Suntorn Thammatarn (or Wat Kae Nang Lerng) on Larn Luang Street is a descendant of the Khon-lakorn troupe called the Narasilp troupe. The Narasilp troupe has been transmitting Khon performing arts and craftsmanship for many generations. This area has been home to many classical Thai dance and drama troupes since the early Rattanakosin period of the late-eighteenth century.\nOn 14 June 2018, the Department of Cultural Promotion, Ministry of Culture, awarded the Ban Narasilp descendants and officially opened the Ban Narasilp on Larn Luang Street as a community learning center for learning to make and embroider Khon costumes to maintain continuity and the significance of Khon as a national intangible cultural heritage. In addition, the descendants have been supported with a budget for the training workshop to train a new generation of young artisans in classical Khon and Thai drama costume to safeguard this fine art for humanity.

Ms. Gulnara Ibragimova is the manager of the “International Education Center” at the Educational Complex “Ilim” a UNESCO Associated School. She is also the focal point for the UNESCO Associated Schools Network in Kyrgyzstan.\n\nEducational Complex “Ilim” was established in 1993 and has a long institutional history. Since 1995, it is part of the UNESCO Network of Associated Schools (ASPpnet). Currently, it coordinates the network activities in Kyrgyzstan among its 15 members. The Complex itself includes primary, secondary and high schools as well as kindergarten.\n\nThe school aims to ensure that students have a full conceptual understanding of the subjects they study and helps them to develop new skills that can be applied in real life. Since “Ilim” joined the ASPnet schools Network it also became a key promoter of UNESCO values in the country. It implements multidisciplinary projects related to intercultural learning, human rights, sustainable development, etc.\n\nGulnara is responsible for maintaining international communications, implementing supplementary education programs, and cultural exchanges, and developing academic mobility - attracting foreign teachers, with the aim of convergence educational standards, improving the quality of education as well as the organization and implementing of international cooperation projects with UNESCO. She is also responsible for maintaining contacts with the National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO in the realization of joint activities and reporting.\n\nIn 2020-2021 she has supported a pilot project of UNESCO “Integrating the Living Heritage into Education in Asia and the Pacific Region” in Kyrgyzstan, by identifying schools for the project and monitoring their work progress. \n\nFrom 2013 to the present, she is also the director of the “Koldo Shop” Public Foundation, which work is aimed at supporting people from socially vulnerable segments of the population, and these are people with disabilities, single mothers, pensioners, and large families with financial difficulties. The Foundation created a trading and educational platform for artisans from this target audience. \n\n

Mirrakhim Oposh is the founder of the “Sherden” brand, a member of the intellectual and creative union "7 Heaven", a designer and a researcher of traditional knowledge.\n\nCurrently, he is developing his clothing brand and a creative studio, at the same time he participates in and organizes creative exhibitions, festivals, and fashion shows. The base for each of his new collections is philosophical ideas, concepts, and traditional knowledge of the Kyrgyz people. He got into art through philosophy and studying the traditional worldview of the Kyrgyz people. \n\nAs a student, and later a researcher at the Department of "Philosophy and Methodology of Science" of the Kyrgyz National University named after Jusup Balasagyn, he was very interested in the creative manifestation of certain ideas, phenomena, and concepts through applied art. After graduating from the university, for about 5 years he taught philosophy in the universities in the capital. He has higher education in philosophy, as well as in art management.\n\nHe has participated in the UNESCO training on strengthening the capacity of the active youth of Kyrgyzstan to safeguard and promote intangible cultural heritage. Since then, he started promoting the ICH in his artworks and collections. \n

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.

Antoine Gauthier acts as director of the umbrella organization for the intangible heritage and cultural traditions of Quebec (Canada), recognized by the Ministry of Culture and accredited by UNESCO under the 2003 Convention. He carried out on behalf of this NGO several projects, consultations, conferences and training. As an expert in intangible heritage, he is regularly invited to speak at conferences around the world. Many of his writings deal with oral and living traditions, in particular a series of studies entitled "The cultural traditions of Quebec in figures". He is co-founder of the ICH NGO Forum.

Republican cultural institutions established on the basis of the organization, which has been operating since 1936, first in the form of the House of Folk Art, then the Republican Scientific and Methodological Center of Folk Art and Cultural Enlightenment, by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated February 15, 2017.\nThe scientific-methodical center for the organization of activities is a state institution under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan, whose main task is to comprehensively study the problems of public administration in cultural and art institutions operating in all regions of the country, as well as in the field of culture. to assist in the full implementation of state policy, to ensure active cooperation with public administration and local authorities, to preserve and develop the rich traditions and achievements of our national art, to promote theater, museums, library, creative associations, culture to raise the status of recreation and recreation parks, cultural and recreational centers and concert venues, to submit to the Ministry analytical and critical presentations on the activities of cultural and artistic institutions and to further develop and strengthen their material and technical base further development of creative work carried out by cultural institutions within the framework of its rights and obligations through the development of the necessary recommendations, the formation of a system of training and retraining in accordance with modern requirements and scientific and methodological activities.

The public foundation "CACSARC-kg" was created on the basis of the Central Asian Association for the Support of Crafts (CACSA) - one of the leading non-governmental organizations in the region with an open membership, working in the field of development of the handicraft sector, whose head office was in Bishkek from 2000 to 2008.\nAt its creation, CACSA consisted of several enthusiasts of the region's craft movement, and by 2009, over eight years, CACSA had created a regional network of 76 organizations (from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia) and implemented more than 50 projects in the field the development and support of crafts, where more than 5,000 artisans across the region have directly and indirectly benefited. During these eight years, CACSA has gained significant experience in the development of the artisan sector of the region, providing artisans with training, marketing and international promotion services.\nAt the end of 2008, the head office of CACSA, according to its Charter, moved to Almaty (Kazakhstan), and in March 2009 “CACSARC-kg” was registered as an independent public fund to continue activities in Kyrgyzstan for the development of crafts and traditional culture.

The Pacific Islands Museums Association (PIMA) is a regional, non-governmental organization that assists museums, cultural centers, national trusts, cultural departments and ministries, cultural associations, and arts councils. PIMA acknowledges the richness of the Pacific’s ICH and has undertaken some successful initiatives to support ICH safeguarding.\nPIMA was established in 1994 as a regional forum where heritage professionals could exchange their views and work towards improving the quality of service provided to the public. It is the first and only regional, multilingual, multicultural, non-profit organization that assists museums, cultural centers, and people to preserve Pacific heritage.\nPIMA develops community participation in heritage management and brings together over forty-five museums and cultural centers in the Pacific to develop their capacity to identify research, manage, interpret, and nurture cultural and natural heritage. PIMA advocates the development of regional cultural resource management policies and practices, facilitates training, and provides a forum to exchange ideas and skills. It provides and encourages regional and global linkages to support heritage safeguarding. In this article, PIMA highlights a case study on initiatives that PIMA fully supported in Vanuatu as one of its ICH safeguarding activities.

The Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (Bangladesh Academy of Fine and Performing Arts) is the apex institution in the field of culture. Located in the heart of the capital city Dhaka and overlooking the historic Ramana Park, an oasis to the bustling city of nearly fifteen million people, the academy is a huge complex of three magnificent buildings that bear the hallmarks of modern architectural beauty.\nThe Academy is a statutory body under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. It was established in 1974, under the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Act. Its main objective is to safeguard and foster national cultures as well as intangible cultural heritage in Bangladesh. The duties and responsibilities of the academy include promoting arts and national culture as well as creating necessary facilities for their development. The activities of the academy also include organizing workshops, seminars, discussion meetings, short-term specialized training sessions; providing scholarships and financial grants for talented artists; and organizing competitions in the various fields of fine and performing arts, and it regularly holds the Asian Biennial Art Exhibition. Recently it has completed a project in cooperation with UNESCO Dhaka for safeguarding Baul Songs, the only intangible cultural heritage element of Bangladesh on the Representative List. The academy is the premier venue for the expression of traditional and contemporary arts and culture of the people of Bangladesh, and it is planning to extend its collaborative activities internationally, especially through the Asia-Pacific region.