Among the many ethnic and linguist groups spread throughout Pakistan is the Pakhtun tribe of the Yousafzais, who live in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and across the Durand Line in Afghanistan. The Yousafzais are further divided into various khels (clans) and families. One is the Khawja Markhel in the village of Sumbatchan in the picturesque valley of Upper Swat, an idyllic place in the foothills of the Hindu Kush Range. The fiercely patriarchal society is organized under Pakhtunwali, an ancient tribal honor code; the ancient social institutions of the Hujra and Gudoor, men’s and women’s social spaces; Jirga system, a council of elders; and ashar, collective reciprocal labor.

In the context of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, a wide field of NGOs is active in between governments and communities to translate concepts, facilitate and support safeguarding programs, advocate bearers’ perspectives and interests, etc. In doing so, they often turn out to be key actors for successful heritage processes engaging communities.

Homegardens are traditional systems that combine agriculture, forestry, and livestock and provide economic, environmental, and social benefits for the householders. These agroforestry systems are often cited as the epitome of sustainability, yet the scientific community has long ignored them. Today, however, these age-old systems are receiving increasing attention owing to their potential to mitigate environmental problems such as reduced biodiversity and rising levels of carbon dioxide while providing economic gains and nutritional security to their owners.

The Philippines, in the tropical waters of the South China Sea at the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, is dry from January to May and rain-swept for the rest of the year, especially during the monsoon months of June to September. The archipelagic country is vulnerable to climatic changes. The balmy ocean air becomes searing heat of 40 degrees Celsius in summer, and the monsoon rains extend in duration with increased volume.

The term pastellessa represents an extraordinary combination of food, culture, music, and folklore, an expression of the people of Macerata Campania. It’s a term with a very rich history and tradition, relating to the celebration of a religious event: the Feast of Sant’Antuono (St. Anthony the Abbot).

The current topic of this conference is not very well studied in the Philippines. The word –shamanism- is regarded as an arbitrary umbrella-catch-all term for lack of something better because what it refers to in the Philippines is a far ranging set of practices, belief and value systems that are very specific. It is with some trepidation that these sets of practices, beliefs and value systems may not at all fit into the north-Asian concept of Shamanism, especially with reference to the structure and social organization. The latest local term used is –pagdidiwata – referring to the rituals invoking spiritual beings (diwata). The other terms used\nare bunung, baki, pagaanito, alisig, and many others depending on the culture of the some 80 different major ethno-linguistic groups in the country. Common to all is the belief in the existence of a spirit world to which the world of people should relate, through the medium of ritual specialists. There are differences, however, in the structure and social organization in the social behavior related to ethnic practice.

Moderator to Helena Norberg-Hodge: You have emphasized a new order and a way of life and the need to promote localization to escape from globalization and cultural uniformity. In my opinion, this localization can be carried out more easily in the post-CORONA era; what do you think? And this is the second question, in the post-CORONA era, is there a need to change the direction or strategy of the localization movement? If so, what would it be? People nowadays talk about new normal, so please also tell us about the post-CORONA era localization.

The Silk Roads is a path and a route, not a fixed concept but a dynamic and expanding polysemic concept. The definition of the Silk Roads varies depending on academic perspectives. Toward the end of the twentieth century, the Silk Roads have become symbols of peace and understanding. It is at risk of abuse, commercialization, and political misapplication. Countries along the Silk Roads are experiencing a great deal of change, especially under the influence of globalization and commercialization. They are, therefore, highly vulnerable to change. It is necessary to consider the definition and target countries/areas, membership, access online and offline, gaps in ICT content production, and updating and maintaining information. Recommendations on improving a possible network include strengthening the information sharing capacity, improving the quality of information, and promoting and making successful public and private partnership programs. Two questions we have to ask are “What is the position of intellectual/academic cooperation for ICH safeguarding along the Silk Roads?” and “Can we support another new scientific approach?”

In the 70 years of national division, the society and culture of the two Koreas have moved very far apart, through severance of ties, alienation, and the rule of hostile ideologies in the Korean War and Cold War era. The North Korean society and culture borne of dogmatic communism and armed with Juche ideology feels too different and unacceptable to South Koreans awash in liberal capitalism. I personally have a deeper understanding and greater acceptance than the average since I met with North Korean bureaucrats frequently and made several visits to North Korea in my former role at a UNESCO organization, but still would never be able to adapt to life in North Korean society. Just as we find it difficult to accept their invocations of the great leader and inflexible expressions about capitalism and imperialism, the North Koreans reject terms like liberty, human rights and civic society as bourgeois ideology. This difference in political regime and ideology has created heterogeneity between the two Koreas in every aspect of society and culture- education, culture, arts, religion, theater and movies. The heterogeneity and hostility in political and economic regimes make reconciliation or unification difficult. However, if the heterogeneity in culture, arts and lifestyles intensifies, even the establishment of a peace community, let alone peaceful unification, would appear to be an impossibility. Overcoming differences in ideology to achieve national unity (as proclaimed in the July 4th Joint Statement) does not seem possible.

The relationship between disasters and ICH might share some similarities with the relationship between disasters and cultural heritage with physical form. Natural disasters destroy tangible artifacts and monuments, strike at people, places, and communities related to ICH, and disrupt knowledge, skills, and technology. In this context, we need to prepare safeguards against the impact of disasters on both ICH and tangible heritages. Combining living heritage with people, places, and communities could also lead to an alternative way of thinking about how ICH might mitigate the impact of disasters. The role of culture in disaster mitigation and risk reduction is an idea resulting from recent disaster policies. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) encourages strengthening communities’ capacity for managing disasters and risk reduction (Hyogo Framework) and advocates disaster risk reduction through integrated and inclusive economic, legal, structural, health, and cultural measures, among others (Sendai Framework). This article reviews recent scientific developments in cultural measures for disaster risk reduction and how ICH contributes to disaster mitigation, and identifies convincing arguments from case studies of the 3.11 disaster in Japan.

Those familiar with Pakistan’s history can easily appreciate the range and variety of its hand-made textiles and the sight of a humble villager using them as everyday wear. The cloth weaving and dying tradition from the Indus Valley that originated roughly five thousand years ago has continued throughout the Middle Ages and has received a tremendous boost of encouragement with the onset of new technological developments and the introduction of new motifs while under Muslim rule.

It had taken the Solomon Islands forty long years to host the most prestigious regional cultural event in the Pacific, the Festival of Pacific Arts (FOPA). The Festival brought to the Solomon Islands about 2,500 dancers, artists, and other cultural practitioners from twenty-two countries in the region to share, interact, and display the uniqueness and diversities of their Pacific cultures and traditions in the context of a changing Pacific.