Saba Samee has a Masters in the Archaeology of Buildings from the University of York, UK. Her undergraduate degree is in B. Architecture from the National College of Arts, Lahore. She is currently employed at the Institute for Art and Culture – IAC, Lahore, where she serves as an Associate Professor and Coordinator for the School of Culture and Language. \n\nShe has received numerous trainings with UNESCO, ICCROM and UNITAR in conservation, heritage management and WHS nominations. As part of THAAP team, she has worked extensively in projects awarded by UNESCO, UKAID, MEDA-USAID, Norway and Dutch funding agencies, gaining experience in conservation and mapping built heritage. She is experienced in working on conserving the WHS sites of Lahore Fort and Makli, as part of the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan team. Internationally, she has acquired conservation experience in Spain as part of the DIADRASIS team. As part of the IAC Research team, she has conducted diverse research initiatives, such as projects regarding development through culture, poverty alleviation and community empowerment through cultural and creative industries, and plans regarding integrated heritage site management. \n\nMs. Samee has presented research papers in diverse national and international conferences and is a published author of a number of research papers, book chapters, and articles. Her research interest focuses on the relationship and values of People associated with their Places.

Dr. Urtnasa Norov received his tertiary education at the State Pedagogical University in Moscow (1972-1977) and later graduated with a doctoral degree from the Academy of Social Science in Moscow (1984-1987). He served as Director General of the Culture and Art Department in the Ministry of Culture of Mongolia (1993-1997), served in the Department of External Cooperation (1997-2001), and held the title of Secretary General of the National Commission for UNESCO (2001-2011). His research fields include culture, cultural heritage, civilization, and so on. He is currently serving as President of the Mongolian National Committee for the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).

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. Aijarkyn Kojobekova has been participating in a series of Training of Trainers on different aspects of ICH organized by the UNESCO in Central Asian region since 2016 which helped her to step forward in this field. Since then, she has been conducting a series of workshops on safeguarding ICH and implementing of the 2003 UNESCO Convention in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan). \n\nIn 2018 she was actively involved in a regional research project on ICH in the TVET system and also coordinated the research project on ICH in TVET in Central Asia. In 2020 Dr. Aijarkyn Kojobekova worked on the national manual on safeguarding sacred sites, rituals and practices related to sacred sites in Kyrgyzstan. During the work, she has explored the challenges and opportunities local communities and individuals face in practicing worship on sacred sites and what safeguarding measures need to be taken by the communities themselves, local authorities and state bodies. \n\nShe has facilitated an online meeting and conducted face-to-face training on intangible cultural heritage (ICH) community-based inventorying along the Tian Shan Corridor of the Silk Roads in Kyrgyzstan. She has been also involved in research on the Inventory of ICH elements in Kyrgyzstan in the framework of the community-based inventorying along the Tian Shan Corridor of the Silk Roads in Kyrgyzstan within the framework of the EU/UNESCO Project: “Silk Road Heritage Corridors in Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Iran – International Dimension of the European Year of Cultural Heritage”. In 2022 she developed a manual for school teachers on ICH in Kyrgyzstan. \n\nDr. Aijarkyn Kojobekova has: \n- 10-year collaboration experience with different local and international organizations: Open Society Institute, UNDP, UNESCO, IFES, SaferWorld, IWPR, Soros-Kyrgyzstan Foundation, Aigine Cultural Research Center and others.\n- 15-year expertise in revealing the content of different types of reading materials by the means of critical discourse analysis, narrative analysis, in expert interviewing, working with massive of literature, processing collected data by MAXQDA programme, conceptualizing complicated processes and sociocultural phenomena.\n- 19-year teaching of social sciences (sociology, political science). Courses: Qualitative Social Research Methodology, Past in Present: Memory, Culture and Politics, Nation-building in Central Asia, Social Stratification.\n\nPublications: 5 manuals, 1 monograph in co-authorship, more than 70 articles (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, Russia, Turkey, USA)