He started his professional career in Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan in 1977. He worked from 2001 to 2009 at UNESCO where he assumed various posts such as Director of the Division of Secondary, Technical and Vocational Education, and Director of the Division of Social Science, Research and Policy at the Headquarters. Back to Japan, he organised at Nagoya in 2014“UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development” as Advisor, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. \n Mr Iwamoto took function of Director- General of IRCI in April 2016. He is also Visiting Professor of Chubu University and Lecturer of National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.

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.

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

Aidai Asangulova is one of the famous craftswomen in Kyrgyzstan and the head of the “Kiyiz Duino” Public Foundation. \n\nThe goal of PF “Kiyiz Duino” is to revive and safeguard traditional knowledge and skills related to crafts and the cultural space around it. “Kiyiz Duino” aims to draw general public attention to Kyrgyz traditions and customs; show people how a person can coexist with the surrounding nature in harmony, use its gifts without causing it harm; explain how important it is to take care of nature and preserve its purity for future generations.\n\nThe Foundation holds various community-based events, such as workshops on making Kyrgyz traditional clothing, or festivals to popularize traditional rituals and practices from local to national levels. They also actively cooperate in the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage with governmental and nongovernmental institutions, participate in field trips, conduct research, and document ICH elements. \n\n“Kiyiz Duino” has contributed greatly to the preparation of nomination files as “Ak-kalpak craftsmanship, traditional knowledge and skills in making and wearing Kyrgyz men’s headwear” and “Elechek, Kyrgyz female headwear: traditional knowledge and rituals”.\n

axpert on intangible cultural heritage

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)

Mr Yeo Kirk Siang is currently the Director of the Heritage Research and Assessment Division (HRA) at the National Heritage Board (NHB) of Singapore. The division focuses on the research, documentation and commemoration of Singapore’s tangible heritage and the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage, in partnership with non-government organisations and public agencies. He is also the coordinator for the “Our SG Heritage Plan”, which outlines the broad strategies for the five years of Singapore’s heritage sector (2018 to 2022). Kirk Siang is currently a member of the Evaluation Body established under the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of ICH for the period of 2021 to 2024.

Prof. Mónica GUARIGLIO. Lawyer, Faculty of Law, University of Buenos Aires. Coordinator of the Plural Council of the Network of Academic Cooperation in Intangible Cultural Heritage of Latin America and the Caribbean (ReCAPCILAC). Professor at the National University of Avellaneda, holder of the chair "Cultural diversity and social inclusion" and project leader of the UNESCO Chair "Cultural diversity, creativity and cultural policies".  Advisor to the Undersecretariat of Cultures of the city of Quilmes, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Former National Director of Cultural Policy and International Cooperation at the Ministry of Culture of Argentina and former General Director of Museums at the Ministry of Culture of the Government of the city of Buenos Aires. Representing Argentina, Prof. Guariglio was a member and acted as focal point of the Intergovernmental Committee of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005).

Cecilia V. Picache is the Senior Tourism Operations Officer of the City Tourism and Development Office (CTDO) of the City Government of Imus, Province of Cavite, Philippines. Before joining CTDO in 2020, she was in charge of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Program (2008-2017) and the National Living Treasures Award Program (1993-2014) of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. For 24 years, she carried out fieldwork among ethnic groups in the Philippines. She earned her B.A. in Journalism and M.A. in Cultural Heritage Studies (magna cum laude) from the University of Santo Tomas. She was a research fellow of the Asia Cooperation Program on Conservation Science of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Korea in 2010.

Ms. Leena Marsio works in the Finnish Heritage Agency as a Senior Adviser. The Agency is a Governmental organisation with over 200 staff members, responsible for implementing the Government’s policies on heritage. Marsio has been coordinating the UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Finland since 2014. She is also the National coordinator of European Heritage Label. She holds a Master’s degree in Arts management from the Sibelius Academy and a BA from the University of Helsinki in Arts research. Before working for the Government, she worked ten years as a free-lance researcher and producer in several organizations in the field of arts and culture both in Governmental level, NGOs and companies. As a researcher her interests have been in cultural diversity, cultural rights and arts education. Marsio has worked as a producer in arts and development projects in Finland, in the Balkan region and in South Africa.

Dale Jarvis is an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Folklore, Memorial University, and the Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer for Newfoundland and Labrador, helping communities to safeguard traditional culture. Dale has been working for Heritage NL since 1996, and holds a BSc in Anthropology/Archaeology from Trent University, and a MA in Folklore from Memorial University. In 2014, he served on the UNESCO Consultative Body to the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. He regularly teaches workshops on oral history, cultural documentation, and public folklore.

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