ICHCAP

On 5 May 2025, ICHCAP visited the National Center for Cultural Heritage (NCCH) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to seek cooperation for developing Mongolia’s dedicated country page on the ichLinks, an integrated ICH information-sharing platform in the Asia-Pacific region. 

ichLinks, officially launched in 2021, is a platform designed to help Asia-Pacific countries autonomously manage and internationally disseminate information and data on their ICH. Since 2025, ICHCAP has been progressively dedicated to developing country-specific pages, with Mongolia and Bhutan selected as the first pilot countries.

During the meeting, in-depth discussions were held on the structure of content, server hosting options, and overall operational strategies. ICHCAP emphasized that ichLinks should ultimately contribute to building a sustainable information ecosystem led by partner organizations.

Mongolia has been ICHCAP’s longest-standing partner, beginning with the establishment of its “Living Human Treasures” system in 2008 and expanding into joint efforts in digitization of analogue audiovisual resources and ICH video documentation. With the development of its country page, Mongolia expects to enhance the accessibility and use of its ICH information while further identifying new elements from their seasonal festivals in collaboration with local communities.

In alignment with this direction, ICHCAP plans to invite Mongolian representatives to an information officers’ capacity-building workshop to be co-hosted with the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage in August, 2025. The workshop will aim to strengthen practical capacities for information and data management.

Through this recent consultation, both institutions reaffirmed the importance of moving beyond simple data collection toward a collaborative and autonomous operational model. They agreed to continue working together to establish a sustainable information-sharing system and framework for international cooperation based on ichLinks.