CHA-TIME with SEACHA

Digital monthly talk with a new cultural heritage theme each year.

Cha-Time with SEACHA is a monthly program for sharing knowledge and expertise on common cultural heritage issues in Southeast Asian countries. Talks are held virtually on Saturday afternoons. The program lasts about an hour each time. SEACHA founding members nominate speakers from their countries to present on topics that are relevant to the theme of the year.

Consider sharing your unique experience and knowledge and contact us at [email protected].

Check out our upcoming talks and register to participate.

2023 Theme: “Cooling the Earth with Cultural Wisdom”

The Earth is more than just a planet; it is our beautiful and irreplaceable home. Our ancestors used to live so close to nature, that it is common for our culture to draw something from the environment surrounding them. Whether it is artistic inspiration for patterns, or a tradition and way of living designed to benefit not just humans, but also nature. However, as human civilization grows, nature has become further and further removed from our inventions, and our quest to ‘improve’ our civilization. Only when it reached the boiling point, with news of erratic season change and natural disasters and terms such as “climate change”, and “global warming” dotted our newspapers, did we finally look back and ask, “where did we go wrong?

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Previous themes

2021 Theme: “Building Climate Resiliency through Local Community Wisdom”

Under this theme, 10 ASEAN countries talked about how cultural wisdom can be used to mitigate climate change from various perspectives; namely built heritage conservation, wisdom of vernacular architecture, open spaces design, city planning, social practices, sericulture, and other perspectives of intangible cultural heritage. Each presentation draws on the knowledge and experience of those engaged in cultural heritage issues in Southeast Asia.

2022 Theme: “Traditional Cultural Wisdom for Climate Action”

For the second series of Cha-Time with SEACHA, we welcome speakers from the next generation of cultural and climate professionals, ages 18-35, whose work, study or interests focus on cultural heritage and climate resilience. Under this theme, you will learn from young practitioners and hear about what they aim to push forward at the policy level for Southeast Asian countries.