This book deals with local knowledge as a valuable source of practical solutions to enhance the sustainability of modern life. It is an eclectic collection of papers written in English that explores various aspects of indigenous, local knowledge in the Asia-Pacific region. Encompassing the gamut of human sciences: performance, dance, literature, arts and craft, architecture, local traditions, religious knowledge, teaching and learning, traditional conservation and healing practices. This book will add on to publication to make local knowledge, especially from the Malay world, accessible to a global non-specialist (read non-anthropologist) readership. The editors have intentionally chosen to classify the topics to embody the transdisciplinary nature of knowledge in this region.

On traditional ecological knowledge on life, science and technology of ethnoscience in Malaysia.

This book presents local knowledge about issues on life, science and technology. It presents the related science and technology knowledge, new applications or developments that have taken place based on local knowledge. It consists of papers that illustrate the contribution of local knowledge to scientific investigation, unearth unknown or little known significance of local plant and animal resources, as well as their management and conservation. The argument for the importance of modern techniques to increase the supply of natural resources through scientific manipulations is clear. However, traditional methods that ensure better quality and resilience is recommended. Integration of the traditional with the modern is explored, using disaster management strategies and integrative health care system as examples. Another aspect explored in this book is the changing food culture among the three main ethnics groups in Malaysia due to their interactions within a multicultural society. This book also highlights the contribution of local knowledge in developing animation technology. Experimentation with GIS technology in the performing arts to map a dance performance is an example of trans-disciplinary collaboration between technology and the arts. This book serves to expand knowledge in science and technology that deals with local knowledge, and make it accessible to a wider, global audience beyond the Malay world.

In the series of Local Knowledge publication, this book particularly deals with empowering local knowledge further, towards a more globalized vision. It is an anthology of copious articles that delves deeper into stabilizing the establishment of local knowledge and preservation of archaic knowledge, literature, traditions and culture in the Asia-Pacific region. This book pushes the boundaries of mediocrity by going to great lengths and course in its research to interpret and preserve certain dying knowledge of local cultures and literature. Mostly, the methods used in compiling these local wisdoms and memories is by immortalizing the knowledge though oral account where the gist of the research is transcribed and discussed in the articles presented in this book. This book also highlights the different perspectives of looking at local knowledge that it has subscribed to. This compilation presents how local knowledge of various disciplines is considered in different fields such as local art, political science, business and tourism and traditional folklore. The cosmic approach to looking at local knowledge through these various fields provides a holistic review of local knowledge.

This book offers a scholarly perspective on heritage as a discourse, concept and lived experience in Malaysia. It argues that heritage is not a received narrative but a construct in the making. Starting with alternative ways of “museumising” heritage, the book then addresses a broad range of issues involving multicultural and folklore heritage, the small town, nostalgia and the environment, and transnationalism and cosmopolitanism. In so doing it delivers an intervention in received ways of talking about and “doing” heritage in academic as well as state and public discourse in Malaysia, which are largely dominated by perspectives that do not sufficiently engage with the cultural complexities and sociopolitical implications of heritage. The book also critically explores the politics and dynamics of heritage production in Malaysia to contest “Malaysian heritage” as a stable narrative, exploring both its cogency and contingency, and builds on a deep engagement with a non-western society in the service of “provincialising” critical heritage studies, with the broader goal of contributing to Malaysian studies.​

Given the three pillars of sustainability, besides the environment, the interplay of social and economic dimensions provides valuable insight into how society is molded and the key components that should be considere. In terms of social sustainability, processes and framework objectives promote the wellbeing that is integral to the balance of people, planet, and profit. Economic practices consider the system of production, resource allocation, and distribution of goods and services with respect to demand and supply between economic agents. As a result, an economic system is a variant of the social system in which it exists. At present, the forefront of social sustainability research partially encompasses the impact of economic practices on people and society, with notable emphasis centered on the urban environment. Specific interdisciplinary analyses within the scope of sustainability, social development, competitiveness, and motivational management, as well as decision making within the urban landscape, are considered. This book contains nine thoroughly refereed contributions that interconnect detailed research into the two pillars reviewed.