The present volume is the result of two conferences, both focused on the interface of international heritage regimes and their implementation at the state level. One event was held at the University of Göttingen within the framework of the multiyear interdisciplinary research group 772, "The Constitution of Cultural Property," from June 17-19, 2011, supported with funds from the German Research Foundation (DFG), and also co-organized by the Göttingen Center for Modern Humanities. The other set of papers, focusing on the same overall concerns, was initially presented within the framework of the French-German-Italian trilateral inquiry on the impact of intangible cultural heritage under the title "Institutions, territoires et communautés: perspectives sur le patrimoine culturel immatériel translocal." Held at Villa Vigoni in Loveno di Menaggio, Italy, from June 30-July 3, 2011, participants were supported by the Maison des Sciences Humaines, the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Villa Vigoni, respectively.In addition to our thanks for the financial support which made these meetings and the present publication possible, we also thank the many students who assisted in carrying out the Göttingen event, and the wonderful staff of Villa Vigoni for the luxurious workshop held in Italy. We would like to express our appreciation furthermore to Don Brenneis, Rosemary Coombe and Laurajane Smith who were present as commentators at the Göttingen event and willing to turn their oral comments into written contributions, as well as to Chiara De Cesari, who was not present at either event and was thus capable of offering a concluding, commenting chapter from an outside perspective. A number of individuals participated in the Göttingen conference who are not included in this volume, but whom we would 6