The heritage of the Indo-Pacific region faces unprecedented challenges, including urbanisation, climatic crisis, political uncertainty and shifting cultural values. The future of archaeology and heritage management should be interdisciplinary, adopting a more community-based approach. This session focuses on organisational, academic, and popular practices that underpin how future archaeological work could be shaped in South and Southeast Asia, with particular attention to practices in re-framing colonial narratives. Presentations may be centred on the preservation and spread of cultural content in institutions as collections, exhibitions, conservation initiatives, digital platforms and practices of engagement. A crucial element is the transformation of public and community archaeology since 2022, characterized by joint fieldwork, education programmes, narrative practices, interdisciplinary and community-based collaborations that support inclusive futures, and the implementation of new technologies. Within these new innovative programs, we ask: how are practitioners breaking from colonial histories and empowering  local communities? The purpose of this session is to imagine the future of heritage practice in the Indo-Pacific in terms of strong, participatory, and ethically conscious directions by integrating both institutional insights and grounded public archaeology.