Efforts to integrate traditional and indigenous music into undergraduate music programs often focus primarily on curricular content—adding repertoire, modules, or courses that represent local traditions. While these initiatives are important steps toward decolonizing music education and offering multi-cultural musical engagement, they risk reducing living traditions to classroom material or symbolic representation. This paper explores strategies that move beyond curriculum design to foreground musicking (Small, 1998) and embodied musical experience as vital means of integration. It examines how such practices are woven into broader program strategies to build an ecosystem for the meaningful inclusion of traditional music within and beyond the music department, extending into the wider university environment. In this ecosystem, course content, teaching strategies, performance ensembles, institutional programs, and museum collections interact dynamically to create a vibrant and interconnected environment in which traditional and indigenous music can thrive. Rather than functioning as isolated initiatives, these elements reinforce one another to cultivate a holistic learning culture that values practice, participation, and cultural continuity. This panel highlights multiple initiatives at the Philippine Women’s University (PWU) that align with its mission of providing transformative and inclusive education that treasures heritage. It presents various approaches that reimagine how traditional music can be lived, experienced, and practiced within an educational system. These include the integration of indigenous musical knowledge into musicianship classes for primary and secondary learners, participation in traditional music ensembles that emphasize collaboration and cultural understanding, and the creation of institutional activities that center traditional music in university-wide engagements such as performances and community partnerships. The panel also showcases the use of the university’s collection of traditional instruments as a living laboratory for learning, transforming heritage objects into accessible pedagogical resources. Collectively, these initiatives demonstrate how higher education can move beyond representational inclusion to create vibrant spaces where traditional music thrives through participation, dialogue, and community engagement.Participant 1 discusses the integration of Philippine indigenous music into musicianship classes for both primary and secondary levels. Their approach demonstrates how indigenous musical knowledge and practices can enrich the development of core musicianship skills such as rhythmic awareness, listening, and creativity, while simultaneously nurturing a deeper appreciation for the country’s cultural diversity. Through singing, movement, and creative re-interpretations of indigenous musical forms, students engage not only with sound but also with the values and worldviews embedded in these traditions. This initiative underscores the importance of situating music education within local cultural contexts and advocates for a more inclusive basic education curriculum—one that acknowledges indigenous knowledge systems as integral to Philippine music identity and education.Participant 2 presents the experience of facilitating a traditional musical instrument ensemble within the university setting. Students learn to play traditional instruments not merely as technical exercises but as forms of community musicking that deepen their understanding of cultural expression, history, and social connection through collective participation, improvisation, and cultural contextualization. This initiative demonstrates how participation in a traditional music ensemble fosters empathy, intercultural awareness, and a sense of continuity with the country’s musical heritage. It argues for institutional support and sustained investment in traditional music ensembles as vital learning spaces that diversify musical experiences available to students. Participant 3 highlights university-wide engagements that place traditional music at the heart of institutional life. Through performances, community partnerships, and collaborative projects, traditional music becomes a dynamic and visible part of campus culture. These activities transform the university into an active site of cultural exchange, where students, faculty, and local artists co-create events that celebrate and revitalize living traditions. Such initiatives exemplify how higher education institutions can move beyond token inclusion toward a holistic approach that situates traditional music within broader social and cultural narratives. Finally, Participant 4 discusses the role of the university’s collection of traditional musical instruments as a living laboratory for learning. Rather than being treated as static museum artifacts, these instruments are made accessible to students, educators, and the public through workshops, demonstrations, and research projects. This approach reimagines the instrument collection as a space of encounter and creative exploration, illustrating how heritage objects can become active pedagogical and cultural resources that connect contemporary learners with enduring musical traditions. Together, these case studies propose an expanded framework for integrating traditional and indigenous music in education—one that values participation, relational learning, and community engagement as much as curricular inclusion. By emphasizing musicking and lived experience, the paper argues for reimagining the university as an active site of encounter between heritage, pedagogy, and creativity.