Education and Professionalization for Heritage Conservation in the Arab Region: Review of Current Status and Strategic Directions

Abstract

This paper discusses strategic needs for professional education programmes as a means for the protection of tangible cultural heritage assets in the Arab Region, with special reference to the Gulf States. Based on analyses of the state of conservation of heritage properties, rigorous needs assessments, stakeholders’ meetings conducted by inter-governmental organizations, and ongoing regional programmes, the paper offers an overview of the status quo and strategic directions for professionalization in this field. The paper argues that a comprehensive understanding is crucial for the sustainability of existing and emerging educational programmes and initiatives, particularly, in this part of the world.

Advancing heritage conservation in the Arab region is related to the limitations of available professional skills and guidance for the various levels of heritage conservation and management. In addition, there is insufficient general public awareness in relation to cultural heritage issues in the greate­r area. This limitation is primarily driven by the inadequate definition of subject areas that respond to conservation training or educational priority needs at training and higher education institutions, which have emerged in the last decade. It is therefore important to enhance clarity in effective training requirements and education methods at various levels, and to encourage interdisciplinary conservation work in the training and education processes

Keywords:

• Education
• Arab region
• training
• capacity building

Notes

1 See workshops implemented by the ATHAR Programme:ww.iccrom.org/athar-centre/?page_id=468 [accessed July 2013].

2 See State of Conservation reports at http://whc.unesco.org/en/soc/ [accessed 1 July 2013].

3 ALECSO, 20th Conference on Archaeology and Cultural Heritage of the Arab World (ALECSO), Algiers, 13–15 March 2012 (unpublished proceedings).

4 As agreed on by the international professional community on issues of authenticity largely addressed following the Nara Document of 1994 (ICOMOS, 1994).

5 For the purpose of this paper, ‘education’ is understood as the study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in fields such as architecture, archaeology and planning, and art. They also include training schools, community colleges, and institutes of technology, also offering formal courses of study for adults. At the end of a prescribed course of study, a degree, diploma, or certificate is awarded.

6 While ‘ATHAR’ means vestiges, traces, and/or ruins in Arabic, the title refers to the subject area the centre works on: ‘Archaeological-Architectural Tangible Heritage in the Arab Region’, hence the abbreviation.

7 17th Session of the Conference of the Ministers of Culture in the Arab States, held by ALECSO (Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization) in Doha, Qatar on 27 to 28 October 2010.

8 See note 5 above, and http://www.iccrom.org/eng/prog_en/4people-centered-appr_en.shtml [accessed August 2013].

9 See note 2 above.

10 These programmes were developed since the 1990s in Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, and more recently in Algeria, Syria, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

11 ‘New approaches to Science Education: What role for UNESCO?’, UNESCO Future Forum, 25 November 2009. Notice available at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/unesco_future_forum_will_discuss_prospects_ of_knowledge_acquisition/#.VEU3BBZ0Z8E [accessed October 2013].