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6th Regional Course on the Conservation and Management of Immovable Cultural Heritage
Benin 2004

Place: Porto Novo, Benin
Dates: 30 August – 19 November
Partner: Ecole du Patrimoine Africain (EPA), La Direction du Patrimoine Culturel du Bénin (DPC)

Course Aim and Objectives: The aim of the course was to bring together a group of African heritage professionals to work towards the creation of a greater awareness of the most important issues in the area of conservation planning and management. The main objectives were to:

• give participants the tools to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of a given immovable cultural heritage place and its management system;
• develop appropriate and realistic solutions, taking into account the specific context;
• examine some of the issues facing conservation of immovable cultural heritage at the national level, with the aim of introducing gradually, the most relevant approaches within the participants’ home organizations.

Structure: In terms of content the course was divided into two broad pedagogical divisions:

Introduction to Heritage Management issues: This section was designed as miniature workshops dealing with specific issues in the management of immovable heritage. The aim was to introduce participants to some of the current issues pertaining to heritage conservation and management on the sub-continent. One of the topics introduced during the course was Aids and Culture. Four lectures on the topic were presented spread over four weeks.

The Management Planning Process: This involved eight weeks of hands-on site management planning exercise. The aim was to develop among the participants the necessary skills for the development of simple, appropriate and realistic management plans for immovable heritage sites. This year the participants worked on two sites in Ouidah. One was the sacred forest of Kpasse associated with traditional religion and the other the slave route in the town of Ouidah. The sites were deliberately chosen as part of the 2004 UNESCO commemoration of the struggle against slave trade and its abolition.

Results:

• 19 participants from 17 countries attended the course. The group comprised six female and thirteen male participants.
• 24 resources persons come to the course only one came from outside Sub-Saharan Africa. Among the resource persons 5 were former participants of the regional courses. One of the former participants was an assistant coordinator.
• The community participation in the making of the management plans was facilitated by the holding of three stakeholder meetings.
• Draft management plans were developed for the two sites the Slave Route and the Sacred Forest.
  For more information on the course, see the report (Pdf 2,50 MB) and annexes (Pdf 7,00 MB).