Activities >> Courses


3rd Regional Course on the Conservation and Management of Immovable Cultural Heritage
Kenya 2001

Background: From 9 July through 28 September the third AFRICA 2009 Regional Course was carried out in Mombasa, Kenya, at the premises of the PMDA. The aim was to bring together 22 African heritage professionals to work towards creation of a greater awareness of the most important issues in conservation planning and management.

Course Objectives: The objectives of the course were to:

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

Structure: The course was conceived as a forum for active interchange among participants, course assistants, resource persons, and staff. Didactic method varied, including classroom lectures, moderation, group exercises, stakeholder meetings, and site visits. The central feature of the course was an 8-week hands-on site management planning exercise at two sites in Mombasa. The first 3 weeks of the course introduced participants to broader issues related to conservation of cultural heritage including: Introduction to African Immovable Cultural Heritage, Introduction to the World Heritage Convention, History and Theory of Conservation, Documentation and Inventory, Sustainable Development, and Legal and Administrative Frameworks. Sustainable Tourism and Fundraising, Partnership, and Budgeting were covered during the management planning exercise. A new element in 2001 was the use of 6 past course participants as course assistants. AFRICA 2009 was able to increase the percentage resource persons from Africa to 74% (not including the teaching assistants).

Results:

• 21 English speaking professionals from 17 countries in the region successfully completed the training (1 participant left the course early for personal reasons).
• 5 participants came from countries that had not yet been involved in the programme.
• 14 professionals from Africa and 5 from outside Africa took part as resource persons.
• 6 previous participants were brought back to Mombasa as course assistants.
• Draft management plans were created for 2 sites in Mombasa.
• Course materials and results were compiled and distributed for future use by participants and AFRICA 2009.
• Equipment and didactic material for the course were purchased and left at PMDA.
• Professionals and other stakeholders in Mombasa benefiting from working on the management planning exercise and other course activities.
• 7 articles were written in the local press about the course.

For more information on the course, see the final report (Pdf 6,25 MB).