Within the Youth.Heritage.Africa programme, ICCROM has established a new type of co-creative and interactive initiative called "Heritage Hubs". The aim is to link heritage to daily life and ensure that in protecting and promoting it, heritage can also become a source of livelihood for the youth of Africa. Heritage Hubs are knowledge-based innovation centres that foster youth engagement, entrepreneurship, and business development skills through creative arts and partnership within Africa's heritage protection and promotion cycle. The Hubs agenda goes beyond promoting understanding and appreciation of African cultural heritage among youth by touching specifically on how young people can use heritage to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Postgraduate training and research
Founded in 1829, the University of Cape Town (UCT) is Africa's oldest university and one of its leading teaching and research institutions. Long-standing partners, ICCROM and UCT have established the new Heritage Hub within the framework of the Youth.Heritage.Africa (YHA) programme. This partnership will leverage the University's unique research, training and professional development facilities for interdisciplinary activities of YHA in South Africa and beyond. With UCT as the focal point, the Hub will work together with an extensive network of heritage institutions in the greater Cape Town area and across the country.
Activities and Themes
World Heritage Field schools
Field schools hosted at the African World Heritage sites will combine research and training. The first field school will take place at Great Zimbabwe.
Digital for heritage
To encourage youth participation in heritage conservation and management through tech-inspired innovation, such as app development, we will carry out an interfaculty pilot project at the University of Cape Town.
Training Programmes
UCT Hub builds on the strengths of Cape Town University, which has a variety of postgraduate courses in heritage-related disciplines across various faculties.
Entrepreneurship
Together with the UCT Business School, we will promote kick-starting heritage-inspired enterprises through a competition, which will identify the most innovative ideas to be taken forward by the UCT Department of Innovation.
Expected outcomes
- Interdisciplinary research and learning center
- Network of heritage institutions
- Network of Young African Heritage Leaders
- 600 young people aged 14-35 benefit from our training
- 3 heritage-related creative enterprises and start-ups set up by young participants
- 2 field projects carried out at Great Zimbabwe and Mapungubwe
- 1 Postdoc fellowship
- 4 Master's and Honors bursaries awarded