Awareness, communication and decision-sharing: how involving civil society in heritage conservation. the ICCROM guide “Iniciating the young in the management and protection of heritage assets in arab countries”

Abstract

General public knowledge about conservation and management of archaeological sites problems varies worldwide. Several organizations provide information and guidance, often through their websites. However, few of them are concerned about changing young generation attitudes. This guide created by ICCROM and UNESCO, published with the support of the UNESCO office in Amman, is aimed directly at teachers. This objective is not unknown for ICCROM, which has already published, with the Europe Council, faculty material directed to raise awareness about heritage in European cities.

The book addresses the major issues related to cultural heritage. In fact, the first section title is «The concepts of cultural heritage.» The authors ask what heritage is and why it is important. The book presents information for the comprehension of historical assets, its deterioration and conservation, and issues related to tourism, awareness, dissemination and world heritage. However, the book not only presents fact, it is also clearly directed to teachers, with information, ideas, activities and keywords, along with descriptions of each thematic unit. Each unit begins setting a series of «learning objectives», according to curricular formats and teaching best-practices. Its extended use in countries such as Lebanon, Libya and Iraq, has demonstrated to be useful and suggestive regarding its application in classrooms. Currently, it is available online in order to allow teachers outside the Arab region to benefit from the experiences developed. In fact, it has been given permission to translate the book into Spanish including the cultural heritage assets extant in Spanish- speaking countries.