News
Cultural heritage, a source of opportunities for youth in the Caribbean
On 5 May 2023, the programme Transcultura: Integrating Cuba, the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity, implemented by UNESCO and funded by the European Union, organized the panel discussion Youth and Cultural Heritage in the Caribbean as part of the sessions of the First International Congress on Cultural Heritage in Havana, Cuba.
Among the panellists were Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre; Philip Sauerbaum, Cooperation Attaché of the European Union Delegation to Cuba; Anne Lemaistre, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean; Gladys Collazo, Director-general for Heritage at the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana; and Liliam Pérez, Cuban producer and entrepreneur, participant in one of the workshops sponsored by the Transcultura programme. The manager of the ‘Antigua Naval Dockyard and Related Archaeological Sites’ World Heritage property in Antigua and Barbuda, Desley Gardner, participated in the panel through a video.
Participants reflected on ways to raise awareness of the need to preserve heritage among young people by involving them in decision-making processes and harnessing their innovative approaches.
We need to ensure that youth is involved in all aspects of world heritage management, so it can fully understand and appreciate the values of heritage and develop a sense of ownership and identity. This is why UNESCO has given a special attention to youth throughout its programmes.
The speakers highlighted the potential of cultural heritage in the creation of professional opportunities for young people in the region. This is one of the aims of the Transcultura programme, implemented by UNESCO and funded by the European Union. The initiative promotes culture and creativity as drivers of sustainable development and enhances the skills and prospects of Caribbean culture professionals between 18 and 35 years through training, entrepreneurship, cultural exchange, and the promotion of sustainable cultural tourism.
With the richness of the cultural heritage in Cuba and the Caribbean region as a whole, connecting the topics of culture, entrepreneurship and youth offers tremendous opportunity for socio-economic development and new ways of creation and employment, based on culture, diversity, and creativity.
Since its inception in 2020, more than 1,300 young artists and culture professionals from 17 Caribbean countries have benefited from Transcultura’s training and exchange activities. This is the case of Liliam Pérez, Cuban music producer and entrepreneur, who took part in the "Project Management" course given by the University of the West Indies with a Transcultura scholarship. After that, she is developing a project on promoting and teaching Cuban musical heritage.
As a professional specializing in music-related projects, Cuba's heritage - which includes genres such as 'rumba', 'tumba francesa', 'son', 'danzón' or 'changüí' - is not only a source of inspiration, but also a source of work and projects. Thanks to a Transcultura scholarship, I was able to train myself to better manage and implement creative projects that also contribute to preserving and promoting cultural heritage.
Panellists also referred to the creation of a Caribbean Cultural Training Hub, that will enhance capacities for heritage conservation in the region through an academic offer that includes courses on restoration and conservation of movable and immovable heritage, as well as on the management of entrepreneurships in heritage tourism destinations.
As part of the activities of the International Congress of Cultural Heritage, the Transcultura panel brought together researchers, students, culture promoters and managers, as well as Ministers of Culture participating in the inter-ministerial meeting of the G77 and China.
