WHITR-AP Shanghai and Beijing Centers, and their host universities Tongji University and Peking University were invited to participate in the UNESCO workshop “2026 Virtual Brainstorming: Strengthening World Heritage Higher Education in Africa”. 

Building on the outcomes of two workshops on “World Heritage and Institutions of Higher Learning in Africa” held in Great Zimbabwe in 2018, the meeting was organized online by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre from 23 to 24 February 2026, with the support of the Government of the Republic of Korea. The meeting aimed to further advance the institutionalization of capacity-building in the field of World Heritage conservation in Africa.

The two-day online workshop gathered more than 100 participants. It brought together African universities and partner institutions, ICCROM, UNESCO Chairs, the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), and six other Category 2 Centers, including WHITR-AP.

The workshop provided a platform for participants to exchange experiences and share regional and international best practices in World Heritage education and related fields. Its objective was to gain a clearer understanding of global and regional trends, including existing institutional cooperation, and to identify gaps in order to design a roadmap for developing new curricula and fostering or strengthening international partnerships. Ultimately, the initiative seeks to establish a sustainable, action-oriented framework for long-term collaboration.

The Urban-Rural Heritage Conservation in Higher Education Institutions International Network (UHC-HEI), jointly established by WHITR-AP Shanghai and CAUP at Tongji University, was well represented, with eight of its members actively contributing to the discussions.

Background

Africa has a remarkable diversity of natural, cultural, tangible, and intangible heritage. However, heritage protection and education across the continent face significant challenges. These include the underrepresentation of African heritage on the international stage, persistent conservation and management constraints, and the limited integration of heritage studies within higher education systems.

Heritage-related academic programmes in Africa remain, in many cases, undervalued and insufficiently promoted. The integration of heritage studies into university curricula is often weak, limiting both their academic visibility and their appeal to younger generations career-wise.

Institutionalizing and strengthening capacity development

To further address these issues, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre developed an overall project on Institutionalise and strengthen capacity development to sustain identification and the safeguarding of World Cultural and Natural Heritage in Africa, which aims to:

1)  establish new heritage education centres with 5 pilot universities, including the College of African Wildlife Management in Tanzania, the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morroco, the University of Cape Town in South Africa, the University of Dakar, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, and the University of Yaounde II in Cameroon; 

2)   strengthen existing heritage schools and training institutions; 

3)   develop integrated curricula that embed heritage perspectives; 

4) and enhance institutional capacities for preparing World Heritage nomination dossiers. 

This project is in alignment with UNESCO’s Operational Strategy for Priority Africa (2022-2029) and the Strategy for World Heritage in Africa (2022-2029), reinforcing the effective implementation of associated flagship programmes.

The online meeting was structured around 4 half-day thematic sessions followed by brainstorming sessions. The topics addressed were:

• A curriculum for the World Heritage Convention: main issues

• Integrating Cultural & Natural Heritage

• Harmonizing Heritage & Built Environment

• Heritage in Digital Technology and Innovation

Discussions were moderated by Muhammad Juma and Rouran Zhang from the Africa Unit and by Webber Ndoro and Souayibou Varissou.

Group Photo Screenshot

Group Photo of Attendees

Participation of WHITR-AP

Presentation by Prof. Song Feng

Prof. Shao Yong, Secretary General of WHITR-AP and Director of WHITR-AP Shanghai attended the meeting. During the fourth thematic session on Heritage in Digital Technology and Innovation, Prof. Song Feng, Deputy Director of WHITR-AP Beijing and Associate Professor at the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences of Peking University, and Prof. Zhang Jianwei, Dean of the School of Archaeology and Museology of Peking University, delivered two presentations, one titled “New Pathways for China-Africa Higher Education Collaboration” and the other “Between Metaverse and Reality, the approach of Cultural Heritage Digitization”. Ms. Marie-Noël Tournoux provided a detailed overview of the Urban–Rural Heritage Conservation in Higher Education Institutions (UHC-HEI) International Network, which was set up by WHITR-AP Shanghai and the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University. It focuses on rethinking higher education. Dr. Li Kuanghan provided insight into WHITR-AP Beijing activities.

Contributed by Marie-Noël Tournoux & Ye Shuzhen (Intern)

Photos provided WHITR-AP Shanghai

Designed by Zhang Yidan (Intern)

Edited by Liu Zhen 

Reviewed by Shao Yon