In 2025, HERITΛGE continued to translate its mission of community-centred, inclusive, and sustainable heritage management into action across continents. From building local capacity across the world to advancing digital innovation and participatory practice in Europe and beyond, the year was defined by strong partnerships, expanded training, and tangible impact. HERITΛGE’s work in 2025 demonstrated how

In a strong show of support for the preservation of The Gambia’s cultural heritage, His Excellency President Adama Barrow visited the Jufureh Heritage Village Museum in the North Bank Region. The visit marks a proud moment for HERITΛGE, as the new museum has been made possible with funding from our Small Grants for African Heritage

  On Friday, July 18, The Heritage Management Organization (HERITΛGE) took another step forward in supporting The Gambia’s vibrant arts community by formalizing a partnership with the Visual Artist Association of The Gambia (VAAG) at the NCAC Pipeline Offices in Banjul. Dr. Evangelos Kyriakidis, Director of HERITΛGE, led a master class called “Telling Heritage Stories

At HERITΛGE we are happy to see our work create a lasting impact. We are particularly pleased to share a new initiative in The Gambia, the Galloya Street Art Tie & Dye and Batik Training for Women’s Empowerment, organised by Malick Kujabi. Malick is our focal representative in The Gambia and a HERITΛGE trainee himself.

  HERITΛGE has completed its transformational HerMaP Gambia project to upskill and help grow The Gambia’s cultural, tourism and sports industries with funding from the European Union. To celebrate the project’s achievements, take stock of progress and challenges and map out the next steps, a stakeholder event was held on February 24th in Banjul in

On February 17, 2025, as The Gambia marked 60 years of independence, HERITΛGE celebrated the country’s rich cultural heritage and the dedicated individuals working to preserve it. Hosted at the Ocean Bay Hotel in Banjul, the HerMaP Gambia Certificate Presentation brought together over 100 participants, including heritage professionals, community members, heritage practitioners, tourism agencies, and government officials.

Training HERITΛGE celebrated a record-breaking milestone in 2024, training over 1,000 heritage caretakers in a single year. Participants engaged in a wide range of programs, including three-day workshops conducted online and in person, two annual summer schools focusing on digital tools and community engagement, and specialized training tailored to specific regions, topics and organizations. These

The Gambia’s National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) and the Heritage Management Organization (HERITΛGE) proudly launched The Gambia’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Register on December 16th, a project realized under the auspices of the country’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture. The Register documents elements of The Gambia’s intangible cultural heritage (ICH) selected during the

From the 11th to 15th November 17 heritage professionals joined HERITAGE’s Community Tourism Planning & Development workshop that was organized in the framework of HerMaP Gambia, an initiative co-funded by the European Union that aims to enrich the understanding and appreciation of Gambian cultural heritage while enhancing the capacity of key stakeholders in the cultural

From 23rd October to 1st November, HERITΛGE held a Street Art Workshop in the Gambia. Street art serves as a vibrant and dynamic medium to bring history, culture, and identity to life and the workshop aimed to emphasize the power of creative expression in preserving and showcasing cultural heritage. The workshop was led by Leonidas

Over 16th and 17th of October, 27 participants from 10 institutions across Gambia joined us for the Festival Management and Operations Training. The two-day course aimed at enhancing participants’ understanding of essential concepts and practices to create impactful, well-organized, and environmentally conscious festivals that engage and benefit their communities. It was led by Hanine-K Lakkis, a cultural specialist,

Our teams are working around the world to fulfill the HERITΛGE mission. Here is how some of our work has been featured in the press in the last few months. Heritage Threatened by Conflict HERITΛGE has launched a new project to safeguard Ukraine’s cultural heritage. Architectural Heritage Preservation in Times of War: The Ukrainian Model

In the framework of the EU-funded programme HerMap Gambia, HERITΛGE was honoured to host the Select Committee on Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports of the National Assembly of the Gambia during a study tour to Greece that took place on 29th July – 4th August. The delegation was headed by the Honourable Seedy SK

Twenty National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) heritage managers attended an Introduction to Heritage Management and Team Development training delivered on June  25th. The  training was designed and delivered as part of the HerMaP program, which is co-funded by the European Union. HerMaP Gambia strongly supports gender equality and youth engagement by fostering an

On Saturday, June 30th, the HERITΛGE team wrapped up the  2023-2024 academic year with an event on the Greek island of Paros island to mark the end of our Community Engagement for Cultural Heritage Summer Field School.  The event was the culmination of possibly the most successful academic year since the organization was founded 15

By Ebrima Jammeh* The Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, with a population of about 2 million people. It is often referred to as the smiling coast of Africa due to the friendly nature of its people. It is surrounded on all three sides by Senegal (North, South, and East) except the West,

As the world celebrates African Heritage Day on May 5th, we highlight our initiatives aimed at conserving, preserving, and promoting Africa’s diverse cultural legacy. The Heritage Management Organization (HERITΛGE), in collaboration with the Mellon Foundation and the European Union, stands at the forefront of conservation and community engagement, catalyzing efforts to safeguard and celebrate Africa’s

HERITΛGE is happy to share two important actions of its HerMaP Gambia Program, an introductory workshop tailor-made and delivered for officials of The Gambia’s National Environment Agency (NEA) and its participation to the 1st International Conference on Responsible Tourism Practices and Cultural Heritage Management. HerMaP Gambia is co-funded by the European Union to support the

  HERITΛGE is pleased to announce the successful completion of a transformative workshop that trained heritage caretakers in The Gambia on the latest digital tools for cultural heritage management. Our “Digital Tools for Heritage Management” workshop took place in Barra, Gambia, from December 12th to 18th, 2023. It is part of the HerMaP Gambia program,

The Heritage Management Organization (HERITΛGE) is happy to announce the opening of its local office and training centre in Barra, in The Gambia’s North Bank Region. The new office, part of HERITΛGE’s HerMaP Gambia Program that is co-financed by the European Union, opened its doors officially on October 27th.  “The launching of this brand-new office

An extended HERITΛGE team was in The Gambia in August to  assess the progress of the Organization’s capacity development initiatives and explore how local communities are taking on board the heritage management training. HERITΛGE’s HerMaP Gambia program has delivered in the past three years, including HERITΛGE’s Training of Trainers (ToT) program that has been disseminating

HERITΛGE is very proud to have trained two groups of heritage practitioners during its Train the  Trainers workshop in The Gambia in June, in partnership with the Institute of Travel and Tourism of The Gambia. The 29 practitioners completed the first phase of their training and are now ready to go ahead and train a

HERITΛGE is very happy to announce the completion of the first “Introduction to General Principles of Cultural Heritage Conservation” workshop. The 3-day intensive online training workshop took place on May 26-28, with the participation of 12 heritage managers from Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia) and Europe (Greece). It

By Mina Morou* Women’s entrepreneurship in The Gambia has experienced remarkable growth, empowering women and catalyzing positive societal change. From supportive collectives in rural areas to innovative ventures across sectors, women entrepreneurs are breaking barriers and leading the charge towards a more inclusive and prosperous future. A noteworthy example of this progress is the establishment

The Heritage Management Organization (HERITΛGE) and the School of the Future International Academy (SoFIA) are joining forces to support education and heritage management professionals in The Gambia. With their expertise in adult training and competence development, the two organizations will organize a series of activities to enhance the skills of professionals in the fields of

58 heritage professionals trained, MOUs signed, meetings held with stakeholders  Heritage Management Organization (HERITΛGE) Director, Dr. Evanghelos Kyriakidis, and HERITΛGE instructor Dr. Eleni Stefanou visited The Gambia on 24th November – 4th December to hold training workshops and meetings with stakeholders for the HerMaP Gambia program aimed at strengthening the country’s heritage sector. 58 heritage

The Heritage Management Organization (HERITΛGE) completed an in-person visit to The Gambia for the HerMaP Gambia program on 17th – 24th August to build on and develop the program’s capacity mapping and building functions for the heritage sector. The team, headed by Project Manager Mina Morou, held meetings with The Gambia’s Vice President, Badara Alieu

The Heritage Management Organisation’s people, programs and partners have all been in the news. You can find some of the articles below.    Heritage Director, Evangelos Kyriakidis, told Euronews’ Jonny Walfisz that Britain must seize the opportunity for cultural diplomacy and give up its fears regarding the restitution of the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece and

On World African Heritage Day, the Heritage Management Organization is happy to announce that 41 heritage and cultural managers in Banjul, Barra and Janjanbureh attended its 3-day “Engaging Communities in Cultural Heritage” workshops. “This workshop addresses the needs of the country’s heritage organizations and local groups as they themselves set them out in a survey

“HerMaP Gambia” aims to strengthen CSOs as partners and stakeholders in promoting social development, inclusive and sustainable growth in the cultural and creative industries and develop the business skills of heritage and cultural managers in order to achieve greater community solidarity and reduce the number of people being “lost” through ‘irregular migration’. In order to

The case There are currently no professional archaeologists in The Gambia. By area, it is the smallest country in mainland Africa, less than 50km wide at its widest point and extending 320km from the Atlantic ocean along the River Gambia, and surrounded on three sides by Senegal.The country’s economy relies heavily on tourism, and most