Copyright: CRA-terre Source: UNESCO

By Ibrahim Tchan,

Climate change does not only erode landscapes or materials.
It threatens gestures, rituals, stories—what binds people to their territories, to their ancestors, to their sense of belonging. In the face of this, should we simply document, archive, observe the loss?
Or should we begin to invent new forms of presence, capable of extending the breath of heritage where the ground becomes unstable, practices disperse, and memory fades?

This is exactly the path we are currently walking with the Takienta, the ritual dwelling of the Batammariba people, in the Koutammakou region (Benin/Togo).

We are actively engaging in a multi-layered process using virtual reality, 3D modeling, photogrammetry, telepresence, augmented reality, and now drone-assisted AI for inventory and sacred landscape mapping.

But our aim is not to freeze this living architecture in pixels.
It is to make it accessible in new ways, to enable active transmission, especially where collapsing soils, displacement, or disrupted rhythms make ritual continuity difficult.

We are working to ensure that initiation rituals like the Dikuntri (for girls) and the Difuani (for boys) can still be felt, understood, and experienced—even remotely, even tomorrow—in a world where physical presence may no longer be possible, but where spiritual connection can be reimagined. This is no longer just about preserving form, but about ensuring that communities—especially younger generations—can continue to “inhabit” their heritage, making it a living resource in an uncertain world.

This approach raises critical questions:

➡ How can digital tools become instruments of cultural adaptation, not substitution?

➡ What ethical, inclusive, and grounded models can guide us in this transition?

➡ Which stories, practices, and examples should we be sharing—urgently?

We offer this not as a finished solution, but as an open invitation to explore, test, and co-create.
To engage in cross-disciplinary collaboration, to rethink how we care for what matters most. Because heritage does not preserve itself.
It must be carried, transformed, retold—together.
And if the tools of tomorrow can help honor the memory of our origins, then it is up to us to use them with care, clarity… and commitment.

*Ibrahim Tchan is a Heritage and Climate Change Specialist Researcher/Project Manager working in Benin

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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 is being realized in cooperation with the Kharkiv School of Architecture and Skeiron, with generous support from the U.S. Embassy’s Public Diplomacy Section in Ukraine. The project has been featured in the latest issue of Popular Archaeology as well as in Ukrainian media.

HerMaP Gambia

The Gambia’s National Assembly’s Committee for Culture and Tourism recently embarked on a Parliamentary Study Tour in Thessaloniki. This visit, conducted as part of the HerMaP Gambia program co-funded by the European Union, was widely covered in the Gambian media, including prominent news programs and The Voice newspaper.

Watch the QTV bulletin (start at 14:18) or read the article in The Voice.

HERITΛGE also delivered workshops in The Gambia on various aspects of cultural management, including Festival Management, which was covered by The Voice.

Read more here.

African Heritage Grants

HERITΛGE’s small grants for African heritage initiative, supported by the Mellon Foundation, recently funded Restoring Ilukwe House, a project by the NGO Legacy to restore a historic building in Lagos’ railway compound. Coverage of this initiative appeared in Nigeria’s The Guardian.

Read the article here.

The Republic, a Nigeria-based magazine and platform of socio-economic and political commentary, criticism and cultural discourse, has received a substantial grant from the Mellon Foundation to support its mission to establish itself as a regional, leading hub/platform for Black and Africa-focused ideas and critical perspectives; and to further connect Africa and the African diaspora on critical issues, with the help of HERITΛGE.

Learn more about this here.

Greek Living Heritage Network

As a founding member of the Living Heritage Network in Greece, HERITΛGE continues to support and celebrate Greece’s living heritage. Theodosia Maroutsi recently discussed the Network on NaMaste, a cultural program on Greece’s national broadcaster ERA2.

Greek speakers can listen to the show here.

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The Heritage Management Organisation (HERITΛGE)  is pleased to announce the launch of a new project contributing to the protection of Ukraine’s cultural heritage. Architectural Heritage Preservation in Times of War: The Ukrainian Model is a two-year project that will train architecture students in 3D documentation, architectural documentation, heritage analysis, conservation assessment, international conservation standards, and local regulations.

Implemented by the Heritage Management Organisation, the Kharkiv School of Architecture (evacuated to Lviv), and Skeiron, the project is generously supported by the Public Diplomacy Section of the U.S. Embassy to Ukraine*. 

The teaching will combine theoretical and practical components, including on-the-job training that will result in datasets usable in conservation. In the first year, 20 students from the Kharkiv School of Architecture will be trained as well as 10 students from Kherson, Odessa, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Lviv, and Chernivtsi.

The initiative will also provide training to two cohorts of academics from architectural schools across Ukraine, supporting them in establishing architectural conservation curricula in their institutions. 

“Heritage studies is a relatively new field for Ukrainian universities. The current war has highlighted a lack of modern restoration and documentation experts. Through participation in this project, our university aims to address the needs of future architects and the broader Ukrainian society by training specialists who can preserve, document, and integrate heritage into sustainable urban and community development. We are excited to collaborate with Skeiron, Ukrainian experts in digital documentation, and the HERITAGE team, whose international expertise is vital to the success of this initiative,” said Dr Iryna Matsevko, Chancellor of the Kharkiv School of Architecture. 

Project Launch

The project opened with a discussion on ‘Planning for the Post-War Rehabilitation of Ukraine’s Architectural Heritage’. Hosted by the Kharkiv School of Architecture and moderated by Dr Maja Kominko, Director of Projects at HERITΛGE,  the panel brought together Ukrainian and international experts. Liliya Onyshchenko, Advisor to the Mayor of Lviv on the protection of the historical environment and former Head of the Department of Historic Environment Protection of Lviv City Council, and Ihor Poshyvaylo, co-founder of the Heritage Emergency Response Initiative (HERI) and a member of the National Council for the Recovery of Ukraine from the War, spoke about their experience in heritage protection during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Yuriy Prepodobnyi, co-founder of Skeiron and the #SaveUkrainianHeritage initiative discussed the urgency of documentation. Dr. Iryna Matsevko, the Chancellor of the Kharkiv School of Architecture and a historian, outlined the challenges of forming a new generation of architects who can meet the challenges of post-war rehabilitation of the heritage of Ukraine.  Saleem Al-Mennan, a conservation architect, complemented the discussion by speaking about his extensive experience with post-war rehabilitation projects in Iraq, including projects supported by the American Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation.

*Views expressed do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government.

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