HERITΛGE has launched a new collaborative effort to map the cultural heritage sector across Mexico’s six northern border states — Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas — and is inviting heritage professionals, community organizations, educational institutions, researchers, and cultural actors in the region to take part by completing a dedicated survey.

The mapping initiative forms part of HerMaP Mexico, a program that seeks to strengthen cultural heritage management across the northern border region of the country. Through HerMaP Mexico, HERITΛGE works collaboratively with local actors to support training processes, build professional and institutional networks, and assist community-led projects that promote sustainable cultural development.

By participating in the survey, contributors will help identify existing capacities, challenges, and opportunities in the heritage sector. The results will directly inform the design of context-sensitive training programs, technical support, and future program activities tailored to the realities of the region.

“At the heart of HerMaP Mexico is the belief that heritage is best managed when local knowledge, experience, and community voices are recognized and supported,” said HERITΛGE Director, Dr. Evangelos Kyriakidis. “This mapping process is a key step toward ensuring that future training and support respond to real needs on the ground.”

Cultural heritage encompasses far more than monuments or collections. It includes living traditions, local knowledge, historic places, cultural practices, and the people who sustain them. Effective heritage management helps ensure that these cultural resources are protected and shared in ways that benefit communities socially, culturally, and economically.

HERITΛGE invites all those working with cultural heritage in Mexico’s northern border states to contribute to this mapping effort by completing the survey.

Access the survey here: https://heritagemanagement.jotform.com/251043774849970

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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 Joof and key heritage beneficiaries and stakeholders as well as training sessions with local heritage managers.

“We are happy to be in The Gambia after the lifting of the pandemic restrictions to further implement the HerMap Gambia program which serves as a springboard to develop the capacity of the country’s heritage sector, empowering local communities to grow sustainably by building on their culture, history, and traditions,” said Morou.

Morou, along with expert educator and trainer of trainers (ToT) Iordanis Paschalidis, and ethnomusicologist Stella Paschalidou,  delivered an executive leadership workshop on Capacity Development: Strategies and Best Practices, attended by 25 cultural managers from Barra, Wassu, Janjanbureh, Juffureh and Albreda, and Banjul and its greater area.

HERITΛGE is grateful to The Gambia’s  National Centre for the Art and Culture (NCAC) and its General Director, Hassoum Ceesay, for introducing and hosting the workshop as well as supporting our mission throughout its visit.  

About HerMaP Gambia: The program is aimed at developing the business skills of heritage and cultural managers to enable them to establish and better support heritage and cultural enterprises. Supporting The Gambia’s heritage sector will promote community solidarity and provide high-quality employment opportunities for local talent.

The worskshop was funded by the European Union with funding partly matched by the UN Economic Commission for Africa. The HerMaP Gambia in co-funded by the European Union.

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