In December 2024, 20 participants from 18 countries joined HERITΛGE for the Project Management for Heritage Managers workshop. This 3-day online course aims to equip attendees with essential project management skills, guiding them through the entire project lifecycle.

The course instructor, Tim Healing, started day one with a discussion on the concept of a project, how it differs from everyday tasks and the key qualities of an effective manager. He then outlined the project manager’s responsibilities and essential skills before going over common pitfalls to avoid, equipping participants to recognise and address these issues early. These skills were then put into practice with a group analysis of  a case study. The teams used this example to employ the project cycle framework and identify and resolve challenges, before drafting their own proposals.

The projects will be well planned, organized and with clear budgets to attract donor funding. The projects will also be evaluated and risks clearly assessed to have greater impact to the intended beneficiaries.
Walugembe Muzaphalu, Executive Director at Kanungu Empowerment and Support Organization

On the second day, training focused on the need for a structured agenda, with task outlines and risk identification the priority. Tim also introduced the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Critical Path Diagram and the SPECTRES risk assessment tool. Participants then  worked on the Niger Restoration Project case study, ranking risks, proposing solutions, and identifying which risks should be mitigated before starting the project, applying the risk management techniques and SPECTRES framework already outlined. 

I have found good insights in how to manage my project already in progress and it benefits to improve the rest of my project activities.
Rediat Messele, Lecturer in Archaeology and Heritage Management at Aksum University

The final day began with a session on developing project budgets, explaining direct and indirect costs through a publication case study. Participants worked in groups on the Sudan Museum Project case study, identifying monitoring concerns and strategies to stay on track, followed by group presentations and feedback.

The discussions remained lively to the end, and it was clear that participants had gained skills which they felt confident in applying in their own careers.

Participants were from Albania, Botswana, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Lesotho, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Uganda, and the United States.

Read more about our upcoming workshops here.

The post Project Management Workshop: 20 participants from 18 countries appeared first on The Heritage Management Organization.

In October, heritage managers from fifteen institutions across Rwanda joined us online for our Project Management for Heritage Managers Workshop. The course aims to help stakeholders build a better understanding of how to effectively run heritage projects from inception to closure, including evaluation.

HERITΛGE’s Tim Healing started the programme by introducing the basic principles and tools of project management using four case studies from Ghana, South Africa, Niger and Sudan. Participants then focused on specific skills including budget planning, risk management, monitoring and grant writing in the planning and implementation phases of projects. Instructions were then given for the requirements of the final project which will be submitted in groups. 

The 22 participants included officials from  the Ministry of National Unity and Civic Engagement (MINUBUMWE), the Rwanda Cultural Heritage Academy, the Rwanda Metereology Agency, Kigali Independent University, Rwanda Queen’s Museum, Mfura foundation, the  Rwanda Digital Cultural Archive and  Rwanda History Archives (Heritage Hub), Amatha Tech/ Rwanda Digital Heritage Platform, RWANDA cultural Library, NZIZA NGO, Golden Class Travel Agency, Art & Travel Ltd, Bwishyura Kivu Boat Cooperative, and Marti’s public secretariat Ltd.

The course was well received and participants showed great interest in how to manage a project and attract potential funders.

The workshop’s focus on real-life case studies also provided actionable insights, which I can implement in ongoing projects.

“Learning how to balance heritage conservation with sustainable development, while involving local communities, was particularly valuable. The workshop’s focus on real-life case studies also provided actionable insights, which I can implement in ongoing projects.” said Aime Ntyonagize, Founder and Director of Amatha Tech/ Rwanda Digital Heritage Platform.

Personally, I liked how very experienced the instructor is in Project Management.

“Personally, I liked the way the instructor is very experienced in Project Management, impressive topics, facilitations and explanations from the trainers etc. To be precise and concise, what I liked most is the project management skills and qualities of a good project manager that I gained from the instructors and facilitators during the course. It was so impressive and fantastic,” said Emmy MUSINGUZI, Genocide Memorials & Site management Officer / Bisesero memorial site

Tim Healing is our interim director of African Grants, and capacity development officer helping small heritage organizations in Africa develop an application and ensure they manage their grant efficiently. Tim has over thirty years’ experience working as a project manager and has a professional background in project management, community and NGO development. 

For more information about HERITΛGE’s workshops, go to our open courses page, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter / X, LinkedIn or Instagram.  

The post Project Management Workshop in Rwanda appeared first on The Heritage Management Organization.

Courtesy of Kangurang Festival

Over 16^th and 17^th 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, events director, and trainer, and Mina Morou, The Gambia Programmes Manager for HERITΛGE.

The training is part of  HerMap Gambia, an initiative co-funded by the EU that aims to enrich the understanding and appreciation of Gambian cultural heritage while enhancing the capacity of key stakeholders in the cultural sector. It was developed in direct response to requests from five distinct festival organizing groups seeking our expertise to enhance their event planning and management skills. Recognizing the unique challenges and opportunities within festival management, HERITΛGE designed this program to equip participants with essential skills in festival planning, marketing, operations, safety, and sustainability.

By addressing these core areas, HERITΛGE aims to strengthen the capacity of local actors to create impactful, well-organized, and environmentally conscious festivals that engage and benefit their communities. This tailored approach ensures that participants can meet both their organizational goals and the growing expectations of their audiences.

On the first day, participants from Kankurang, Wassu Stone Circles, Niumi Fort Bullen,  Roots,  Galloya Street Art Festivals as well as Kubuneh and Galloya Cultural Festivals and National Centre for the Arts and Culture (NCAC), Gambia Tourist Board, the Gambia Youth Chamber of Commerce and independent organizers were instructed in the fundamentals of festivals, including their types, purposes, and impacts, along with detailed guidance on planning aspects such as venue selection, programming, and marketing strategies. On the second, they went over operational considerations, such as risk and crowd management, and sustainable practices to minimize environmental impact.

“I want, on behalf of the National Centre for Arts and Culture, to express our sincere appreciation to the Heritage Management Organization and all the Facilitators for offering this valuable training opportunity to our festival organizers,” said Sanna B. Jarju, Head of the Department for Literature, Performing and Fine Arts of the NCAC.

“The training is done at a time when there are a large number of emerging community-based  festivals, most of whom strive for sustainability…Festivals are an important way to safeguard our cultural heritage and enable the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in The Gambia,” he added.

The post Festival Management Training in The Gambia appeared first on The Heritage Management Organization.

The Heritage Management Organization (HERITΛGE) is happy to announce a series of online training workshops for heritage professionals and caretakers for 2024-2025. 

Online Workshop Calendar 2024-2025

Introduction to Heritage Interpretation for Site Managers | 01–03 October 2024 

Master the principles of high-quality heritage interpretation and gain hands-on experience in implementing them at your site/organization in order to create meaningful and unforgettable experiences for visitors. 

Engaging Communities in Cultural Heritage | 11–13 October 2024

Understand the community engagement process,  a key heritage management strategy.  Master the challenges of working with local communities discern between communities and audiences and understand audience segmentation, get introduced to ethnographic approaches to creating collaborative research-based programs, and learn the methods and techniques of oral history to elicit and document tangible and intangible heritage.

Conservation III: Preventive Conservation (pilot)  | 15-17 November 

A pilot workshop only open to heritage managers that have previously completed Conservation II: First Aid for Finds. 

Interpretive Writing for Natural and Cultural Heritage | 25–27 November 2024

Learn how to write text that grabs and holds the reader’s attention. Discover and practice a wide range of techniques to engage visitors and master the techniques of interpretive writing. Participants will work to become a HERITΛGE-accredited Interpretive Writer, after successfully completing, and being assessed on, the exercises and activities.

Project Management for Heritage Managers | 13-15 December 2024

Gain the skills and knowledge to  run a successful project from inception, through the planning and implementation phases to closure. Create a work breakdown structure, a critical path diagram and a Gantt chart. Research potential funders and write a grant application. Improve personal time management skills. Learn to think critically, identify risks and create solutions. 

Organising Temporary Exhibitions from your Collections and Touring Strategies | 14–16 February 2025

The focus of this workshop is to give you the skills to ensure temporary, touring and partnership exhibitions can enhance and promote your institution’s mission, create new audiences and mutually beneficial partnerships. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own exhibition ideas to the workshop for discussion and development.

Communication Strategy and Strategic Marketing for Cultural Organizations | 07-09 March 2025

Join a focused learning experience that provides a systemic approach to successfully attract key audiences’ attention through traditional, new, and social media. Acquire a working guide to effectively communicate news, initiatives, and announcements of your organization and manage communication around a crisis or issue.

Successful Fundraising for Heritage Managers: Strategies and Best Practices | 28-30 March 2025

Start-up and build an organization’s contributed revenue to increase its impact in the world. Participants learn best practices and apply them to create the case for support and letter of inquiry for their own organization or project. Workshop sessions combine live and asynchronous lectures, case studies, class discussions and interactive exercises.

Conservation I: Introduction to the General Principles of Cultural Heritage Conservation | 4-6 April 2025

Learn the fundamentals, the ethics, the evolution, and the contemporary international context of conservation. At the end of the course, participants will be able to understand the potential of conservation, together with the processes which are necessary to maximize it.

Strategic Planning for Heritage Managers  | 9-11 May 2025

Successful strategy can lead to success and this course will provide participants with the tools and methodologies to successfully formulate and implement strategy in organizations managing cultural heritage. Learn the methods and tools of strategic analysis that will enable you devise and evaluate alternative strategic choices and comprehend the demands of a strategy implementation project.

More workshop dates will be announced soon. To apply visit our Executive Leadership Training page. 

The post New Training Calendar: Online Workshops for Heritage Managers appeared first on The Heritage Management Organization.

Introduction to Heritage Interpretation for Site Managers | 6 – 8 October 2023

Transform a visit into a captivating experience. Acquire the skills to create meaningful and unforgettable experiences for visitors, during this 3-day online workshop. Only accepting last-minute waiting list applications.

Find out more and apply 

Project Management for Heritage Managers | 7 – 9 October (US only) & 9 – 10 December  2023
This intensive 3-day online workshop led by Tim Healing will show participants the way to run a successful project from inception through planning to implementation and closure. A special US pilot program is still accepting last-minute applications.

Find out more and apply

Engaging Communities in Cultural Heritage | 27 – 29 October 2023
During this 3-day workshop, we aim to develop a different approach to community engagement based on social (and art) research with community-led initiatives. By adopting a research-led approach, we can foster collaborative design and actions that truly resonate with the unique cultural and social dynamics of each specific group or community, as well as their interactions with others.  We will explore methodologies grounded in ethnography and oral history, while also engaging in practical exercises to reinforce learning.

Find out more and apply

Interpretive Writing for Natural and Cultural Heritage | 10 – 12 November 2023
Written text that grabs and holds the visitor’s and reader’s attention is the key to effective word-based heritage interpretation. During this 3-day online workshop with Steven Richards-Price you will discover and practice a wide range of techniques to engage visitors and master the techniques of interpretive writing. 

Find out more and apply

Climate Change, Community Engagement & Interpretation | 1-3 December 2023

Brand new, 3-day workshop on climate change, heritage interpretation, and community engagement that seeks to empower participants with the tools and skills necessary to engage local communities in climate action through the lens of heritage interpretation.

Find out more and apply

Temporary Exhibition Design: Agile Exhibitions in a rapidly changing environment  | 2-4 February 2024
This up-to-date 3-day workshop focuses on how temporary exhibitions can enhance and promote an institution’s mission, create new audiences and generate revenue, from building an institutional strategy for exhibitions and partnership-building to planning and putting on temporary exhibitions for display at home and on tour. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own ideas and projects to the workshop and time is allocated for 1:1 consultation with the workshop facilitators.

Find out more and apply 

Community and Economic Development  | 16-18 February 2024
Cultural heritage managers increasingly have to both demonstrate and create economic benefits for local, regional, and national economies. This workshop will provide attendees with a firm understanding of the motivations for mobilizing cultural resources for economic benefit; the limits of that mobilization; different strategies for creating economic benefits; and how economic impacts are measured and communicated. The workshop will then guide attendees through the development of a plan for the creation of economic benefits for their own case studies, including the development of goals; selecting appropriate strategies; judging economic feasibility; and monitoring and evaluation procedures. As a result of the course attendees will be able to implement economic development strategies in their own community.

Find out more and apply

Communication Strategy & Strategic Marketing for Cultural Organizations | 8-10 March 2024
You have organized the best exhibition of the year or set up a ground-breaking educational program. You have worked hard with curators, conservators, educators, and everything is ready to rock, but now you wonder… how can I bring people in? How can I reach my audience, and what should I be telling them? This 3-day course is a focused learning experience that provides a systemic approach to successfully attract key audiences’ attention through traditional, new, and social media. 

Find out more and apply

Fundraising for Cultural Heritage Organizations | 22 – 24 March 2024
This 3-day workshop provides a survey of fundraising strategies and skills needed to start-up and build an organization’s contributed revenue with the aim of increasing its impact in the world. Participants learn best practices and apply them to create the case for support and letter of inquiry for their own organization or project.

Find out more and apply

Conservation II: First Aid for Finds | 12-14 April 2024
The workshop will provide step-by-step instruction on the best practices in the care of freshly excavated archaeological and historic objects as well as in the care of objects belonging to collections that have just been damaged. It will also examine the case of providing first aid measures to architectural heritage. It will go through all the processes that are essential during preparation, application of treatments and monitoring.

Find out more and apply

Strategic Planning for Heritage Managers| 26 – 28 April 2024
Strategy is a key factor for success in all areas of human activity. This 3-day interactive course aims to provide the tools and methodologies to effectively address the topics of successful strategy formulation and implementation in organizations managing cultural heritage in today’s complex environment. 

Find out more and apply

Conservation I: Introduction to the General Principles of Cultural Heritage Conservation | 24 – 26 May 2024
Following the success of your first Conservation workshop in 2023, we are again accepting applications for this 3-day interactive course that aims to teach the principles and objectives of conservation, and in so doing to introduce its methodology. The workshop will deliver the fundamentals, the ethics, the evolution, and the contemporary international context of conservation. 

Find out more and apply

HERITΛGE provides scholarships to most participants in its training programmes. These scholarships can cover up to 90% of the cost of attendance, depending on the circumstances of the participants and the availability of funding. On average, participants contribute around 300 euros to attend one of our 3-day training workshops. 

The post 2023-2024 Training Calendar for Heritage Professionals appeared first on The Heritage Management Organization.

HERITΛGE is launching a pilot training program in Project Management specifically targeted toward U.S.-based Heritage Managers. The 3-day online training program will take place Oct. 7-9 2023, with participants only required to contribute a $50.00 registration fee.

“Project Management is a skill that many take for granted and is often underrated in its importance, but it affects every aspect of our work,” said HERITΛGE Director, Dr. Evangelos Kyriakidis. “This training focuses on those working in the heritage, environmental, or social action fields, but it can equally be applied to any project by emphasizing the importance of planning,” he added.

The course will be delivered by Tim Healing, who has over thirty years of experience working as a project manager and a professional background in project management, community, and NGO development. He specializes in the coordination and support of cultural heritage and community-based social action projects and has particular experience working with local communities, national and regional museums, heritage institutions, government, and non-governmental organizations.

For this pilot program, exclusively targeted towards US-based heritage managers, participants will only need to pay a $50.00 registration fee.

Participants in HERITΛGE’s Executive Leadership in Heritage Management Workshops are automatically granted HERITΛGE Membership.

Find out more: Find out more about our Project Management for Heritage Managers Workshop here.

How to Apply: To apply for this workshop, please fill out this form before September 27, 2023.

The post Project Management for US Heritage Managers appeared first on The Heritage Management Organization.