Investing in Cultural Heritage Preliminary Conference Calls for Preserving Arab Tangible and Intangible Heritage
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Alexandria— The Preliminary Conference “Investing in Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development” came to a close on Thursday, 4 December 2008. The Conference was organized by the Arab Reform Forum under the auspicious of HE Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, and in cooperation with the World Bank and the Italian Government. Over the course of three days, participants discussed issues pertaining to the preservation and maintenance of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
In the closing ceremony, Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria, gave a lecture on “The Memory of Modern Egypt”, one of the BA latest projects, in which he highlighted the role of websites documenting history in preserving intangible human heritage. Dr. Youssef Zidan, Director of the Manuscript Center, also spoke about cultural investment in manuscripts.
During the three-day Preliminary Conference, participants discussed ways to employ economy in sustainable development with the aim to preserve cultural heritage, given that historic cities are considered the backbone of economy and a main element of touristic attraction. They emphasized the importance of securing livelihoods for indigenous populations by providing a package of new services that would help sustain their living, in addition to attracting tourists and investors.
The Conference called for reforming the social and economic fabric and attracting new investments to old historic sites; preserving the Palestinian heritage and supporting the Palestinian people; and encouraging the indigenous population to settle down and reside in historic cities to preserve its historical identity.
Another session was held to shed lights on the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in preserving cultural heritage, during which participants explored possible ways to employ ICT in cultural heritage and underlined the pros and cons of using new technologies.