The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT - Abu Dhabi) will host the Expert Modules for Strategic Knowledge Co-Creation series, focusing on seminars and workshops with cultural heritage experts that promote an integrated approach and a unified strategy for preserving and showcasing both cultural and natural heritage. Launching in September 2025, the programme underscores DCT Abu Dhabi’s long-standing commitment to promote cultural sustainability, protect heritage assets, and ensure meaningful access to cultural resources for future generations.
These modules will build upon the inaugural International Forum on Cultural Heritage & Knowledge Development, held in May 2025 by DCT Abu Dhabi in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), along with other national and international partners, including the UAE Ministry of Culture. The first-of-its-kind forum focused on advancing culture education, safeguarding heritage, and promoting integrated approaches to heritage protection and development. The forum itself was a direct response to the recommendations of UNESCO’s World Conference on Culture and Arts Education, also hosted in Abu Dhabi in February 2024. Together, these growing initiatives form part of the broader heritage law strategy of Abu Dhabi.
His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, said: “The preservation of our heritage is a shared mission that requires collaboration, knowledge exchange, and collective action. Building on the outcomes of the International Forum on Cultural Heritage & Knowledge Development, the ongoing work to safeguard our past by upskilling our culture sector workforce continues with this important series of seminars, workshops and hands-on field visits. We are equipping specialists across a range of disciplines to effectively conserve our stories, sites and traditions, ensuring our shared cultural and natural heritage remain a source of identity, opportunity and inspiration in Abu Dhabi, the region and beyond.”
In line with the UNESCO Framework for Culture and Arts Education (Abu Dhabi, 2024), the MONDIACULT Conference (2022) and the Pact for the Future Summit (2024), the programme reinforces the role of culture and education and interconnected pillars for advancing knowledge and shaping resilient, equitable societies. The initiative’s launch is anchored in the belief that everyone, individually and collectively, owns the right to benefit from and contribute to the enrichment of cultural heritage.
Based on the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Right (1966), the programme aims to activate living heritage places where access to culture is integral to exercising cultural rights. It also serves as a catalyst for inclusive, sustainable socio-economic and environmental development. The programme affirms cultural heritage remains essential to social unity, economic opportunity, and historical continuity through its intrinsic meanings, identities, and values.
DCT - Abu Dhabi continues to play a leading role in championing policies and initiatives that ensure cultural heritage is safeguarded for future generations, while simultaneously enabling communities to engage with and benefit from it today. The initiative is built as an integrated approach to heritage protection and promotion, with the seminars, workshops and a global forum aiding in fostering innovative governance, cross-sector collaboration, and capacity building at all levels.
The programme consists of four thematic modules. Module one: Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage Sites, introduces heritage as a shared responsibility and a catalyst for sustainable development. It explores legal, institutional, and practical approaches to protecting heritage sites, from UNESCO frameworks to national and local actions. The module will also emphasise inter-agency cooperation, risk preparedness, and community-based site management. This module will commence from 16-19 September 2025.
Module two: Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (Cultural Industries), dissects cultural diversity as a foundation for innovation, inclusion, and resilience. It navigates how legal frameworks, cultural industries, education, and civil society contribute to protecting diverse cultural voices, particularly in times of rapid change or crises. This module will commence from 7-10 October 2025.
Module three: Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, addresses submerged heritage such as coastal archaeological sites. It explores maritime law, environmental considerations, law enforcement coordination, and the role of coastal communities and tourism sectors in protection efforts. This module will commence from 21-24 October 2025.
Lastly, module four: Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, focuses on traditions, knowledge systems, practices, oral expressions, and performing arts. It will further examine the importance of safeguarding living heritage, while exploring the roles of education, media, policy, and local communities in preserving cultural identity and continuity. This module will commence from 17-20 November 2025.
Run over four consecutive days, each module includes a two-day intensive seminar focused on knowledge sharing and awareness building. The remaining two days combine strategic workshops led by cultural heritage experts and field visits designed to promote cross-sector collaboration and shared solutions among professionals working in culture, education, media, the built environment, law enforcement, tourism, environment, and other related fields.
Participants who successfully complete a module will be awarded a certificate recognising them as part of Abu Dhabi’s network of cultural heritage experts and representatives. These professionals will actively contribute to specialised focus groups established for each thematic area, supporting ongoing national and regional efforts to safeguard and promote cultural heritage in Abu Dhabi and beyond. Their involvement will include representing their institutions in meetings, as required, to support the advancement of national cultural preservation goals. Participating entities can further nominate individuals to attend one or more modules that are most relevant to their professional roles.
The modules will be conducted in Arabic or English, with simultaneous interpretation available in both languages. This programme is designed for mid-career professionals from the UAE and GCC working in government entities and any relevant institutions in the field of culture, with eligible participants including but not limited to police, civil defence and customs, environment and sustainability entities, municipalities, education and higher education institutions, media and communication offices, local community representatives and NGOs, and cultural institutions and foundations. Interdisciplinary professionals are also welcome to apply, including architects, urban planners, project managers, archaeologists, educators, media specialists, and museum professionals, among others.
By the end of each module, participants will become members of the Cultural Heritage Experts, representing institutions and organisations in the future. Therefore, approval from their respective departments and superiors is essential for participation. Participants are expected to commit to the full four-day programme per module.
