Int’l Petra workshop shows link between heritage sites, creative economy

AMMAN — A three-day workshop titled "World Heritage Sites as Centres for Creative Economy" and organised by the Petra Development & Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) concluded on Saturday.

The event addressed the important relations between heritage and the wider cultural sector, according to a PDTRA statement.

Experts from 12 countries participated in the event, discussing how World Heritage Sites can become hubs of creativity and contribute to wider social and economic development. 

PDTRA Chairman Suleiman Al Farajat opened the workshop along with speakers, including Fadi Bala’awi, director of the Department of Antiquities, Min Jeong Kim, UNESCO Jordan representative, and Professor Mike Robinson from Nottingham Trent University in the UK.

Topics discussed included the creative and appropriate use of both tangible and intangible heritage, the innovative use of buildings for sustainable tourism, the importance of developing regional and global networks across different sectors, involving young people in delivering the benefits of heritage, and the need for new instruments to deal with sustainable development, the statement said.

Farajat highlighted that an important World Heritage Site such as Petra — a UNESCO World Heritage Site from 1985 — is ready to lead new initiatives and exchange ideas with other sites around the region. 

Case studies of creativity in heritage were provided by experts from the UK, France, Germany, Georgia, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. 

Robinson said: “This workshop marks an important start in getting World Heritage Sites to think beyond issues of conservation – important though this is – and to consider how they can contribute to wider agendas of sustainable development and social well-being. It is important that we build on this start and continue to share our knowledge.”