Grant Awarded: £509,300
Time Frame: June 2025- December 2027
Overview:
This project builds on Coastal Connections, a global network of coastal heritage sites, to create up to six hubs across the Global South. These will bring together site managers and international specialists to share skills and solutions through workshops and digital resources, rooted in practical action on the ground.
Our first hubs will cover the East Coast of Africa and the Caribbean. Further hubs are planned to cover the West Coast of Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Small Island Developing States. These regions face a range of coastal threats, are in greatest need of affordable, sustainable solutions, and have urgent safety issues to address.
Each hub will bring together local site managers and communities to develop a broad range of options for managing coastal and maritime heritage and equip them with the relevant skills for practical implementation. Once established, the regional networks will drive the search for innovation and identify evidence-based needs at maritime and coastal heritage sites, leading to sustainable local and regional partnerships.
From their existing engagement with the Coastal Connections network and wider WMF global footprint, the location of each hub offers the combination of accessibility within the region, suitably qualified local staff and facilities, and viability for developing a long-term partnership. Our partners in these regions have developed practical expertise which will be invaluable to a wider community.
These include:
- Mombasa, Kenya – where participants are already exploring the introduction of mangroves to limit coastal erosion
- Antigua & Barbuda – where alternative grazing regimes are being adopted to protect coastal areas, and new techniques of offshore monitoring are being tested to predict impact
- Osu, Ghana – where local advocacy is challenging the illegal practice of sand winning, encouraging its relocation to agreed areas
- Bangkok, Thailand – where heritage assets are renewed by indigenous communities using traditional practices and sustainable materials
- Colombo, Sri Lanka – where innovation lies in the re-purposing of historic lighthouses in Jaffna, adapting them with new light systems and solar power sources
- Levuka, Fiji – where the reintroduction of traditional materials (such as thatch) is helping to minimise risk to life during intense storms
The hubs will draw in practitioners from across the region, as well as global specialists, to identify solutions and to build and share expertise through convening workshops and developing online resources. The approach by the World Monuments Fund Britain for Coastal Connections is to listen to and internationalise local voices, showcasing traditional knowledge systems and solutions via its global network. Training will be developed and delivered with hub coordinators to suit the specific needs of each region, equipping local partners with the insight, knowledge and skills needed to make decisions and act accordingly.
Image credit: World Monument Fund