Ministry of Youth and Culture Hosts UNESCO Workshop on Blue and John Crow Mountains

Ministry of Youth and Culture hosts Caribbean’s first World Heritage Education Workshop and Commemorative Hike to Blue and John Crow Mountains

The Ministry of Youth and Culture in partnership with UNESCO Cluster Office in Kingston continue the public awareness programme on World Heritage with the Caribbean’s first workshop on World Heritage Education Monday December 7 and Tuesday December 8 at the Courtleigh Hotel and a commemorative hike to the Blue and John Crow Mountains on Saturday, December 12.

The World Heritage Education workshop, which will take the form of a trainer of trainers programme targets: educators, environmentalists, heritage practitioners, journalists specializing in heritage, youth representatives studying and working in heritage.

Minister of Youth and Culture, the Honourable Lisa Hanna notes that the workshop is a deliberate inclusion in the Ministry’s public awareness campaign as the country seeks to use Jamaica’s and the Caribbean’s first mixed site inscription; the Blue and John Crow Mountains as a model for the region.

“It is our responsibility to prepare diverse stakeholders in shaping the key messages and build technical competencies which will be critical in managing a World Heritage site with unique values covering natural and cultural elements. We recognize that if managed properly, the Blue and John Crow Mountains can be a model in this global niche market. All efforts must begin with educating and equipping key persons to carry on the core messages of managing a World Heritage site,” said Minister Hanna.

The two day workshop will cover relevant topics such as: Understanding the World Heritage Convention, Examining Jamaica’s presence in World Heritage, Communicating the Outstanding Universal Value of the Blue and John Crow Mountains, heritage education and interpretation, a case study from the Blue and John Crow Mountains and Integrating World Heritage in Jamaica’s education system: exploring the policy direction. Participants will also engage in practical sessions which will build their capacities in developing communication and education strategies in support of World Heritage in Jamaica.

Principal Director, Culture and Creative Industries Policy Division in the Ministry, Dr. Janice Lindsay noted that the workshop is the first among many which the Ministry hopes to facilitate or assist in coordinating in a bid to ensure that World Heritage becomes a part of the Jamaican psyche.

“We want to ensure that World Heritage is dissected and understood and no longer remains a foreign concept to Jamaicans. No matter who you are, a basic understanding of this emerging niche in global heritage, is vital,” she said.

The Ministry of Youth and Culture in September launched a World Heritage public awareness campaign, an initiative which is funded by UNESCO in the amount of USD 20,000.00 and supported by the Embassy of Japan. The public awareness campaign includes the publication and dissemination of Blue and John Crow Mountains World Heritage posters and brochures, community meetings on World Heritage, launch of the World Heritage Site and a commemorative hike to the Blue Mountain Peak set for December 12, 2015. A small group of targeted stakeholders will depart Forr.es Park, Mavis Bank at 6:00 a.m. and begin the seven mile walk to the Peak from Jacob’s ladder at 7 a.m. A plaque will be unveiled at the Peak, located within the world heritage site as a symbolic move to commemorate the inscribed property.

Jamaica’s Blue and John Crow Mountains was named to the World Heritage List on July 12, 2015 in Germany during the World Heritage Committee (WHC) meeting. The country is also one of 21 States Parties that sit on the WHC that is responsible for World Heritage including inscription of sites. Jamaica’s mandate to the committee ends in 2017.