Lamanai Archeological Reserve and Cultural Landscape Named To 2022 World Monuments Watch

lamanai

The local nominator, Heritage Education Network Belize (HENB) is a nonprofit organization established in 2020 and led by Belizean and international archaeologists and heritage professionals and Belizean volunteers with 40+ years of collective experience in the field. HENB is dedicated to innovative and sustainable ways to understand and safeguard culture and heritage. Our methods focus on community engagement, research, advocacy, capacity building, development, and education to empower local communities and stakeholders to create and maintain sustainable lifeways through culture.

World Monuments Fund (WMF) is the leading independent organization devoted to safeguarding the world’s most treasured places to enrich people’s lives and build mutual understanding across cultures and communities. The organization is headquartered in New York City with offices and affiliates in Cambodia, India, Peru, Portugal, Spain, and the UK. Since 1965, our global team of experts has preserved the world’s diverse cultural heritage using the highest international standards at more than 700 sites in 112 countries. Partnering with local communities, funders, and governments, WMF draws on heritage to address some of today’s most pressing challenges: climate change, underrepresentation, imbalanced tourism, and post-crisis recovery. With a commitment to the people who bring places to life, WMF embraces the potential of the past to create a more resilient and inclusive society.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology (MoECST) is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that all Belizeans are given an opportunity to acquire those knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for their own personal development and for full and active participation in the development of the nation. MoECST aims to create an inclusive, accessible, equitable, high quality and technologically-driven Education System for Belize, capable of fostering the development of good, productive citizens. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology, the World Monuments Fund, and Heritage Education Network Belize all have a shared, vested interest in enriching people’s lives through heritage stewardship. As such, MoECST, through the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH), ensures Heritage Education Network Belize of its support and looks forward to opportunities for future collaboration throughout the two-year nomination period of Lamanai Archaeological Reserve and its wider Cultural Landscape. MoECST, NICH and the Institute of Archaeology collaboratively aim to work with the nominator, Heritage Education Network Belize and the World Monuments Fund to develop and implement a project which underscores shared values for the decolonization of historical narratives through representation, community participation, and the integration of the cultural and creative sectors in historical interpretation.

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