The Climate Heritage Network’s (CHN) first Crowdfunding campaign has been launched to help bring African Heritage and Culture Voices are heard at the 2022 UN Climate conference (COP27).
… Accessing funding to participate in the COP27 is difficult…
CHN writes:
The solutions to climate change aren’t going to be found in the same unsustainable models that put the planet at peril. Designing climate resilient futures means listening to diverse perspectives. #COP27 is the first UN Climate Conference to be held in Africa since 2016 but will there be African cultural voices at the table? Five amazing African culture & heritage colleagues stand ready to bring new, cultural voices to the conference when it convenes in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in November — and with your support, we’ll get them there! Please give today – donations large and small are welcomed.
A little bit of context
The Climate Heritage Network working with partners has secured the opportunity for cultural voices to share their perspectives within the COP27 delegate zone (the ‘Blue Zone’) via the COP27 Resilience Hub. It is a great opportunity to connect with and inspire people across businesses, civil society, academia and government to collaborate and scale up culture-sourced action that builds resilience to the impact of climate change and makes communities around the world more low carbon, just, and climate resilient. The Hub is the official home of the Race to Resilience, the UN-backed campaign representing over 1,500 non-state actors taking action on resilience worldwide — of which the CHN is a proud partner.
Accessing funding to participate in the COP27 is difficult; to date, we have not succeeded in finding donors for travel bursaries to make sure African voices are heard in this space. In addition to sharing in the Resilience Hub speaking opportunity, physical participation in COP27 gives attendees the opportunities for real-time meetings, connections for potential future collaborations and support in responding to the challenges of culture and heritage management in the climate change context and drawing key learnings from the heritage sector experiences in tackling climatic, environmental and social changes. This crowdfunding campaign aims to make sure African colleagues share in these opportunities.
Here’s what we’re doing about it
5 African heritage managers, researchers and practitioners will be supported to participate in person in the COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt:
Mercy Mbogelah (Tanzania): Mercy is the Site Manager for the Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani & Ruins of Songo Manara World Heritage Site in Tanzania. She is doing amazing work in ensuring thorough maintenance of the Site. Furthermore, she assists in building resilience & sustainability at the site level….
Simon Musasizi (Uganda): While working to mitigate the impact of the Rwenzori Mountains’ melting snow on the Bakonzo and Alur communities, Simon has faced the effects of climate change on cultural heritage sites. As the Heritage Trust Programme Manager with the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU), he spearheads the establishment of a national trust to champion the cause of safeguarding historic and natural sites in Uganda….
Ibrahim Tchan (Benin): Ibrahim is a jurist specializing in cultural heritage. Director and Co-Founder of the Tata Somba Ecomuseum, the first ecological museum in West Africa. He is also a Steering Committee Member of the Climate Heritage Network (CHN). His research focuses on the general impact of climate change on the Koutammakou site through methods, techniques and tool models. His study aims to co-construct with local communities a risk management plan and disaster linked to climate change for Koutammakou and to demonstrate that the traditional know-how of the Otammari people can play an active and positive role in the fight against climate change….
Daniel Ishaya Mwada (Nigeria): Working with the National Commission for Museums and Monuments in Nigeria, Daniel is the site manager of Rabih’s Fort, Dikwa, a heritage site faced with climate change impacts and Boko Haram insurgency. He is one of the six African Heritage Professionals that underwent the Climate Vulnerability Index Africa training course on climate change and cultural heritages. He assists the Sukur World Heritage Site’s community in mitigating the impact of climate change and building resilience, adaptation and sustainability. He is a researcher and has documented several heritage sites for enlistment into Nigeria’s National Heritage List. He is a member of ICOMOS-Nigeria and a UNESCO Committee Member for sensitisation, planning and consultations towards developing a management plan for the proposed Lake Chad Transboundary World Heritage Site. He is also an Assisting Advisory Committee Volunteer (AACV) and is currently working on disseminating Climate Vulnerability Index Africa in the forthcoming EPWG ‘Heritage Naija 3.0’ webinar….
