Withstanding change

Supported by the INTO project team, our international partners will restore six historic sites that are threatened by climate change

The project

In 2022, INTO was awarded £1.6 million in funding from the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, to undertake a programme of climate related activity in partnership with organisations across the Middle East and Africa.

Supported by the INTO project team, our international partners will restore six historic sites that are threatened by climate change.

Our progress

Work on the ground started in early 2023 and the project is now at the halfway point. In this time, an abundance of work has been completed; there has been physical intervention at all sites involved, as well as the delivery of community engagement and outreach programmes with the local population.

To mark this milestone, the INTO project team will be meeting the project partners in Cairo. Hosted by the Egyptian Heritage Rescue Foundation (EHRF), this is an opportunity to review and evaluate our progress to date, share best practice and exchange knowledge.

A group of school children in Zanzibar smiling at the camera outside a grand doorway

two men and a woman in a shop evaluation visit to As Salt, Jordan

evaluation visit - a large group of people smiling at the camera in a garden in Addis Ababa

Update on sites

Each site has made progress undertaking building restoration work, designed to mitigate the impact of climate change on cultural heritage. The properties will become places where neighbours can gather to learn more about the impact of the climate on their own communities.

In time these sites will become part of the local fabric again, hubs where people can meet to share their own experiences and stories specific to their intangible heritage.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing – the partners have encountered challenges in recent months. However, their resilience, coupled with support from INTO and the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, has allowed the programme to move forward in a positive way.

Partnerships

Each site is paired with a National Trust property in the United Kingdom:

The Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda – NT Stourhead
Egyptian Heritage Rescue Foundation – NT Blicking Estate
Heritage Watch Ethiopia Association – NT Mottisfont/Hinton Ampner
Petra National Trust – NT Mount Stewart
Zanzibar Stonetown Heritage Society – NT Llyn Peninsula/Penrhyn Castle

Coordinated by National Trust Project Manager, Katherine Shingler, the twinning relationships have developed and continue to deepen through shared concern for their respective sites and communities. They will form the platform for knowledge sharing that will continue long after the initial phase of the project has ended.

Read more on the twinning in our ‘News’ section:

Partners

Egyptian Heritage Rescue Foundation

Bayt al-Razzaz is a rare example of a late 15th century private dwelling in historic Cairo. Existing conservation challenges have been exacerbated by more extreme and less predictable rainfall patterns. Flash flooding resulted in the collapse of a younger neighbouring building, causing collateral damage to the site.

Two men gardening crouched down planting close to the soil part of the twinning project

Heritage Watch Ethiopia Association

The Tsegereda Gardens once formed part of the grounds of then crown prince Asfa Wossen’s residence. Stabilisation of this building and restoration of the Tsegereda Gardens, will showcase Ethiopian horticultural knowledge and demonstrate how indigenous ecological solutions can directly address climate change.

the facade of an old building on the sea front in Stone Town, Zanzibar with palm trees along a path and blue columns on the front of the building

Zanzibar Stonetown Heritage Society

The Old Customs House is a typical Omani mansion constructed in 1865. More intense winds and wave activity, rising sea level, warming oceans, humidity and sea evaporation – all exacerbated by climate change – are posing new, and compounding old conservation challenges.

evaluation visit - a small group of people walking in a green field in Uganda

Cross Cultural Foundation of Uganda

Situated just outside of Mbale, the family home and associated buildings belonging to Semei Kakungulu, an important Ugandan statesman, will be restored. There will be a museum on site and garden areas and neighbouring community landscapes will be planted with indigenous tree species.

an image from above of a stone building in As-Salt, Jordan

Petra National Trust

By restoring the historic Al-Khader cultural building, Petra National Trust will address the impact of climate damage on heritage buildings. By the re-greening of parts of the surrounding landscape, they will build on existing initiatives, strengthening livelihoods for the local community.

National Trust

Each site is twinned with a National Trust property. The twinning relationships continue to deepen through shared concern for their respective sites and communities.