The Foundation for the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage of Rabat, chaired by HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa, celebrated International Monuments and Sites Day on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, by holding education and awareness-raising sessions on Rabat’s material and immaterial cultural heritage for schoolchildren. These are part of its “I discover my heritage” and “I draw my heritage” educational programs.
The Foundation organized activities in partnership with the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports, the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication, UNESCO, and ICOMOS-Morocco.
The Foundation’s educational programs promote access to heritage through activities designed by the Foundation, along with heritage and education professionals.
“I discover my heritage” provides an educational kit for middle school students and their teachers who, through research, debates, observation, and writing, discover Rabat’s global heritage from a variety of perspectives.
In 2023, the Educational Kit received new content (information, maps, and photos of listed property components) and a new activity entitled “Discovering the history of my school” to raise awareness among schoolchildren on the intrinsic value of their schools’ heritage.
“I draw my heritage” is an educational program designed by the Foundation and its partners in 2021 to raise schoolchildren’s awareness of the importance of safeguarding cultural heritage through visual arts. In this year’s edition, entitled “I tell my heritage,” children produced drawings based on fictional or real stories they wrote to further connect with their heritage.
During Heritage Month, the Foundation organized site visits guided by heritage professionals for participating schoolchildren and college students.
The 2023 edition of educational programs featured new activities and expanded the number of participating students and teachers.
Over 6,000 middle and high school students and their teachers visited the World Heritage sites of Rabat and its surroundings: the Almohad ramparts and gates, the Qasba des Oudaïa, the Medina, the archaeological site of Chellah, the Habous district of Diour Jamaâ, the New City, the Botanical Gardens, the Hassan Mosque, and the Merinide Medressa.
A drawing workshop for 120 schoolchildren from 20 institutions took place at the botanical gardens, led by inspectors and teachers of plastic arts and students and supervisors from the National Institute of Fine Arts of Tetouan.
To further sensitize younger generations to all forms of cultural heritage expression, the Foundation arranged visits to the Lions of the Atlas Exhibition at the National Zoological Garden of Rabat for 400 schoolchildren.
About the Foundation for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Rabat.
The Foundation for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Rabat was created by His Majesty King Mohamed VI to preserve the material, immaterial and landscape heritage of the city of Rabat. “Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City: a Shared Heritage” with eight major historical sites has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2012.
Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, who chairs the Foundation, defined and initiated a comprehensive policy to raise the awareness of both inhabitants and visitors. A city’s heritage is only preserved sustainably when its population appreciates its value and takes ownership thereof.
The Foundation develops programs around three main pillars – educating, raising awareness and bringing people together. A powerful catalyst for inclusion and cohesion, Rabat’s heritage is a genuine driver of social, economic and cultural development. The Foundation regularly runs heritage discovery programs for the general public, especially targeting young people, to build an emotional connection that ensures respect for and preservation of this heritage.
Foundation programs target a variety of audiences, including the general public, professionals, institutions, private actors, and young people. As part of its educational programs, the Foundation develops educational kits, cultural heritage mediation platforms with the “Heritage Digitalization” program, in addition to hosting scientific workshops. Experts from all continents are invited to share, exchange, and advance the valuable cause of preserving cultural heritage in Morocco.
This work, carried out in a collaborative approach, combines expertise and resources, and brings together institutional, public and private actors to assert the importance of heritage protection in the Kingdom.
