Heritage Experts Sought for Abu Dhabi's Landmark Cultural Landscapes Program

Heritage professionals across the Middle East and North Africa have until 15 October to apply for a training programme that could reshape how the region documents and protects its cultural landscapes.

Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism is recruiting 20 early to mid-career professionals for LanD 2027 Training on Cultural Landscapes Documentation, an initiative designed to treat heritage sites not as frozen monuments but as living, evolving systems shaped by the people who inhabit them, the practices that sustain them, and the natural environments they depend on. The programme is the first of its kind in the MENA region dedicated to holistic cultural landscape documentation.

Additional reference context is available at https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/government-news/department-of-culture-and-tourism-abu-dhabi-opens-applications-for-land-2027-463383.

The shift in thinking matters. For too long, heritage work in the region has focused on the physical fabric of sites while overlooking the intangible layers that give those places meaning. LanD 2027 trains participants to capture both, blending traditional knowledge with modern technology to produce documentation that can directly inform conservation decisions and guide sustainable heritage management.

Learning unfolds in two phases. An online component, delivered through Massive Open Online Courses, runs from January through April 2027, building foundational knowledge and preparing participants for the field. The core training then moves on-site from 26 April to 5 May 2027 in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, where participants will work alongside leading international experts and use Hili Oasis as a detailed case study. That hands-on setting is where integrated, people-centred and nature-culture methodologies get tested against real conditions.

The programme draws from a wide professional base. Applicants may come from architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, archaeology, heritage conservation, geography, GIS, environmental sciences, anthropology, ethnography, social sciences, or heritage management and policy. A bachelor’s degree in a relevant field and three to five years of professional heritage experience are required. Prior familiarity with documentation or fieldwork methods is valued, though the programme prioritises candidates who can work effectively across disciplines and within international teams. Working proficiency in English is also required.

Co-organized by DCT Abu Dhabi with the CHEDAR project, the training draws on collaboration with ICOMOS International Scientific Committees, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and other international heritage organizations. That partnership structure grounds participants in global best practices while keeping the focus on the specific heritage challenges and opportunities of the MENA region.

By building this kind of expertise now, DCT Abu Dhabi advances its broader mission of protecting, preserving and promoting the emirate’s cultural heritage, while developing the skilled workforce that will shape conservation and management across the region for years to come. Whether the 20 professionals selected will go on to establish similar programmes in their own countries remains an open question, but the ambition is clearly regional in scale.

Full eligibility criteria and the application form are available at abudhabiculture.ae/en/land-2027. Additional information can be found at dct.gov.ae and abudhabiculture.ae. The deadline is 15 October.