Mercy Corps’ civil society experience in Lebanon and Jordan has affirmed the need to place Arab young people, both children and youth, at the centre of the process of building a knowledge society: both groups are inheriting countries that are built on diverse histories and traditions of rich cultural heritage that will serve to unify and instill confidence and pride.

The aim of this project is to support cultural heritage as one aspect of “public wealth” that should be collectively celebrated and protected, by promoting a message of ownership at the local level through multilingual educational resources for schools, multimedia activities with youth and children, public events for the broader public, and capacity building of cultural heritage NGOs and museums to engage young people through developmentally-appropriate tools.

The events and activities of the project will engage young people through online resources, field visit and local and national cultural events. Moreover, national museums and heritage sites in Lebanon and Jordan will become hubs for education, celebration of cultural heritage and knowledge dissemination.

The target and beneficiaries of the project will be youth, educators, students, NGOs and Museums, parents, and the general public Mercy Corps has partnered in Lebanon with the Lebanese NGO “APSAD” and the Beirut National Museum and in Jordan with JOHUD and the Jordan Museum, providing a team with expertise in cultural heritage, youth outreach and dialogue, community development and multimedia education.

• To promote ownership of diverse elements of tangible and non-tangible heritage in support of cultural pride and civic responsibility
• To promote increased accessibility to and sharing of cultural heritage to build pride and knowledge of among youth and children in Lebanon and Jordan

• APSAD - Association for Protecting Natural Sites and Old Buildings in Lebanon (Lebanon)
  http://www.apsadonline.com
• Beirut National Museum - Ministry of Culture, Directorate General of Antiquities (Lebanon)
  http://www.beirutnationalmuseum.com
• JOHUD - Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (Jordan)
  http://www.zenid.org.jo
• The Jordan Museum (Jordan)
  http://www.jordanmuseum.jo

• Arts & Crafts
• Cultural Tourism
• Museums, Exhibitions
• Music & Performing arts
• Intangible Heritage
• Research/Education & Training
• Other

• 20 partner volunteers and staff trained in the Youth Cultural Heritage Training Curriculum and related multimedia tools
• 120 young people trained in Youth Cultural Heritage Training Curriculum and achieving mastery of multimedia skills
• Approximately 40 youth cultural heritage multimedia projects created and displayed locally and nationally
• 12 local cultural heritage exhibition events celebrating youth projects and promoting value of cultural heritage
• At least 1,000 teachers throughout Lebanon and Jordan directly introduced to the Cultural Heritage Toolkit and at least 10,000 educators and youth workers through brochures and outreach
• 50 tour guides trained in guiding skills tailored to the different developmental levels of children and youth (25 in Lebanon and 25 in Jordan)
• 1800 attendees to the 12 local youth cultural heritage project exhibits
• 6,000 visitors to the four annual Cultural Heritage Festivals (2 in Lebanon and 2 in Jordan)

		Interview with Dahlia Khoury Sader, Foundations for a strong future project, Lebanon Can cultural heritage help mobilise the civil society and to what effect? The answer of “Foundations for a strong future” project is clear and it passes mainly through the youth: “To increase the children and youths’ level of awareness about cultural heritage is the best way to assure its safeguard and valorisation”…
		Interview with Marian Affrah, Foundations for a strong future project, Jordan Can cultural heritage help mobilise the civil society and to what effect? The answer of “Foundations for a strong future” project is clear and it passes mainly through the youth: “To increase the children and youths’ level of awareness about cultural heritage is the best way to assure its safeguard and valorisation”…