UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

04/26/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 04/26/2024 15:29

Coastal Fortifications: a Cultural Link Between Europe and the Caribbean for Sustainable Tourism

Coastal fortifications, built over thousands of years with complex designs, not only hold historical and cultural value but also play a crucial role in the socio-economic development of local communities, especially when integrated into the tourism offer. These structures represent a common heritage between Europe and the Caribbean, with architectural styles, engineering techniques and strategic importance that highlight their shared legacy.

To explore how these fortifications can contribute to sustainable development and how their inclusion in the tourism offer can generate significant economic and social benefits, the UNESCO programme Transcultura: Integrating Cuba, the Caribbean, and the European Union through Culture and Creativity, funded by the European Union, organized the workshop 'World Heritage Coastal Defence Systems in the Caribbean and Europe,' from 23 to 25 April 2024, in Havana. The city, home to the UNESCO World Heritage property 'Old Havana and its Fortifications System,' served as the venue for the event. The workshop was attended by more than 70 managers of European and Caribbean coastal fortifications, cultural authorities and tourism sector officials, as well as specialists and entrepreneurs.

I am pleased that this workshop has created a bridge for exchange on this shared heritage between the European Union and the Caribbean. The fact that spaces like this serve to create collaborative networks is the best legacy that Transcultura can leave.

Isabel Brilhante PedrosaAmbassador of the European Union in Cuba

Through lectures, presentations of experiences, round tables, thematic panels, debate groups, and technical visits, participants identified economic activities that could expand opportunities for young cultural professionals by linking creative products and services with the international tourism market. Among the topics discussed were the new uses of fortifications as cultural resources for sustainable development without endangering their Outstanding Universal Value, the impacts of climate change on tourism and disaster risk management, as well as community participation.

International experience has shown that including fortifications in the tourism offer contributes to generating jobs and increasing income. With the recovery of tourism after the impacts of the global pandemic, it is crucial to move towards more sustainable and resilient tourism, and creativity has become a fundamental tool to achieve this purpose'.

Anne LemaistreDirector of the UNESCO Regional Office in Havana

Furthermore, UNESCO promoted the creation of an 'interregional cultural corridor' of coastal defence systems in the Caribbean and Europe. This aims to enhance and safeguard the heritage attributes of these fortifications while promoting interest in Caribbean destinations.

The fortifications were not only designed to defend the city, but also to deter attacks, projecting a sense of impregnability. Although the relationship between the war world and fortifications can be difficult to explain, these structures possess inherent values - technological, territorial, landscape, and human - that were crucial in their time and constitute the cultural legacy of an era.

Fernando Cobos Guerra Vice president of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Fortifications and Military Heritage (ICOFORT)

In parallel with this event, the workshop 'Entrepreneurship and Cultural Heritage Tourism: Exploring Opportunities and Challenges at World Heritage properties' took place, with creative entrepreneurs from 6 Caribbean countries, aiming to raise awareness and strengthen their capacities for the conservation and promotion of these sites, on which their businesses largely depend.

An exhibition fair with 24 enterprises (17 from Cuba and 7 from the Caribbean) served as the culmination of both workshops at the Castillo de la Real Fuerza in Havana. This event was an example of one of the uses that can be given to these spaces and served as a showcase for the diversity of creative projects linked to World Heritage properties.