Background
GoUNESCO’s fundamental�aim is to make heritage fun and one of our key initiatives is the #makeheritagefun campaign. This campaign is held once every three months and after a huge success in June, the next edition was scheduled for the 25th of September, 2016.
#makeheritagefun is a simple concept. It encourages people, around the world, to engage with their local heritage on the�decided date and take photos and share it on various social media. Experiences from across the world are then�collated and amplified through social media using the hashtag #makeheritagefun. Thus, this initiative encourages participants to engage in both online and offline conversation around heritage.
Preparation
We launched the new Make Heritage Fun! website with this edition. We then began�spreading the word about the event among the GoUNESCO intern community, previous #makeheritagefun event co-ordinators as well as our partner organizations.
We also partnered with Indisparrow�who have developed an interactive treasure hunt mobile app with the aim to get the participants to explore the city, physically, through a fun treasure hunt app. Our coordinators were encouraged to have a go at creating the treasure hunt and playing it as part of the event on Sunday.
While we saw plenty of sign ups form individuals, many institutions also expressed interest in the campaign such as the Indian National Trust of Art and Cultural Heritage, Patiala Foundation,�Instituto Municipal de Turismo,�Ciudades Patrimonio Mundial,��Bayt el-Kritliya (Gayer Anderson Museum)�etc.
Event
#makeheritagefun September 25th, took place in over 52 cities. People used Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to share their experiences online. View this Tagboard link to view social media shares.�Following are the event reports from select few cities:
AFRICA
Cairo, Egypt
Coordinator: Mohamed Badry,�Bayt el-Kritliya (Gayer Anderson Museum)
There were two #makeheritagefun events organized in Cairo. Mohamed Badry from the Bayt el-Kritliya (Gayer Anderson Museum) headed an event in the museum which aimed at creating heritage awareness among the participants. After giving the tour of the museum the participants were divided into two groups: children and adults and they attended the workshop on��Mezwala � The Solar Watch� and ��Arabic Calligraphy� respectively.
.�Coordinator: Sarah Hegazy
The second event in Cairo was headed by Sarah Hegazy who works at the�Cairo Heritage Preservation General Administration. �Sarah along with her group of heritage enthusiasts went on a heritage walk around the Historic City of Cairo, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Kingston, Jamaica
Coordinator: Oshane Robinson
Students of the�The University of the West Indies, Mona played the treasure hunt which Oshane made in collaboration with the Indisparrow team. The treasure hunt featured sites within the historic University and thereby made the participants aware of the campus’s historical significance.
�Lilongwe, Malawi
Coordinator: Abel Makulama
Abel along with his friends toured around the capital city. The main destination was the�Kamuzu Statue and Lilongwe Memorial Tower, two of the most historically significant structures of in the city.
ASIA
New Delhi, India
Coordinators: Anna Menon and Aakriti Suresh
The two coordinators, Anna and Aakriti, organized a heritage walk in the walled city of Shahjahanabad or Old Delhi from a feminist persepective. This event received a massive response (with over 500 sign ups) because of which #makeheritagefun event was spread over two Sundays (25th September and 1st of October ). Inspired by the�overwhelming response to their fresh take on heritage, Anna and Aakriti, have now started their own heritage walk venture called Safarnama.
Kolkata, India
Coordinator: Kamal Banerjee
INTACH, Kolkata Chapter in association with the�Maya Foundation Bijoygarh Residential School, took a group of 50 underprivileged kids to the�Birla Industrial & Technological Museum. The group was taken to a model coal mine, mathematic gallery and the T.V. studio. The young kids had a intellectually�stimulating experience through the great effort of INTACH Kolkata Chapter to connect places like museums with the underprivileged.
Patiala, India
Coordinator: Patiala Foundation
Patiala Foundation took change of organizing a city wide #makeheritagefun campaign with the aim of rediscovering the heritage of the�Royal City of Patiala. The campaign had�multiple events such as; heritage walk, treasure hunt in association with Indisparrow, a selfie contest etc. Multiple events engaged a larger and diverse audience.
Lahore, Pakistan
Coordinator: Hashid Sarfraz
Hashid organized a heritage walk around the old city in Lahore for the participants. The group also interacted with the local residents
EUROPE
Rome, Italy
Coordinator: Kathleen Desormeaux
Kathleen, created�the treasure hunt using the Indisparrow app and conducted two events for the #makeheritagefun campaign. First�session was for her fellow�University of San Antonio Texas batchmates in Italy as a part of semester abroad and the other session was open to the public. The hunt skillfully deployed the tangible and intangible elements of Rome’s cultural heritage.
London,�United Kingdom
Coordinators: Miki Dowsing and Alexandra Curson
Miki and Alexandra organized #makeheritagefun at the�Trafalgar Square. They �spent time walking around the historic center. They were also lucky enough to witness the�Japan Matsuri festival, that was being held at the same site. Thereby they not only explored the tangible and intangible but also domestic and foreign cultural heritage.�
NORTH AMERICA
California,�Texas,�Louisiana,�Missouri, USA
Coordinator:�Mitchell Phelps
Michell Philip led a country wide #makeheritagefun campaign and called upon his friends and family to be a part of the campaign from their part of the country. He also compiled a list of activities to do at the various World Heritage Sites in USA in order to truly make the visit to these sites fun!
Puebla, Mexico
Coordinator: Pedro Berruecos
The�Puebla Tourism Institute organized a city wide #makeheritagefun campaign where they appealed to the people to click and share Puebla’s rich cultural heritage. People shared different elements of Puebla’s rich cultural heritage.
