Tool/methodology name:

Petra National Trust’s Education Outreach and Awareness (EOA) program: Young Explorer’s Club: is a unique and innovative educational tool launched to promote the preservation and sustainability of Petra Archaeological Park (PAP). The tool works with local communities to raise awareness among children and youth about the cultural heritage and natural values of Petra by underscoring the links between good practices in cultural heritage management, sustainable tourism development, and long-term economic gains.

Created to expand Petra National Trust’s (PNT) audience, the Young Explorer’s Club is designed to provide Jordanian children with activities related to cultural heritage to instill a sense of identity and pride in our cultural heritage. It aims to demonstrate to children that learning about Jordan can be fun and engaging. Children go on a virtual tour of the World Heritage Site of Petra and explore its rich culture by engaging in multi-sensory experiences in sculpting, pottery making, and painting. They have firsthand experience making mosaics and Neolithic jewelry, enhancing their creativity while increasing concentration, attention, memory, and hand-and-eye coordination. In addition, the program allows the children to engage in artistic stimulation activities through wall painting, weaving, and creating dioramas.

• Students
• Teachers, Trainers, and Educators
• Youth
• Stakeholders on cultural heritage and sustainable tourism.

The tool is designed to promote the preservation and sustainability of Petra Archaeological Park (PAP) through working with local communities to raise awareness among children and youth about the cultural and natural values of Petra by underscoring the links between good practices in cultural heritage management, sustainable tourism development, and long-term economic gains.

Children conducts virtual tour of the World Heritage Site of Petra and are granted the opportunity to explore its rich culture by engaging in multi-sensory experiences in sculpting, pottery making, and painting. They have firsthand experience making mosaics and Neolithic jewelry, enhancing their creativity while increasing concentration, attention, memory, and hand-and-eye coordination. In addition, the program allows the children to engage in artistic stimulation activities through wall painting, weaving, and creating dioramas.

The tool could be applied through organizing virtual tour for children of the World Heritage Site of Petra where children and students groups are exposed to a wide range of opportunities and experiences that introduce them to their rich history of Petra and different civilizations that inhabited Jordan. This approach contributes to instilling a sense of pride in the participants’ identity and heritage as heirs of former cultures and civilizations. This education and engagement tool introduces the culture (peoples, traditions and practices) and history of Petra in specific, and Jordan more generally. It also introduces ecology and the importance of protecting biodiversity and tackling threats facing sites and cultural and natural heritage as a whole. The tool is engaging and fun, as it employs a student-centered and hands-on learning approach. The tool is inquiry-driven and skill-based; through guided student-centered interactions among the community of learners, they have the opportunity to engage in learning about their culture while employing collaborative work, research, thinking and reflection, visualization, questioning, creative and self-expression. 

Activities:

The tool achieves its mission through preservation projects, advocacy and an innovative cultural education and awareness program with public school students ages 7-18 and teachers. This tool builds awareness of the value of culture and heritage to the daily lives of local communities, instills pride among youth in their heritage, encourages creativity, critical thinking and entrepreneurship among young participants and builds a new generation of cultural leaders among local communities who identify with their heritage, are civically engaged and active in their own responsible and sustainable development.

The tool implements Education, Outreach and Awareness programs and Teacher training programs in the six villages in the Petra region. And since 2016, the tool has expanded its reach nationwide. The tool is heavily invested to build a new generation of cultural leaders and activists through the education and awareness programs and a unique model to establish engaging heritage clubs in public schools throughout Jordan.

Activities are related to cultural heritage to instill a sense of identity and pride in our cultural heritage. It aims to demonstrate to children that learning about Jordan can be fun and engaging. Children go on a virtual tour of the World Heritage Site of Petra and explore its rich culture by engaging in multi-sensory experiences in sculpting, pottery making, and painting. They have firsthand experience making mosaics and Neolithic jewelry, enhancing their creativity while increasing concentration, attention, memory, and hand-and-eye coordination. In addition, the program allows the children to engage in artistic stimulation activities through wall painting, weaving, and creating dioramas.

• The tool provided a wide range of opportunities and experiences, introducing children and young people in the region and across Jordan to the rich cultural heritage and history of the various civilizations that have inhabited the kingdom of Jordan.
• This innovative approach fostered a sense of pride in participants, strengthening their connection to their national identity and heritage as descendants of diverse cultures and civilizations.
• The Education and Engagement Program focused specifically on the culture, traditions, and history of Petra, as well as broader insights into Jordan’s cultural heritage.
• The program also highlighted the importance of ecology, biodiversity conservation, and the pressing challenges facing cultural and natural heritage sites.
• Using a student-centered, hands-on learning approach, the program engaged participants in a dynamic and enjoyable educational experience.
• The tool deployed inquiry-driven and skill-based pedagogies. Through guided student-centered interactions among the community of learners, the tool provided aground for a unique opportunity to engage in learning about their culture while employing collaborative work, research, thinking and reflection, visualization, questioning, creative and self-expression.

The tool empowers children and youth with new skills that support their personal and academic growth and help them become a community of learners and future change agents aware of their identity, cultural heritage, and the importance of preserving it.

Petra National Trust

The Petra National Trust was established in 1989 to protect and preserve the archaeology, history, culture and nature of Petra and its region.

PNT achieves its mission through preservation projects, advocacy and an innovative cultural education and awareness program with public school students ages 7-18 and teachers. This program builds awareness of the value of culture and heritage to the daily lives of local communities, instills pride among youth in their heritage, encourages creativity, critical thinking and entrepreneurship among the young participants and builds a new generation of cultural leaders among local communities who identify with their heritage, are civically engaged and active in their own responsible and sustainable development. PNT has implemented Education, Outreach and Awareness program and Teacher training programs in the six villages in the Petra region for four years now. And in 2016, PNT expanded the reach nationwide. PNT is heavily invested to build a new generation of cultural leaders and activists through their education and awareness programs and a unique model to establish engaging heritage clubs in public schools throughout Jordan.

https://petranationaltrust.org/

https://tourism4sdgs.org/initiatives/culture-heritage-tools-for-sustainability-of-a-world-heritage-site-petra-national-trust-jordan/