By Yunus S Saliu
The Heritage Management Organization in collaboration with the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC), on Tuesday, 25th June exposed heritage managers to heritage management and team development through a training held at the Gambia National Museum, Independence Drive, Banjul.
At the daylong training, the heritage managers numbered over twenty were introduced to heritage management, a course taken by Dr Evangelos Kyriakidis, while Mamat Sallah, Assistant Director of Museums and Monuments at NCAC exposed them to Mission, Vision, Mandates and Scheme of Service of NCAC, and Mina Morou and Eirini Oikonomidi presentation was on introduction to team integration.
The training workshop was powered by HerMap Gambia co-funded by the European Union, and it is part of the HerMaP Gambia program co-funded by the European Union.
In his lecture under Introduction to Heritage Management, Dr Evangelos Kyriakidis discussed values-based management, tangible versus intangible, and the role of local communities.
In introduction to team integration, Mina Morou and Eirini Oikonomidi focused on understanding team development, common challenges for newcomers, emotional intelligence, and collaborative mindset and leadership.
According to the duo, teams go through stages of development including the process of learning to work together effectively “known as team development,” the key characteristics include forming, storming performing, adjourning, and norms.
Among another important part of the discussion is the role of culture in establishing teams, noting that “team culture encompasses the shared values, beliefs, and norms that shape behavior within the team,” in addition, it influences how team members interact, make decisions, and solve problems.
Mina Morou and Eirini Oikonomidi further in their lecture topics which are understanding group dynamics, impact of social identity theory, social identity threat, strategies for reducing social identity threat, the importance of psychological safety, fostering individual identity in team dynamics.
According to Mamat Sallah in his presentation focused on Mission, Vision, Mandates, and Scheme of Service of NCAC, explained that the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) is a semi-autonomous institution established by an Act of Parliament in December 1989 to preserve, promote and develop Gambian arts and culture, and the NCAC is guided by the spirit of the UNESCO International Conventions such as the 1972 World heritage and the 2003 Convention for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage.
He noted that NCAC also “work with ECOWAS, Heritage Management Organization, WIPO among key partners, with clear mission – “To preserve, promote, and celebrate the rich cultural heritage and diverse artistic expressions through education, support for artists and cultural practitioners and the development of sustainable cultural industries” this with vision – “To create a dynamic and inclusive cultural environment where the arts and heritage of The Gambia are preserved, cherished, and celebrated by all and aspire to be a leading cultural hub in Africa.”
About HERITΛGE
The Heritage Management Organization was established in 2008 to enable key heritage managers to independently transform heritage assets into dynamic sources of learning, community identity, and economic development through targeted training. We train professionals in the management of heritage, independently of project specifics. HERITΛGE has trained over 2300 individuals and organizations in 110 countries and is now on course to impact a quarter of global heritage hotspots by the year 2025, with offices in the US, Greece, and The Gambia.
About HerMaP Gambia
HerMaP Gambia program aims to contribute to the enhancement of the cultural, creative, and sports industries as engines for social and economic development and job creation in The Gambia. Supporting The Gambia’s heritage sector, the management of Gambian Cultural Heritage is enhanced and valued. HerMaP Gambia is co-funded by the European Union and is being realized in partnership with Gambia’s National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC).