Qatar Museums’ Tamkeen Programme Wins Global Heritage Education Award

DOHA — Qatar Museums (QM) has won international recognition for its work empowering young people to safeguard cultural heritage, taking the “Star of the Future” award at the 2026 Global Challenge for World Heritage Education Innovative Cases (AWHEIC). The honour, for QM’s “Tamkeen: Empowering Arab Youth for Sustainable Heritage” programme, was announced in Busan, Republic of Korea, during the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

At a glance

A competitive global field

Tamkeen was chosen as one of just 10 recipients in the Star of the Future category, selected from nearly 90 applications submitted by institutions around the world. The award recognises promising initiatives judged to have strong potential to advance heritage education. It was presented during an event titled “World Heritage Education Towards the Future — Innovation of and for Young People,” held alongside the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s 48th session. For Qatar, the recognition underscores its growing role in cultural diplomacy and in the sustainable protection of cultural heritage.

What Tamkeen does

Led by Dr. Fatema Hassan Al Sulaiti, Director of the International Cooperation and Government Affairs Department at Qatar Museums, Tamkeen is designed to equip Arab youth with the theoretical knowledge, practical skills and field experience needed to engage actively with their cultural heritage. The programme aims to deepen young people’s connection to their identity and to prepare them as responsible partners in the conservation, management, documentation and transmission of that heritage. Underpinning it is a simple conviction: that the long-term safeguarding of heritage depends on investing in people — and above all in young people, as the custodians of cultural values and stewards of what comes next.

‘A moment of pride’

Responding to the award, Dr. Al Sulaiti described it as “a moment of pride not only for Qatar Museums but for the State of Qatar” as a whole. She said the initiative had been created to develop innovative programmes that equip Arab youth to become active custodians of a shared cultural heritage, and that investing in young people was essential to preserving that heritage for future generations. She added that she hoped Tamkeen would continue to open doors for young people across the Arab world and help nurture a new generation of heritage professionals to carry the work forward.

About the Global Challenge

The Global Challenge for World Heritage Education Innovative Cases was introduced in 2021 by the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region (WHITR-AP), a Category 2 Centre operating under the auspices of UNESCO and established in 2008 to advance the conservation and sustainable development of World Heritage across the Asia-Pacific. Through the challenge, WHITR-AP identifies and celebrates outstanding practices in World Heritage education worldwide, spotlighting how young people and local communities can help safeguard World Heritage sites and pass on their values. Qatar Museums said the recognition reflected its continued commitment to investing in young people and advancing innovative heritage education, in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.

Source: Qatar News Agency (QNA)