ABU DHABI // Tourism workers have been learning how to preserve some of the UAE’s most important archaeological sites for posterity.
In 2011, Unesco designated Al Ain a World Heritage Site for its collection of ancient tombs, buildings and infrastructure, some of which are 4,000 years old.
The Protecting Heritage Sites programme is part of continuing education for tourism professionals. It will take place over two sessions, the first of which started last Sunday and runs until December 19.
Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi linked up with the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority to organise the course, which aims to develop these sites for tourism while ensuring they are properly maintained and managed.
The teachers are professionals and academics from backgrounds including archaeology and anthropology, while the majority of its attendees are tourism authority employees.
Topics covered include international legislation and guidelines, anthropological survey methods and local laws. The course includes field work in Al Ain.
Prof Eric Fouache, the university’s vice chancellor, said cooperation between the organisations was essential, adding that the tourism agency had asked his university to set up the programme.
“In a project like this, everyone is important,” Prof Fouache said.
Part of the field work involves talking with people in Al Ain to understand their views about the area, he said. Another aspect looks at how to manage the site and plan infrastructure.
Another teacher is Michel Cotto, an adviser to the International Council on Monuments and Sites, a non-government organisation that advises Unesco.
Mr Cotto also helped to evaluate Al Ain’s bid for World Heritage status, and said he hoped to see the region reach global standards in managing the sites.
“We need to think global but have action at a local [level], but that is not so easy,” he said.
Sultan Al Mansoori, senior overseas executive in the authority’s promotions department, called the course a knowledge transfer.
Mr Al Mansoori hoped the programme would be expanded to include academics and professionals outside of the authority, who may benefit from a more holistic understanding of heritage.
“If you don’t follow up and keep developing, how do you protect the sites in the future? One day it will go from us,” he said.
Mr Al Mansoori believed the course would prepare him for questions from overseas experts about the heritage sites.
The Al Ain sites are important because they chart the development of successive prehistoric cultures in the desert region, Unesco has said.
In ancient times the area was a crossroads for the people of Oman, Arabia and Mesopotamia.
The area holds many layers of archaeological remains, and displays the heritage of prehistoric water management in a desert civilisation.
Mr Cotto said although there were similar sites in Oman and Saudi Arabia, Al Ain was unique because the ancient buildings were spread across both oases and desert landscapes.
The second session of the programme is scheduled for February.
lcarroll@thenational.ae
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
THE%20HOLDOVERS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlexander%20Payne%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Paul%20Giamatti%2C%20Da'Vine%20Joy%20Randolph%2C%20Dominic%20Sessa%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now