Anant National University appointed as the first UNESCO Chair on Museum in the Asia Pacific region

Ahmedabad, 10th March 2021: Launched by UNESCO in 1992, with a vision to promote international cooperation and networking between universities and research institutions, the UNESCO Chairs Programme inducted in 2021, the UNESCO Chair on Inclusive Museums and Sustainable Heritage Development, anchored in the International Centre for Inclusive Cultural Leadership at Anant National University (AnantU).

The UNESCO Chair on Inclusive Museums and Sustainable Heritage Development is the first on Museums in the Asia Pacific region. It is second worldwide after Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. Serving as a think tank and bridge-builder between academia, civil society, local communities, research, and policy-making this Chair will promote and support the development of museum policies in the region. Designed to promote excellence and innovation, the Chair will establish new modes and modalities of locating culture in sustainable development. AnantU through this facility will provide critical direction to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) with a focus on the built environment and inclusive design. Moreover, it will establish a nexus of collaborations that will benefit institutions across the Asia Pacific region. 

Serving as an accredited facilitator of UNESCO, being inducted in the UNESCO Chairs Programme enables knowledge-sharing on a range of diverse themes. Facilitating UN SDGs, the chair will help build capacities and capabilities in the development of UNESCO and UN Standard Settings. Additionally, this will allow them to advocate the UN Agenda 2030 and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) focus on responsible heritage tourism and post pandemic poverty alleviation. 

Commenting on the induction as the UNESCO Chair, Professor Galla said, “It is a matter of great pleasure and pride at being inscribed in the UNESCO UNITWIN Network. We look forward to establishing global partnerships and collaborations around the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and contribute significantly to UNESCO’s priority areas on Education, Natural and Social Sciences, Culture and Communication. We aim to provide the cultural leadership that is much needed in the region for addressing the paradigm shift from conventional museology to a global centre for excellence and knowledge generation for museums.” 

 “I warmly welcome Prof. Amareswar Galla, UNESCO Chair on Inclusive Museums and Sustainable Heritage Development into our UNESCO family in India. He has over three decades of working with UNESCO globally and one of the few that has engaged first hand with all the six international standard setting cultural instruments of UNESCO”, said Eric Falt, Director and UNESCO Representative in New Delhi.

About Anant National University: 

Anant National University, is located in India’s first UNESCO World Heritage City of Ahmedabad. It aims to bridge the gap between contemporary socio-economic challenges and sustainable solutions through design thinking. It promotes holistic design education with a liberal arts perspective. The academic experience at the university focuses on developing the self, while simultaneously building domain expertise and providing industry exposure.