Promoting cultural entrepreneurship in Cidade Velha, Ribeira Grande (Cabo Verde)

About the city of Ribeira Grande

Ribeira Grande de Santiago is located in the southern end of the island of Santiago, 12 kilometres from Praia, in the archipelago of Cabo Verde. The town has a population of just under 1,300 inhabitants and a surface of approximately 200 hectares. It comprises the World Heritage site of Cidade Velha, Historic Centre of Ribeira Grande. The property was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2009 under criteria (ii), (iii) and (vi). 

The town of Ribeira Grande, renamed Cidade Velha in the late 18th century, was the first European colonial outpost in the tropics. The islands of Cabo Verde were discovered between 1460 and 1462 by sailors at service of Portugal, within the context of the European maritime expansion of the late 15^th century. Ribeira Grande became the first town founded in the archipelago, and was subsequently, in the 16th and 17th centuries, a key port of call for Portuguese colonisation and its administration. It was an exceptional centre in the routes for international maritime trade, included in the routes between Africa and the Cape, Brazil and the Caribbean, and as such provides an early image of transcontinental geopolitical visions. Its insular position, isolated but close to the coasts of Africa, made it an essential platform for the Atlantic trade of enslaved persons of modern times. A place of concentration of enslaved persons and the inhuman practices of the trade of enslaved persons, Ribeira Grande was also exceptional in terms of the intercultural encounters from which stemmed the first developed Creole society.

The valley of Ribeira Grande experimented with new forms of colonial agriculture on the boundary between the temperate and tropical climates. It became a platform for the acclimatisation and dissemination of plant species across the world. The town features some of the original street layout and impressive remains including two churches, a royal fortress and Pillory Square with its ornate 16th-century marble pillar.

The World Heritage site counts with a number of challenges and opportunities, as reported by the site manager. On the one hand, the proximity to the capital and airport and the richness of cultural heritage create valuable opportunities for tourism-based development. On the other hand, it is necessary to carefully manage this increasing touristic pressure, and diversify the tourism offer, avoid mass tourism and control inflation. The cultural and tourism sectors are weakly connected, and local ONGs are not well organised. Finally, the city has seen an exodus of the local population, especially the youth, and schooling levels remain low.

Cidade Velha is part of the Japan-funded project “Post COVID-19 World Heritage Site Management: Integration of Conservation, Tourism and Local Livelihood Strategies at World Heritage Sites”. The objective for Cidade Velha is to empower the local communities, associations and SMEs through their involvement in the valorisation of the cultural heritage of the city. 

Cultural entrepreneurship in Ribeira Grande, Historic Centre of Cidade Velha 

In Ribeira Grande, a new programme aims to promote cultural entrepreneurship on-site, harness the potential of cultural heritage to contribute to local livelihoods and respond to the local economic and social conditions.

The programme aims to respond to the high unemployment rates amongst the local population, and the low level of awareness about the potential of cultural heritage to support local livelihoods. The strategic goals are:

1. Support local entrepreneurship, enhancing cultural heritage’s potential for local livelihoods;
2. Build capacity amongst local populations regarding the commercial opportunities linked to the cultural heritage resources of Cidade Velha;
3. Reinforce and diversity the touristic offer;
4. Identify entrepreneurial profiles, underlining the strong points and areas to be improved; and
5. Identify and develop commercial and livelihood opportunities adapted to market needs.

 

Workshop participants © Cultural Heritage Institute of Cabo Verde / World Heritage site management office

In order to achieve these goals, the programme includes a wide range of actions, from capacity building and project development to financial and marketing support, such as creating a certified origin seal for products created on-site and organizing product expositions. The actions are developed and implemented by a consortium of partners, including:

• The National Institute for Cultural Heritage (Instituto do Património Cultural), who focuses on capacity building;
• Research centre CitiHabitat;
• Institute for Business Support and Promotion Pro-Empresa;
• Women’s development association Morabi: Associação Cabo-verdiana de auto-promoção de Mulher;
• The Municipal Chamber of Ribeira Grande de Santiago, who supports the project development on-site, and
• The local community association.

The project started in July 2019 and is expected to continue until December 2021. It has an approximate cost of 150,000 escudos (USD 1,580 as of October 2021), funded through different projects as well as commercial activities linked to tourism. It learnt from previous creative entrepreneurship initiatives, including the 2014 UNESCO project “Cidade Velha: Creative Economies, World Heritage, Youth Entrepreneurship and Tourism”. 

The programme is mainly directed towards female heads of household, providing an alternative to pellet mining, an intensive economic activity that negatively impacts the well-being of the women who engage in it. In total, 17 women took place in the activities.

As a result, the site managers report that participants are able to identify key business opportunities in cultural tourism and understand the importance of the entrepreneur's profile in the success of the business.

Source: Mr Claudio Ramos, site manager of the World Heritage property "Ribeira Grande, Historic Centre of Cidade Velha”, 2021.

To learn more

• Watch the presentation by Mr Claudio Ramos, site manager of the World Heritage property "Ribeira Grande, Historic Centre of Cidade Velha”, during the Celebration of the 10^th Anniversary of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape in French (original version) or English (simultaneous translation).
• Consult the 2019 – 2022 World Heritage site management plan (in Portuguese).
• Browse through the Guidebook for urban and architectural regulation of Cidade Velha
• Visit the website of the National Institute for Cultural Heritage (Instituto do Património Cultural) and the Municipal Chamber of Ribeira Grande de Santiago.

Contact

Mr Claudio Ramos, site manager of the World Heritage property "Ribeira Grande, Historic Centre of Cidade Velha”  Contact the site manager

Cover image © Cultural Heritage Institute of Cabo Verde / World Heritage Site Management Office

Note: The cases shared in this platform address heritage protection practices in World Heritage sites and beyond. Items being showcased in this website do not entail any type of recognition or inclusion in the World Heritage list or any of its thematic programmes. The practices shared are not assessed in any way by the World Heritage Centre or presented here as model practices nor do they represent complete solutions to heritage management problems. The views expressed by experts and site managers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Heritage Centre. The practices and views shared here are included as a way to provide insights and expand the dialogue on heritage conservation with a view to further urban heritage management practice in general.