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The project, elaborated under the UNESCO’s Strategic Objectives on Protecting, Promoting and Transmitting Heritage, was coordinated by the National Commission of Uzbekistan for UNESCO during January-May 2015 in close cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Sports, Academy of Arts, Academy of Sciences, Amir Temur Foundation, “Uzbekmuzey” Foundation and “Oltin Meros” Foundation. The trainers were selected from among experienced museum professionals representing the State Museum on History of Uzbekistan, State Museum of Arts, State Museum of History of Temurids, Museum of Geology and Kamoliddin Bekhzod National Institute of Fine Arts and Design. Capacity building trainings seminars covered 400 museums located in all regions of Uzbekistan. Training module, designed on the basis of the UNESCO/ICOM’s Practical Guidelines on “Museum Management” and UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage Protection Handbooks (volumes 1-4), was focused on grass-root level implementation of the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970) and Law on Museums of the Republic of Uzbekistan (2008). UNESCO Tashkent Office provided above-mentioned publications in the Uzbek and Russian languages in print and digital copies. It is important to outline that for the first time training seminars bring together governmental, non-governmental and private museums.

The training courses contributed to the enhancement of museums capacities, provided an opportunity for sharing the best practices among museums of Uzbekistan. Seminars also helped to strengthen skills of specialists in various issues of museum management (such as preservation, inventory-making, documentation issues). Central issue addressed within the training courses was the role of museums in protecting, conserving, promoting and transmitting culture, heritage and history for dialogue and development. During seminar, participants also exchanged views on challenges concerning different aspects of conservation and inventory of collections, working with visitors, organization of exhibitions, marketing strategies and partnership with local communities. On the basis of the training seminars the textbook “Museum and Society” was elaborated and published. The textbook was recommended by the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education for training museum professionals in universities. Certificate-awarding ceremony was organized in Tashkent during celebration of the International Day of Museums, on 18 May 2015. As follow-up actions, the Republic of Uzbekistan re-established its membership in ICOM in May 2015, and Ministry of Culture and Sports will continue to hold such trainings in future on regular basis. The project was implemented within the Participation Programme №7290113452 on “Mobile Training Programme on Museum Management”.