Preserving and Promoting Mauritian Architectural Heritage

The Mauritian architectural heritage is rich in history and culture. It shows the diversity of influences that have shaped the island and plays an integral role in forming contemporary Mauritian identity.

However, this cultural heritage is currently in a fragile state. Many sites are gradually deteriorating due to lack of resources, weak inter-stakeholder coordination, and governance frameworks needing consolidation.

To address these challenges, the project is giving structure to a global and multi-partner approach to preserving and promoting Mauritian cultural heritage.

It strengthens synergies among public, private, and civil society organisation actors in order to ensure long-term, inclusive, and economically viable cultural heritage management.

The project is helping to establish an ecosystem that will bring together all the stakeholders in the sector.

Technical support will be provided to create a public-private organisation with joint governance, in order to:

• ensure the management of heritage sites;
• manage their rehabilitation;
• develop their cultural and touristic attractiveness.

Multi-stakeholder consultation workshops will back up this process, by promoting dialogue and coordination among stakeholders.

Three iconic sites will serve as pilot projects:

• the former Supreme Court (Port Louis);
• the Pamplemousses Botanical Garden;
• the Mahébourg Historical Naval Museum.

Support will be provided to these sites to develop technical studies; economic models; visitor itineraries; and cultural, educational, and event programming.

The project also plans to expand the role of civil society organisations, which will be fully integrated into this ecosystem.

The project is supporting capacity-building for the country’s public sector, in cultural heritage preservation and promotion. It is helping to guide the Ministry of Arts and Culture and its partners in developing their tools and skills.

Specific support will be provided to the National Heritage Fund to support its transformation into the National Heritage Authority (NHA), so that its role of heritage site regulation and protection can be carried out more effectively.

The project is also helping to establish a tax framework to provide incentives for cultural heritage preservation initiatives.

Finally, it is supporting the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation in building its archiving and digitisation capacities, in order to preserve and promote Mauritian audiovisual heritage.

The project will ultimately make it possible to:

• provide structure for a functional and sustainable cultural heritage ecosystem, by supporting a public-private approach aimed at creating an organisation with joint governance dedicated to the management of architectural heritage;
• improve the preservation and promotion of major cultural heritage sites;
• build the capacities of public institutions;
• encourage involvement by the private sector and civil society in managing and preserving heritage;
• develop viable business models for architectural heritage sites;
• increase Mauritius’s cultural and touristic attractiveness.