Improving African Futures Using Lessons from the Past (IAfF)

Improving African Futures Using Lessons from the Past (IAfF) is a research and training partnership funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada. The partnership brings together scholars, heritage professionals and communities motivated by recognition that cultural heritage resources sustain relationships to place and foster community well-being through knowledge revitalization. But to be usable, those resources and insights must be accessible to descendant communities; the data on which they are based must be sustainably curated and archived; and, where appropriate, the lessons drawn and sources of insight shared with broader audiences as a means to improve futures. These are the urgent challenges our partnership addresses with a focus on Ghana.

The three-year Partnership Development Project (2018-2021) will create digital heritage collections that foster new forms of research and knowledge mobilization relevant to communities, scholars and the broader public. A key project outcome will be a public-facing Ghana Heritage web portal through which users can access sustainably archived digital heritage resources. The portal will provide entry to an expanding array of heritage resources (photos, videos, data bases, maps, reports) housed in trusted digital repositories distributed across institutions and countries. Working collaboratively with Ghanaian communities, the project will co-create relevant heritage resources, promote training and provide mentoring in the archiving and uses of heritage resources that can help to build sustainable futures. The project also aims to produce an educational benefit by developing English and first-language heritage curriculum for Ghanaian schools, fostering both literacy and digital literacy.

Primary contact: Dr. Ann Stahl, Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, located on the traditional territories of the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. E-mail stahlann@uvic.ca