Port of Spain: The National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago hosted a two-day Built Heritage Documentation Training Workshop on November 14-15, 2022, as part of continuing activities linked to the U.S. funded grant project, Resilient Heritage Trinidad and Tobago.
The workshop is part of the knowledge transfer aspect of the project. The first day of the workshop was held at the Mille Fleurs Heritage House, 23 Maraval Road, St. Clair. Participants were introduced to photogrammetry and 360 virtual tour development. The U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Officer, Kirsten Michener in her welcome remarks said, the project’s aim is not just to advance the local capacity for interventions in heritage preservation in Trinidad and Tobago, but also to benefit the wider Caribbean as many of our neighbours face similar issues. On the second day, participants travelled to Nelson Island where the focus was field conditions assessment and a demonstration of the terrestrial LiDAR laser scanning technology being used for the project. The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Sujin Kim, a Professor with the Historic Preservation Program of the University of Florida, who has been undertaking research since the project launch in April 2022.
Participants included staff of the National Trust, and representatives from other agencies and institutions, including the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA), the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), the Environmental Policy and Planning Division of the Ministry of Planning and Development (EPPD), the Surveys and Mapping Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, the UWI Geomatics Department and the Culture Division of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts.
Apart from the focus groups and training workshop, Resilient Heritage Trinidad and Tobago will also engage stakeholders for the upcoming Keeping History Above Water conference to be held in Port of Spain, Trinidad, which is in its planning stages and is carded for 20 to 23 March 2023.
The Resilient Heritage Trinidad and Tobago project is funded by the U.S. Embassy Port of Spain through the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) and implemented by the Trust in collaboration with the University of Florida Historic Preservation Program (UFHP). The two-phase initiative is aimed at advancing the resilience and long-term preservation of Trinidad and Tobago’s historic sites and cultural resources as they are impacted by climate change. The project includes digital documentation of two highly visible and visited heritage areas: Downtown Port of Spain (St. Vincent Jetty Lighthouse, Fort San Andres and the PTSC building) and Nelson Island, as well as a vulnerability assessment involving engagement with stakeholders for outreach, data sharing and knowledge transfer. The project hopes to serve as a model for documenting, assessing, and addressing the threats of climate change to other heritage sites across Trinidad and Tobago and in the wider Caribbean region.
For more information on the project, please contact the project team at resilientheritage@nationaltrust.tt.
