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World Creativity and Innovation Day 21 April

World Creativity and Innovation Day – 21 April

Creativity and innovation in problem-solving

There may be no universal understanding of creativity. The concept is open to interpretation from artistic expression to problem-solving in the context of economic, social and sustainable development. Therefore, the United Nations designated 21 April as World Creativity and Innovation Day to raise awareness of the role of creativity and innovation in all aspects of human development.

Creativity shows who we are and what we value. It helps build a rich mix of cultures and supports social and economic growth. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), following the 2005 Convention helps countries strengthen their creative industries and promote artistic freedom.

Creativity and culture

The creative economy too has no single definition. It is an evolving concept which builds on the interplay between human creativity and ideas and intellectual property, knowledge and technology. Essentially it is the knowledge-based economic activities upon which the ‘creative industries’ are based.

Creative industries –which include audiovisual products, design, new media, performing arts, publishing and visual arts– are a highly transformative sector of the world economy in terms of income generation, job creation and export earnings. Culture is an essential component of sustainable development and represents a source of identity, innovation and creativity for the individual and community. At the same time, creativity and culture have a significant non-monetary value that contributes to inclusive social development, to dialogue and understanding between peoples. Today, the creative industries are among the most dynamic areas in the world economy providing new opportunities for developing countries to leapfrog into emerging high-growth areas of the world economy.

New momentum for the SDGs

On World Creativity and Innovation Day, the world is invited to embrace the idea that innovation is essential for harnessing the economic potential of nations. Innovation, creativity and mass entrepreneurship can provide new momentum towards achieving the Sustainable Sustainble Goals (SDGs). It can harness economic growth and job creation, while expanding opportunities for everyone, including women and youth. It can provide solutions to some of the most pressing problems such as poverty eradication and the elimination of hunger. Human creativity and innovation, at both the individual and group levels, have become the true wealth of nations in the twenty-first century.

International Day for Monuments and Sites 2025

International Day for Monuments and Sites 2025

Heritage under Threat from Disasters and Conflicts: Preparedness and Learning from 60 years of ICOMOS Actions

At the 2023 General Assembly in Sydney, Disaster and Conflict Resilient Heritage – Preparedness, Response and Recovery was selected as the theme for the Triennial Scientific Plan (TSP) 2024-2027. The first year of the plan focuses on how we can prepare for possible disasters, through the prevention and mitigation of hazards, improving resilience, as well as by preparing for conflicts that threaten our cherished heritage resources.

In this context, one might ask in 2025: How can members and constituent Committees of ICOMOS better prepare for these disasters? What role can we play collectively, and what do we need to be effective in that work?

Following on from the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Venice Charter in 2024, ICOMOS will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2025. The Second Congress of Architects and Specialists of Historic Buildings, held in Venice in 1964, adopted 13 resolutions, the first being the International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites, better known as the Venice Charter, and the second, put forward by UNESCO, was the creation of ICOMOS in 1965.

The International Day for Monuments and Sites (IDMS), celebrated each year on 18 April, provides us with a unique opportunity to raise awareness of our organization and the work we do to conserve and protect the world’s universally significant cultural resources under threat of accelerating disasters and conflicts. The 2025 IDMS celebrations will therefore focus on the 60 years of ICOMOS actions in relation to safeguarding heritage under threat of disasters and conflicts as well as its future objectives in prevention, mitigation, preparation, emergency response, and recovery that we can take to safeguard heritage in times of crisis. The 2025 IDMS activities and recognition of our work over the last 60 years will conclude with the Symposium of the ICOMOS Annual General Assembly (Nepal, 13-19 October 2025).

While ICOMOS will celebrate the theme of Heritage under Threat of Disasters and Conflicts: Preparedness and Learning from 60 years of ICOMOS Actions non-ICOMOS organisations, institutions, NGOs are also invited to acknowledge the IDMS under the overarching theme of Disaster and Conflict Resilient Heritage and are encouraged to share their experiences, events, publications and outcomes of discussions with ICOMOS members and the International Secretariat. This collaboration will help to raise awareness and assist in the identification of the wide range of scientific and traditional practices worldwide that contribute to the protection of heritage in extreme and extraordinary circumstances.

Get involved!
ICOMOS members and heritage professionals are welcome to (i) consider the potential impacts on heritage resources by conflict and disaster; (ii) examine what resilience looks like in the face of those impacts; (iii) and what one can do to PREPARE from your national and scientific perspectives. This involves the examination of previous actions undertaken by ICOMOS committees since 1965; and future actions ICOMOS members and others in our communities can consider in the protection of heritage against disasters and conflicts.

Some of the activities might include inventorying, collecting data on damage and losses and assessment of vulnerabilities; understanding risks and building corresponding capacities; collaboration between stakeholders; communication between relevant agencies in the heritage and disaster risk management sectors; traditional knowledge on disaster risk mitigation and preparedness; inventorying successful practices and examples in preparedness.

ICOMOS Committees are called upon to organise and collaborate on events on the theme of PREPAREDNESS of resilient heritage in the face of conflict and disaster by considering ICOMOS Actions over the last 60 years.

Members can share their events with ICOMOS by writing to: communication[at]icomos.org

Potential formats for participation can include, but are not limited to:

1 to 2 minutes (maximum) video submissions from each ICOMOS National Committee, International Scientific Committee, Working Groups and individual members, showcasing local and regional approaches to caring for heritage in advance of conflicts and disasters. The videos may be shared with communication[at]icomos.org. Make sure to include descriptions, quotes or facts to accompany any video, as well as hashtags.
Photographic submission with credits and captions to explain current conservation practice approaches, changing narratives and goals for the future of cultural heritage, to adapt to the urgent demands of PREPAREDNESS in the face of conflict and disaster. In all cases, please make sure that you retain the rights to any image you share.
Organise virtual roundtables, host webinars, propose workshops to reflect on the
https://www.icomos.org/actualite/international-day-for-monuments-and-sites-2025-heritage-under-threat-from-disasters-and-conflicts-preparedness-and-learning-from-60-years-of-icomos-actions/

Happy Nowruz, Persian New Year

Nowruz, the Persian New Year, is a 3,000-year-old celebration of spring, rooted in the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism. It begins on the first day of the Iranian calendar, usually on or around 20 March, or Spring Equinox, and lasts for 13 days. With deep reverence for fertility, nature and new beginnings.

It’s celebrated by around 300 million people across Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and Central Asia, as well as in Kurdish, Turkic Uyghur and Parsi communities worldwide.

The United Nations has marked 21 March as International Nowruz Day, of time.

Happy Chahar Shanbeh Suri

Chahar Shanbeh Suri is one of the ancient festivals of Iranians, celebrated on the eve of the last Wednesday of the year.

Chahar Shanbeh Suri is a celebration in praise of fire, light and happiness that has been remembered and celebrated by Iranians since the ancient times.

After the Islamic revolution, this festival was declared prohibited by the Iranian government like many Iranian secular rituals and celebrations, however, Iranians have continued celebrating it every year.

Awaiting the Light of Freedom on the Long Night of Yalda

In ancient times, when the secrets of evolution and Earth’s natural elements had not yet been discovered by humans, Persians chose gods inspired by nature. Among these gods, the sun had a special and important place due to how it makes life possible and has helped to save humans from darkness, cold, sorrow, and hunger.

Every year, ancient Persians prepared their cities for large celebrations as “Yalda” grew closer: they decorated evergreen cypress and pine trees, wore colorful clothes, and prepared food and sweets that reminded them of the color of the sun. Then on the night of Yalda, the longest night of the year, they would celebrate and dance until dawn in their fire temples, atop hills, on streets, in alleys, and on rooftops.

The ancient Persians believed that every year, as the last night of autumn ended, the sun is born again and commands the end of darkness and cold as the embodiment of light, warmth, and life. It was with this belief that Yalda has also been given significance to Iranians: through the inevitable victory of light, kindness, and justice over darkness, violence, and injustice.

Unfortunately, during these last decades of bitterness, darkness, and anguish, Iranians have suffered under the rule of a savage and brutal government, and Yalda has earned a special meaning. As once again we celebrate our festival of Yalda, we await the arrival of the sun and the light of freedom to erase darkness and injustice of this regime from our land.

Let us this year enthusiastically celebrate the rebirth of the sun once again, next to the evergreen Yalda tree in our homes, alleys, and cities, knowing that victory over darkness and injustice is inevitable.

Shokooh Mirzadegi

December 2024 / Azar 1403

wchv.org

www.savepasargad.com

 

The spirit of Cyrus the Great: the sun for these bitter and dark days

Statement from the Pasargad Heritage Foundation

The spirit of Cyrus the Great: the sun for these bitter and dark days

Today we stand at the dawn of the Day of Cyrus the Great, and the anniversary of the declaration of his eternal charter as transcribed on the Cyrus Cylinder. Cyrus’ Charter is incredibly significant for its noble and humane values, especially at this critical moment in Iran’s history when due to the cruel and murderous government in Iran and its regional practices we could be standing on the precipice of a war.

The long history of Iran demonstrates that we have had many good and bad leaders (as in any country’s history). However, it is rare to find a leader who is admired by friends and enemies alike even after thousands of years, a leader whose actions are still admired by global citizens who believe in the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

With the pain and suffering that the Iranian people have endured under this cruel current government in Iran, we are lucky and hopeful that such a proud and noble leader in our past history will always be present in the heart and conscience of our land.

Pasargad Heritage Foundation, as the “proposer of Cyrus the Great Day,” has the honor of celebrating Cyrus the Great Day this year as it has for the past nineteen years. It is with hope, courage, and optimism that during these bitter and dark days, the humanitarian spirit of Cyrus the Great’s Charter shines on Iran and helps to save our children from the clutches of demons, darkness, and the Medieval regime of Iran.

Blessed is the Day of Cyrus the Great.

Sincerely,

Shokooh Mirzadegi

Pasargad Heritage Foundation

October 2024 – Abān 1403

 

Ancient DNA analysis unlocks secrets of Ice Age tribes in the Americas

Scientists have sequenced 15 ancient genomes spanning from Alaska to Patagonia and were able to track the movements of the first humans as they spread across the Americas at “astonishing” speed during the last Ice Age, and also how they interacted with each other in the following millennia.

Our study proves that Spirit Cave and Lagoa Santa were actually genetically closer to contemporary Native Americans than to any other ancient or contemporary group sequenced to date

Eske Willeslev

The results have been published in the journal Science as part of a wide-ranging international study, led by the University of Cambridge, which genetically analysed the DNA of a series of well-known and controversial ancient remains across North and South America.

The research also discovered clues of a puzzling Australasian genetic signal in the 10,400-year-old Lagoa Santa remains from Brazil revealing a previously unknown group of early South Americans – but the Australasian link left no genetic trace in North America.

Additionally, a legal battle over a 10,600-year-old ancient skeleton – called the ‘Spirit Cave Mummy’ – has ended after advanced DNA sequencing found it was related to a Native American tribe. The researchers were able to dismiss a longstanding theory that a group called Paleoamericans existed in North America before Native Americans. The Paleoamerican hypothesis was first proposed in the 19th century, but this new study disproves that theory.

Spirit Cave and Lagoa Santa were very controversial because they were identified as so-called ‘Paleoamericans’ based on craniometry – it was determined that the shape of their skulls was different to current day Native Americans,” said Professor Eske Willeslev, who holds positions at the Universities of Cambridge and Copenhagen, and led the study. “Our study proves that Spirit Cave and Lagoa Santa were actually genetically closer to contemporary Native Americans than to any other ancient or contemporary group sequenced to date.”

The scientific and cultural significance of the Spirit Cave remains, which were found in 1940 in a small rocky alcove in the Great Basin Desert, was not properly understood for 50 years. The preserved remains of the man in his forties were initially believed to be between 1,500 and 2000 years old but during the 1990s new textile and hair testing dated the skeleton at 10,600 years old.

The Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, a group of Native Americans based in Nevada near Spirit Cave, claimed cultural affiliation with the skeleton and requested immediate repatriation of the remains.

Their request was refused and the tribe sued the US government, a lawsuit that pitted tribal leaders against anthropologists, who argued the remains provided invaluable insights into North America’s earliest inhabitants and should continue to be displayed in a museum.

The deadlock continued for 20 years until the tribe agreed that Professor Willeslev could carry out genome sequencing on DNA extracted from the Spirit Cave for the first time.

I assured the tribe that my group would not do the DNA testing unless they gave permission and it was agreed that if Spirit Cave was genetically a Native American the mummy would be repatriated to the tribe,” said Professor Willeslev, who is a Fellow of St John’s College.

The team extracted DNA from the inside of the skull proving that the skeleton was an ancestor of present-day Native Americans. Spirit Cave was returned to the tribe in 2016 and there was a private reburial ceremony earlier this year. The tribe were kept informed throughout the two-year project and two members visited the lab in Copenhagen to meet the scientists and they were present when all of the DNA sampling was taken.

The genome of the Spirit Cave skeleton has wider significance because it not only settled the legal and cultural dispute between the tribe and the Government, it also helped reveal how ancient humans moved and settled across the Americas. The scientists were able to track the movement of populations from Alaska to as far south as Patagonia. They often separated from each other and took their chances travelling in small pockets of isolated groups.

Dr David Meltzer, from the Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, said: “A striking thing about the analysis of Spirit Cave and Lagoa Santa is their close genetic similarity which implies their ancestral population travelled through the continent at astonishing speed. That’s something we’ve suspected due to the archaeological findings, but it’s fascinating to have it confirmed by the genetics. These findings imply that the first peoples were highly skilled at moving rapidly across an utterly unfamiliar and empty landscape. They had a whole continent to themselves and they were travelling great distances at speed.”

The study also revealed surprising traces of Australasian ancestry in ancient South American Native Americans but no Australasian genetic link was found in North American Native Americans.

Dr Victor Moreno-Mayar, from the Centre for GeoGenetics, University of Copenhagen and first author of the study, said: “We discovered the Australasian signal was absent in Native Americans prior to the Spirit Cave and Lagoa Santa population split which means groups carrying this genetic signal were either already present in South America when Native Americans reached the region, or Australasian groups arrived later. That this signal has not been previously documented in North America implies that an earlier group possessing it had disappeared or a later arriving group passed through North America without leaving any genetic trace.”

Dr Peter de Barros Damgaard, from the Centre for GeoGenetics, University of Copenhagen, explained why scientists remain puzzled but optimistic about the Australasian ancestry signal in South America. He explained: “If we assume that the migratory route that brought this Australasian ancestry to South America went through North America, either the carriers of the genetic signal came in as a structured population and went straight to South America where they later mixed with new incoming groups, or they entered later. At the moment we cannot resolve which of these might be correct, leaving us facing extraordinary evidence of an extraordinary chapter in human history! But we will solve this puzzle.”

The population history during the millennia that followed initial settlement was far more complex than previously thought. The peopling of the Americas had been simplified as a series of north to south population splits with little to no interaction between groups after their establishment.

The new genomic analysis presented in the study has shown that around 8,000 years ago, Native Americans were on the move again, but this time from Mesoamerica into both North and South America.

Researchers found traces of this movement in the genomes of all present-day indigenous populations in South America for which genomic data is available to date.

Dr Moreno-Mayar added: “The older genomes in our study not only taught us about the first inhabitants in South America but also served as a baseline for identifying a second stream of genetic ancestry, which arrived from Mesoamerica in recent millennia and that is not evident from the archaeological record. These Mesoamerican peoples mixed with the descendants of the earliest South Americans and gave rise to most contemporary groups in the region.”

Reference: 
J. Victor Moreno-Mayar et al. ‘
Early human dispersals within the Americas.’ Science (2018). DOI: 10.1126/science.aav2621

Adapted from a St John’s College press release.

Inset image: Skulls and other human remains from P.W. Lund’s Collection from Lagoa Santa, Brazil. Kept in the Natural History Museum of Denmark. Credit: Natural History Museum of Denmark