British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund marks 10 years with new capacity-building workshops

The British Council has announced that its Cultural Protection Fund is entering its tenth year, continuing vital work to protect cultural heritage at risk. As part of the Fund's programme for 2026, the British Council will deliver a series of capacity‑building workshops for heritage professionals, commencing in January.

The workshops aim to strengthen the skills, networks, and preparedness of heritage professionals and organisations. The programme will connect practitioners across Bangladesh and beyond, enhance sector‑wide coordination, and support participants to engage more effectively with national and international heritage initiatives.
Stephen Forbes, British Council Country Director Bangladesh, said, "The Cultural Protection Fund demonstrates our long‑term commitment to protecting heritage—both tangible and intangible—while investing in people. By creating new professional development opportunities across

Bangladesh, we are supporting heritage practitioners to strengthen skills, build networks, and shape the future of cultural protection."
Since 2022, the Cultural Protection Fund has supported work across South Asia to empower communities and safeguard heritage that connects people to their history, identity, and one another. At the Varendra Research Museum in Bangladesh in 2024–25, Durham University delivered training for all museum staff to protect collections and safeguard oral traditions, and developed the travelling exhibition "History of Bangladesh in 25 Objects", curated from the museum's collections.

In Pakistan, projects range from preserving maritime heritage in the Indus Delta and Hazara crafts to restoring Buddhist carvings in the Swat Valley, repairing historic Silk Route buildings, and reopening Karachi's Khalikdina Hall as a vibrant cultural hub. In Nepal, communities are revitalising endangered languages such as Kusunda, reviving Maithil wall art led by women, protecting remote Himalayan monasteries, and documenting indigenous food traditions threatened by climate change.

These community‑focused initiatives act as engines for recovery, resilience, and renewal, helping communities reclaim cultural knowledge and build futures rooted in identity and belonging.