The Regional Institute of World Heritage in Zacatecas, in collaboration with the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico and the National Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture of Panama, is promoting the use of digital resources for the registration and documentation of cultural assets associated with World Heritage sites. This is being achieved through the training of 24 specialists from five institutions directly involved in the management, conservation, and promotion of these assets in Panama and Mexico.

 

 

The activity aims to further strengthen the use of digital tools such as photogrammetry for the conservation and documentation of heritage. Participants in this training include specialists linked to the World Heritage sites of the Historic District and the Trans-Isthmian Route of Panama; the Historic Center of Oaxaca and Monte Albán; and the Cultural Route of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, specifically the section through Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, Durango, and Chihuahua.

The opening ceremony was attended by Yamileth Stanziola, Director of Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture of Panama; Francisco Vidargas Acosta, Director of World Heritage at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and Mexico's Cultural Focal Point to UNESCO; Sildia Mecott Gómez, Director General of the Institute of Cultural Heritage of the State of Oaxaca; Jorge Carrera Robles, Director of the INAH Center in Chihuahua and Coordinator of the North Central Region of INAH; Raúl Pacheco Pérez, Director of the INAH Center in Zacatecas; Ana Romero, from the INAH Center in Durango; Christian Medina López, Director of the INAH Center in Aguascalientes; José Manuel Ledezma Bañuelos, from the INAH Center in Oaxaca; Jorge Cuauhtémoc Martínez Huerta, course instructor; and Carlos Augusto Torres Pérez, Director General of RWHIZ.

 

 

In her remarks, Sildia Mecott Gómez thanked the participating institutions and emphasized that investing in digital tools and technical training is a wise decision, as these are fundamental allies for heritage conservation. He also pointed out that this initiative makes a difference and highlighted the opportunity that the training represents for the participants.

For his part, Jorge Carrera Robles emphasized the importance of documentation as the foundation for heritage conservation and noted that digitization represents a concrete opportunity to improve heritage management. He underscored the value of this training for advancing the creation of a digital repository of assets associated with the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro in the North-Central Region of Mexico, and urged participants not to reduce these tools to mere meritocratic or credential-based exercises, but rather to apply them effectively in the field. He recalled that, had such tools been available in the past, the conservation of many monuments would have been more efficient.

 

 

Carlos Augusto Torres Pérez noted that this is the fifth edition of this training program and expressed his satisfaction at seeing the growing number of participants not only from Mexico, but also from Central America and the Caribbean. He thanked the participating institutions and attendees for their commitment and noted that, with this initiative, the program has already trained nearly 100 specialists since its inception, establishing itself as a sustained effort to strengthen technical capacities in the region.