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

Syed MIZAN::

[Dhaka, January 22, 2026] The British Council is pleased to announce that its Cultural Protection Fund is entering its tenth year, continuing vital work to protect cultural heritage at risk. As part of the Cultural Protection Fund’s work in 2026, the British Council will deliver a series of capacity-building workshops for heritage professionals, starting in January.

These workshops are designed to strengthen the skills, networks, and preparedness of heritage professionals and organisations. The programme will connect heritage practitioners across Bangladesh and the world, enhancing 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 in 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 museum collections and safeguard oral traditions and developed the travelling exhibition, “History of Bangladesh in 25 Objects,” curated from the collections of the Varendra Research Museum.

Similarly, 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.

About the Cultural Protection Fund
The Cultural Protection Fund is the UK’s main international response to protecting cultural heritage at risk. Led by the British Council in partnership with the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Cultural Protection Fund has supported 160 projects in 20 countries since 2016—ensuring that heritage continues to empower communities, even in the face of the world’s toughest challenges.
Media Contact:
Juliet Mondol
Communications Manager, South Asia | British Council
Email: HYPERLINK “mailto:[email protected]”[email protected]