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The meeting brought together Ms Abeer Al Akel, acting CEO of RCU with her high-level team of managers and Assistant Directors-General in charge of UNESCO sectors for Culture, Communication and Information, Social and Human Sciences, Natural Sciences and Priority Africa and External Relations.  

The exchange was centred on this strategic partnership that is unique in its innovative approach focused on involving the local community and its knowledge to build a sustainable future for the benefit of both the local and international communities. Beyond developing AlUla as a laboratory of ideas, the partnership efforts are dedicated to creating a utopia that will serve as a benchmark for similar sites around the globe to learn from. 

Since 2021, UNESCO and RCU have been working together to revitalise the region by engaging closely with AlUla’s local community, drawing on their living heritage, and seizing the unique opportunity to introduce transformative ideas to this traditional and multi-faceted environment. By aligning UNESCO’s global expertise with local knowledge, joint efforts encompass memory preservation, creative approaches to sustainable tourism, conservation research, and social development.

Turning to the future, the two partners shed light on the oases that are an important part of the area, also known as AlUla’s green heart. Beyond an incredible landscape, the oases are a source of cultural knowledge and resilience. They discussed new approaches for revitalizing the cultural life of AlUla’s Oases and ways to safeguard, protect, and promote oases ecosystems, as part of the partnership’s broader programmes and activities.

Surrounded by ancient heritage sites, including Saudi Arabia’s first World Heritage site, (Al Hijr-Mada’en Saleh), the vibrant green oases have long served as a meeting point for societies from the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean, and Asia, witnessing 200,000 years of human history. Today, the UNESCO-RCU partnership is focused on creating a new legacy and positioning the oases as a crucible for innovation and heritage preservation.

This initiative is part of a wide-ranging collaboration between UNESCO and the (RCU), an active partnership since 2021. Together, UNESCO and RCU are dedicated to preserving AlUla's rich history, raising awareness about its heritage sites, and demonstrating the impact of their joint efforts to inspire communities. This also implies transforming this ancient landscape into a laboratory of ideas and a vibrant centre for innovation, research, and community empowerment. This unique partnership, both within Saudi Arabia and on the global stage, is driven by a shared commitment to combining expertise in cultural heritage, documentary preservation, and social transformation.