The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has agreed a new collaborative partnership with Petra National Trust (PNT), a leading regional non-governmental and non-profit organization, based in Jordan and dedicated to the preservation of cultural and natural heritage to build a platform fostering greater understanding and appreciation of cultural heritage, especially amongst today’s youth.

Celebrating the rich and distinct heritage found in sites across Hegra, and Petra, as centres of the Nabataean civilisation – an ancient people who successfully settled and thrived in both regions – the new agreement is a milestone in regional and global efforts to encourage the appreciation and preservation of our shared human history.

RCU, as the custodian of AlUla’s cultural landscape and heritage, will work closely with experts from PNT on the transfer of knowledge and skills across critical areas including informal learning techniques, the interpretation of cultural heritage and storytelling across key historical sites, and making history accessible and engaging within their respective communities and youth populations.

Ancient cities with deep historical ties, both Hegra and Petra were major settlements of the Nabataeans, interconnected by the Incense Road. Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hegra, like Petra in the north, is home to incredible examples of the civilisation’s ingenuity, architectural prowess, and geographic dominance.

The same types of facade tombs, cultic installations, inscriptions, and pottery are found in both Petra and Hegra, and AlUla’s Tomb of Lihyan in Hegra and Petra’s Al-Khazne mausoleum reveal the Nabataeans’ ability to carve intricate constructions out of sheer sandstone rock faces.

RCU and PNT will collaborate in specialised sectors including innovative educational initiatives to help deepen people’s connection with heritage, empowering communities, especially children, to be active participants in discovering and safeguarding AlUla’s rich heritage sites, with an aim to inspire continued conservation efforts and future career choices.

Building on the launch of the partnership, later this year, teams from PNT will visit AlUla for a series of workshops and tours, while colleagues from RCU will travel to the Jordanian capital Amman for complementary sessions to exchange ideas, explore new opportunities, and focus on future strategies.

AlUla’s successful ‘Rawi’ storyteller programme will be uplifted as part of the agreement, with young people and students engaged in collaborative training sessions culminating in a pilot programme involving RCU and PNT staff.

PNT joins RCU’s already extensive network of heritage experts and conservation leaders, including entities such as UNESCO, IUCN, and ICOMOS. It also supports long-standing ties between AlUla, Saudi and Jordanian companies such as Royal Jordanian Airlines, which operates flights to AlUla, and Khammash Architects, part of the design and construction team developing the 800-unit Sidrat AlUla housing development in AlUla.

Her Royal Highness Princess Dana Firas, Petra National Trust President and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Cultural Heritage, said: “We are pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Royal Commission for AlUla, marking a significant collaboration between Jordan and Saudi Arabia in the realm of cultural heritage preservation.

For over 35 years, the Petra National Trust (PNT) has been at the forefront of heritage preservation, global advocacy, and innovative education. Central to our mission is the Heritage Education Program, launched in 2010, which has empowered thousands of children and youth, aged 7-18, in Jordan and across the region, including Yemen, Syria, and Egypt. This program connects participants to their cultural heritage, fostering a strong sense of identity and encouraging them to become active change agents within their communities.

PNT has continually evolved this program to address global and regional issues, expanding it to a regional and international scale through our online educational platform. Building on its leadership in integrating cultural heritage into the global climate change agenda, PNT has launched the Climate Heritage Youth Leaders program. This first-of-its-kind initiative empowers young people, aged 16-18, to take an active role in protecting our cultural and natural heritage. By engaging them with the pressing issues of climate change and its profound impacts, PNT is shaping the next generation of guardians for our planet’s heritage.

We have seen the invaluable role of women in preserving and transmitting cultural heritage. Women, particularly in and around heritage sites, are the keepers of traditional knowledge. PNT is committed to promoting gender equality and ensuring that women achieve visibility, voice, and agency in the cultural heritage sector.

Through this partnership and our ongoing efforts, we continue to advocate for cultural heritage as a cornerstone of sustainable development and community engagement, focusing on youth education and women’s empowerment.”

Abeer AlAkel, RCU’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, said: “AlUla and Petra share a close and deep-lying connection that stretches back through millennia to the ancient kingdom of the Nabataeans – a remarkable people who were able to harness their environment and create incredible tombs and monuments to their achievements that exist to this day. This latest collaborative agreement will strengthen our ongoing commitments to knowledge sharing and application of best practices in heritage education, serving an ambitious goal to reach our 14,000 school children in AlUla to build a deeper understanding and appreciation for history and cultural heritage.

“RCU and PNT stand as two of the leading institutions for cultural and heritage conservation, each with important mandates to preserve, study, and celebrate our shared human history while welcoming global tourists to explore incredible monuments of peoples long gone. The new partnership will support RCU’s development of key areas of AlUla’s comprehensive regeneration, including empowering the evolution of the ‘Rawi’ programme and expanding our interpretation of northwest Arabia’s unique history and stories for a modern audience.

“The impact of this programme – which successfully amplifies our enduring commitment to working with expert partners, stakeholders, and sectorial leaders – will be felt throughout RCU’s work in AlUla, with newly energised areas of cooperation bringing an expansive range of benefits to our growing community of residents and visitors alike.”