Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, President of ICOMOS-Jordan
HRH Princess Dana Firas is a global advocate for heritage protection and preservation. She was designated a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in June 2017 in recognition of her commitment to heritage protection and preservation as pillars for sustainable development, and her contribution to responsible tourism and community participation.
She is the President of the Petra National Trust, Jordan’s oldest national nongovernmental organization for heritage protection and preservation. She serves as President of ICOMOS-Jordan, which she established in 2019. She is a founding member of the board of The Mohammad and Mahera Abu Ghazaleh Foundation. Between 2016-2020 she served on the Board of the Fulbright Commission in Jordan.
Internationally, Princess Dana is leading a global campaign to streamline culture into climate policy with partners from the Climate Heritage Network (CHN). She is the CHN Envoy to the Group of Friends of Culture Based Climate Action launched at COP28 and co-Chaired by the United Arab Emirates and Brazil, whose aim is to achieve a Joint Work Decision on Culture Based Climate Action at the UNFCCC. In December 2023, Princess Dana joined the Advisory Council of the European Heritage Hub.
Princess Dana serves as Chair of the Board of the Petra National Foundation and, since 2018, has been the Patron of the Friends of Manar al-Athar. In 2021, she became an Ambassador for the UK-based International National Trusts Organization (INTO) and now serves as its Chair. She served as Co-Chair of the Climate Heritage Network’s COP27 and COP28 Working Groups. In 2023, Princess Dana joined the international board of the UK-based Turquoise Mountain Trust. She was elected in September 2023 to the position of Vice President for the Arab Region of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).
Since the early 1990s, HRH has worked to promote cultural heritage preservation, education and sustainable development in various capacities in the private, public and civil society sectors, both in Jordan and internationally. She worked at the Royal Hashemite Court from 1993 to 2000 on projects that promote cultural heritage, sustainable development, peace and human rights.
In January 2022, His Majesty King Abdullah bestowed the order of the State Centennial on Princess Dana in recognition of her contributions to the field of cultural heritage in Jordan.
Princess Dana is the recipient of the Arab Heritage Person Award for 2018, the first woman and the first Jordanian to be selected for this award. The World Monuments Fund recognized her with the 2019 Watch Award for her lifelong work in cultural heritage and advocacy for preservation as a stimulus for economic development. In November 2019, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Coventry University.
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