Current Projects
Beyond guiding social entrepreneurs and heritage stewards, CHiFA has invested in projects that align with its mission.
The Rio Grande Route
The Ruta del Rio Grande Heritage Regeneration Project will create a gateway and tourism route for visits to the sparsely inhabited mountainous area that will be managed by the local communities. The rock-art at Cueva de las Manitas outside of Dominguillo is one of four unique cultural assets in the Tenuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve, designated World Heritage in 2018 for the richness of its natural ecology and archaeological resources as one of the longest inhabited places in the Americas.
The project will bring new livelihood to the communities and anchor the stewardship of the area’s unique cultural landscape. The Ruta del Río Grande will bring sustainable tourism to the area that is rich in environmental and cultural heritage.
The Rhodes Old Town Regeneration
The Rhodes Old Town Regeneration is an urban regeneration initiative focused on the medieval city of Rhodes, capital of the Greek island of the same name and a World Heritage Site. Many of the historic center’s residential and commercial buildings were abandoned following drastic upheavals that impacted the urban population during and after World War II. Hundreds of buildings in the historic center lie abandoned, with the city’s vitality anchored in the new town.
CHiFA will develop a record of the Jewish community’s life in the city, plan for the use of properties to interpret the history of the Old Town and support educational activities in the city.
The Stone Town of Zanzibar
The Stone Town of Zanzibar is an extraordinary ensemble of buildings made of coraline stone that housed diverse communities over time that the town flourished as a trading center in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania. The buildings represent a fusion of Swahili, Indian, Arab and European influences in building traditions and town planning. Since the country’s independence in the 1960s, the condition of these cultural assets has declined.
The adaptive reuse of The Majestic Theater will create a cultural hub for three local cultural organizations: Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), Busara Productions’ music festival and Reclaim Womens Space.
The Medina of Tunis
The Medina of Tunis, at the heart of Tunisia’s coastal capital city, is a key historic and cultural attraction of the Magreb region. Established in the 7th century, it became one of the wealthiest cities in the Arab world and center of regional trade. Its decline since the 1960s can be attributed to outward urban expansion, waning of political importance, and the attrition of craft traditions that were the historical base of its livelihood. Today the area needs to build a robust tourism economy and resuscitate its trades in order to become a magnet for visitors while providing jobs, security, and a healthy living environment for its residents.
The reimagining of the Quartier Consulaire – a neighborhood that once housed consular offices and residences for foreign traders in the traditional fonduks, a building type that developed across the Islamic world to house foreign merchants, diplomats and other visitors – is at the center of the heritage-led regeneration planning by local social entrepreneurs.
