About GWHeritage

My philosophy

I believe that culture and human history should be central to development, influencing its direction and its ethics to create a better future. Knowledge of other cultures enhances the quality of our lives, fosters self-understanding and community values, and creates commonalities to better celebrate our differences. The processes of development and globalisation will not, on their own create a better future, or one with a sense of place and of community - these depend upon the responsible management of parts of the past in the present for the sake of a better future.
A fundamental part of my philosophy is the phrase 'beyond compliance' - I do not adopt a tick-box mentality, and go beyond a compliance-only approach to do more for my clients and for cultural heritage.

The history of GWHeritage

I started GWHeritage after running Triskelion Heritage Ltd from 2017-2021, and before that, Nexus Heritage. The development of these businesses reflects my evolving vision of the contexts and means by which I can best make a positive difference, and allows me to pursue the kinds of work I can do best.

To continue that line of thought, the projects that are most illustrative of my work and my motivations are the Environmental and Social Impact Assessments in Senegal, the Republique du Congo, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda, recently in Gaza and the management work on the Intangible Cultural Heritage at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, and the due diligence (lenders environmental social consultant) work on the TransAdriatic Pipeline since 2016. To these, I add my work with GRASCA at the Linnaeus University in Kalmar Sweden, and an MSc in Built Heritage Conservation at the University of Bahrain. For more details on these projects, please see the Case Studies page .

Why is cultural heritage management important?

The world’s expectations of development may conflict with the distinctly individual identities of many social groups, thereby challenging the continued existence of unique systems of cultural, ethnic, and linguistic diversity. Developments may also physically threaten the preservation, authenticity, and integrity of archaeological and historical landscapes that are part of our cultural identities unless active management strategies are put in place. Development and ‘progress’ involves a struggle to create and to preserve histories, traditions, and identities - aspects of culture that enrich the human experience and serve a seminal role in any wisely imagined future.

Gerry is a Founding Director of the Initiative for Sustainable Development in Africa (ISDAf), a non-profit organsation with the main objective to make development and conservation planning in Africa successful and sustainable at the local level. It brings together anthropologists, archaeologists, social scientists, and ecologists who have lived and worked in Africa for most of their lives and who recognize the failure of the current planning process.