Heritage Alliance of the New Silk Road
welcome to
7th Workshop of the Heritage Alliance of the New Silk Roads
7th HANSR Workshop:
22-24 October
22-24 October
REIMAGINING ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE AND THE DIGITAL FUTURE
About the Workshop
You are warmly invited to the seventh workshop of the Heritage Alliance of the New Silk Road (HANSR), 22-24 October 2026 hosted by Nazarbayev University’s Department of Anthropology. The working languages are Kazakh, English and Russian.
The 2026 session REIMAGINING ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE AND THE DIGITAL FUTURE will examine and identify digital technologies set to shape our heritage future, as well as the challenges and benefits anticipated to unfold in the approaching decades. The conference will aim to showcase and interrogate methodological and theoretical developments in the field with particular attention dedicated to the exploration of AI and how it is shaping and assisting landscapes of heritage.
Topics will engage with debates on how rapidly developing digital technologies might harness rich potential to enhance the study, preservation, and communication of heritage across tangible and intangible borders. Practical, implementable skills for conducting sustainable heritage practice are also a topic of concern.
We aim to attract important stakeholders at the lead of innovative heritage practice and theory, young scholars training to become the next generation of heritage custodians, and regional practitioners at the forefront, or up and coming, of archaeology and museum studies in Central Asia and neighboring regions.
The 2026 session REIMAGINING ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE AND THE DIGITAL FUTURE will examine and identify digital technologies set to shape our heritage future, as well as the challenges and benefits anticipated to unfold in the approaching decades. The conference will aim to showcase and interrogate methodological and theoretical developments in the field with particular attention dedicated to the exploration of AI and how it is shaping and assisting landscapes of heritage.
Topics will engage with debates on how rapidly developing digital technologies might harness rich potential to enhance the study, preservation, and communication of heritage across tangible and intangible borders. Practical, implementable skills for conducting sustainable heritage practice are also a topic of concern.
We aim to attract important stakeholders at the lead of innovative heritage practice and theory, young scholars training to become the next generation of heritage custodians, and regional practitioners at the forefront, or up and coming, of archaeology and museum studies in Central Asia and neighboring regions.
About HANSR
Welcome to HANSR: The Heritage Alliance of the New Silk Road
A small number of scholars from Liverpool University, Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan, State University of New York Buffalo, Xi'an Jiao Tong University and Polytechnic University of Hong Kong, launched HANSR at Liverpool University in September 2018.
HANSR is the Heritage Alliance of the New Silk Road, designed to investigate the creative potential for social, historical, archaeological and economic research opportunities in preserving cultural heritage. It also explores sustainable and ethical economic research opportunities through a series of Roundtables, conferences, publications, scholarly debates and discussions. All aspects of tangible and intangible heritage of the new Silk Road are of interest to HANSR members.
HANSR is the Heritage Alliance of the New Silk Road, designed to investigate the creative potential for social, historical, archaeological and economic research opportunities in preserving cultural heritage. It also explores sustainable and ethical economic research opportunities through a series of Roundtables, conferences, publications, scholarly debates and discussions. All aspects of tangible and intangible heritage of the new Silk Road are of interest to HANSR members.
HANSR is an informal sub-forum of the University Alliance of the Silk Road (UASR). UASR was established in 2015, with leadership from Xi'an Jiao Tong University, to develop educational and research collaboration and economic growth in nations associated with the Silk Road. UASR incorporates themes of: cultural exchange, capacity building, educational exchange, and digital infrastructure for knowledge exchange within member universities. This is consistent with the fifth thematic area of the Belt and Road Initiative: "people to people exchange" and human capital development (Kohli, Linn and Zucker, 2019).
University of Liverpool HANSR founding members, Hawken, Foxhall, Birch and Endfield noted in 2018 that, in forming HANSR: "We aim to … collaboratively foster cultural exchange, community engagement and wellbeing through generating increased awareness of the regions' heritage, and to share knowledge and good practice".
We warmly welcome you to explore these resources and participate in the events and discussions which are of interest to you and to your research colleagues and students.
Please consider participating in the 7th HANSR Round Table, hosted by us here at Nazarbayev University, in October 2026!
Details are available on this website.
University of Liverpool HANSR founding members, Hawken, Foxhall, Birch and Endfield noted in 2018 that, in forming HANSR: "We aim to … collaboratively foster cultural exchange, community engagement and wellbeing through generating increased awareness of the regions' heritage, and to share knowledge and good practice".
We warmly welcome you to explore these resources and participate in the events and discussions which are of interest to you and to your research colleagues and students.
Please consider participating in the 7th HANSR Round Table, hosted by us here at Nazarbayev University, in October 2026!
Details are available on this website.
HANSR events
provide opportunities for networking among scholars, students and professionals with a common interest in preserving the unique Silk Road Region heritage.
We hope to see you
virtually or in person at our Round Tables and events, either here in Kazakhstan or hosted by other member universities.
HANSR Timeline
First HANSR Round Table
hosted by University of Liverpool, in September 2018, included resilience and heritage, preserving and promoting heritage, using 2 experts and amateurs in the co-creation of heritage initiatives with communities, expanding the use of digital technologies and linking physical space with tangible and intangible heritage.
Second HANSR Round Table
hosted by Xi'an Jiaotong University in September 2019, included interdisciplinary work across humanities, physics, biology and social sciences. Buildings, natural landscapes, language, religion and rituals, traditional culture and institutions, visual images, digital heritage, music and auditory.
Third HANSR Round Table
hosted by Nazarbayev University was the first HANSR event in a completely virtual format, and was held in November 2020. The theme was Heritage at Risk: Connecting the Tangible and the Intangible. It explored the dangers facing heritage resources in the Silk Road Region, best practices for mitigating those dangers and opportunities to leverage heritage assets for sustainable development.
Fourth HANSR Round Table
hosted online in November 2021 by Politecnico di Milano on the theme "Heritage Management: Musealization or Use?" focused on the status of architectural and archaeological heritage after its restoration and subsequent accessibility. The meetings considered opportunities offered by heritage sites, beyond traditional musealization, to explore innovative and interactive practices that are embedded in social contemporary life.
Fifth HANSR Round Table
hosted in hybrid format in November 2022 by Nazarbayev University on the theme "Heritage: Mobility and migration, past and present” to focus on the tensions that exist in historical perspective between population movement and stasis for building and maintaining tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Participants of the 2022 workshop examined the various challenges, solutions, and traditions fostered around the inextricably linked factors of heritage and mobility.
Sixth HANSR Round Table
hosted in a hybrid format in November 2023 by Nazarbayev University, was held on the theme “Inconvenient Pasts” to explore the social dimensions shaping contemporary understandings of heritage and public history narratives. The conference presented interdisciplinary research on complex heritage issues from the perspectives of anthropology, archaeology, cinematography, history, and sociology. Discussions focused on penal heritage, contested archaeological sites and narratives, conservation, urban development, and the interpretation and preservation of difficult pasts.
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Paula DupuyAssociate Professor of Anthropology at Nazarbayev University -
Daniel ScarboroughAssociate Professor of History and Director of the MA Program in Eurasian Studies at Nazarbayev University
References
Hawken, Foxhall, Birch, Endfield, (2018) Heritage Alliance of the New Silk Road (HANSIR): A New Partnership for Knowledge Exchange. Unpublished explanatory note
Harinder S. Kohli, Johannes F. Linn, and Leo M. Zucker, (2019) China's Belt and Road Initiative: Potential Transformation of Central Asia and the South Caucasus, Sage
Virtual Plenary Session
of HANSR 2020
of HANSR 2020
Prior to the workshop, we invite you to participate in the virtual opening ceremony we have prepared for you, which includes 3 short videos
Nazarbayev University Orchestra
performs "Kozimnin Qarasy," which can be viewed along with other projects on the
NU Orchestra YouTube Channel
NU Orchestra YouTube Channel
Contact us:
For More Information about the Heritage Alliance for the New Silk Road or about the upcoming workshop, email: hansr@nu.edu.kz
The Heritage Alliance of the New Silk Road is an independent consortium of scholars interested in studying, protecting, and sustainably managing the cultural resources of the broader Silk Road region. HANSR was formed from discussions and collaborations facilitated by the University Alliance for the Silk Road (UASR) and the groups work closely together.
The Heritage Alliance of the New Silk Road is an independent consortium of scholars interested in studying, protecting, and sustainably managing the cultural resources of the broader Silk Road region. HANSR was formed from discussions and collaborations facilitated by the University Alliance for the Silk Road (UASR) and the groups work closely together.