2019 ENCATC Research Award Finalist

Karla Nunes Penna

Doctoral Thesis: “A critical autoethnographic study of context-related influences on cultural heritage preservation education of World Heritage sites in Northeastern Brazil” obtained from Murdoch University in Australia.

Karla Nunes Penna is an architect, cultural heritage manager and educator with a Ph.D. in Education cross over with Cultural Studies at Murdoch University in Australia. Her investigation focused on assessing curriculum design and teaching performance of cultural heritage preservation training centers in Brazil. The main goal of this study was enabling effective and innovative curriculum design, critical and creative pedagogic methodologies, constructive learning environments and contextualized delivery practices, in order to improve the performance of training courses for cultural and education professionals.

Although she lives in Australia, she is a professor at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Integrated Conservation – CECI in Brazil, teaching classes in partially online mode. Her work invokes learning innovation, embedded in humanizing pedagogical approaches such as critical pedagogy, education for sustainability and transformative education. In parallel, Karla has collaborated with sites listed as UNESCO World Heritage in Latin America, supporting local teams and universities in designing and implementing cultural heritage and education. She also delivers seminars and workshops to local managers, leaders and community representatives through capacity building programs.

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