Namibian creatives participate in hackathon to explore the intersection of cultural heritage and entrepreneurship

The "Hack the Heritage! Growing Digital—Heritage and Innovation: Finding Business Opportunities in our Cultural Roots" hackaton, which took place in Windhoek from 6 to 7 March 2025, drew participants from different generations and distant regions. Under the guidance of Estonian and Namibian experts, 13 ideas were developed. University lecturers who participated in our training last August also contributed by testing the new methodology. 

Namibia has a rich heritage, with 20 tribes speaking 20 languages ​​spread over 823,144 square kilometres. Each tribe has its own cultural heritage, and Namibians have prioritised preserving it. However, unemployment is high in Namibia, so locals are eager to grasp every opportunity to make a living. 

With guidance from Estonian experts, the hackathon covered many topics: copyright, overtourism, entrepreneurial skills, cultural commercialisation, preservation and appreciation of local languages, modern use of heritage, business models, and value propositions. Of particular interest was a talk by Phillip Martin, a business analyst from the Development Bank of Namibia, on how and under what conditions it is possible to finance cultural heritage projects in Namibia. 

“Meaningful questions were asked; they thought along and immediately connected with our examples. The way the participants presented their ideas at the end was simply fantastic,” said Ragnar Siil from Creativity Lab. 

The jury, consisting of representatives from Estonia and Namibia, was particularly impressed by three ideas: a digital platform introducing the work of local artists, an e-book to preserve grandmothers' textile skills, and making dolls for children to introduce traditional clothing and customs.

“Developing entrepreneurial skills is crucial to improving young people’s competitiveness in the labour market. It is exciting to see innovative solutions for the digitisation of cultural heritage being developed by our Estonian partners and the young people of Namibia,” said Kristel Rillo, ESTDEV’s advisor for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. 

The Estonian project team also met with representatives from Namibia’s creative industries, where they discussed local conditions and challenges, like how to approach heritage digitisation and its distribution when most people have smartphones, but their data package only allows for messaging. 

“There are no universal solutions,” said Jorma Sarv from Tartu University’s Viljandi Culture Academy and Creativity Lab. “We can offer a methodology that the locals can adapt to their circumstances. It is a great privilege to work in such a different environment. The participants spoke honestly about their problems, which are similar to those of other countries—how to teach creative people about entrepreneurship so that they still identify as artists.” 

Project partners from the National Commission for UNESCO and the University of Namibia (UNAM) joined them at a meeting at the Namibia University of Technology (NUST) and at a roundtable co-organised by the Estonian Ministry of Culture and the Namibia Innovation Development Board (NIPDB).  

This project to develop heritage-based digital and entrepreneurial skills among Namibian youth began in 2023 and continued in 2024 and ran until March 2025 under the leadership of the NGO Creative Estonia in cooperation with the UNESCO National Commissions in Estonia and Namibia, the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy and, for the first time, the University of Namibia. The Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV) financed the project. 

Picture: Estonian National Commission for UNESCO