Invitation to attend TICCIH’s online Webinar “Historic Trams at Risk: Academic and Community Approaches from Alexandria and Kolkata” – An Experience Exchange Webinar.

Historic trams are more than surviving pieces of industrial infrastructure; they are living industrial heritage embedded in the everyday life of cities. They are not merely witnesses to urban history but active components of the city’s living organism. In recognition of the growing threats confronting historic tram systems worldwide, the The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH) brings together academic institutions, citizen advocacy groups, and heritage professionals from Egypt, India, and Australia to address the preservation of historic tram systems as a critical component of industrial heritage at risk. Building on prior engagement with tram heritage through the Summer School in Alexandria, Egypt – where the City Transformations Lab (Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University) and Cluster Cairo Lab examined trams as living elements of urban geography and collective memory – the webinar now extends this conversation to Kolkata, India. The Calcutta Tram Users Association is actively leading grassroots advocacy and community mobilisation to safeguard one of the world’s last remaining historic tram networks. Further contributions from Melbourne’s TramJatra solidarity initiative and special remarks from Fedecrail’s representative at the City of Gothenburg broaden the exchange to an international scale.

The overall vision is to establish a sustained, cross-disciplinary platform for dialogue and collaboration among heritage professionals, researchers, urban planners, transport historians, community groups, and enthusiasts committed to the documentation, protection, and promotion of historic tram systems whose histories encompass not only technological and infrastructural achievements but also labour traditions, collective memories, and everyday urban experiences. This webinar directly serves TICCIH’s mandate by raising awareness of active threats of devaluation, neglect, replacement, and demolition of historic tram systems while showcasing diverse preservation models and strengthening the international networks necessary to address industrial heritage at risk. It is supported by a broad coalition of partner organisations, including ICOMOS India, Fedecrail, APHTRO, ANIH, and NUDISUR, reflecting the interdisciplinary and global relevance of this initiative.

The webinar is being coordinated by TICCIH Board members Mirhan Damir and Moulshri Joshi, together with TICCIH Youth Early Career Network members Sai Nagarkar and Anwesha Dutta. As one of the first initiatives developed under this emerging framework, the webinar also serves as a soft opening for the forthcoming TICCIH Youth Early Career Network, introducing its commitment to fostering international collaboration, knowledge exchange, and active engagement of early-career professionals in the conservation and interpretation of industrial heritage worldwide. More information on this network will be shared in the coming TICCIH Bulletin 113.

Format: Online Webinar · Date: 18 July · Time: 4 pm (IST) · Duration: 3 hours

Those wishing to attend are kindly requested to register in advance using the following link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdQms8lxXL_yWKXq1-_MfsOlcYksQf-kNAJ0VwAJtkzNkvnog/viewform?usp=dialog

Registered participants will receive the access details and programme information prior to the event.