Get ready to experience the adventure of a lifetime as we take you on a tour of Madaba, the hub of historical sites and colourful mosaics from the Byzantine Empire. 

The UNDP Jordan Accelerator Lab is always on the lookout for the newest trends in the local community radar, and this time we stumbled upon something truly remarkable – tourism in Madaba. This city has been named the Arab Tourism Capital for 2022, and it's not hard to see why. With its rich history and vibrant culture, Madaba is a must-see destination for anyone looking to experience something new.

Our adventure commenced upon meeting the team at Shababuna Ezwieh (شبابنا عزوة), a non-profit organization spearheaded by a passionate group of young leaders constantly seeking innovative methods to uplift their community. One such concept involved constructing an open-air exhibition to display the city's intangible culture and heritage. Enthralled by the idea, we decided to join forces to enrich the visitor experience and create revenue for the local community.

An open-air museum is a unique variety of museum that presents its collection in an outdoor setting, featuring items such as paintings, historical artifacts, and art pieces. Open-air exhibitions are quite uncommon in Jordan, so we seized this opportunity to draw attention to the mosaic city. Our goal was to exhibit something exceptional and true to Jordanian culture, but we needed inspiration. Following intensive brainstorming sessions, we developed an ingenious plan: seven boxes, each highlighting a distinct facet of Madaba's cultural journey. These boxes will be situated along Madaba's cultural trail, a UNESCO Heritage site since 2004 .

Although the Idea of an open-air museum enticed us, we soon realised that the production stage was much more straightforward in our heads than in real life.

The three weeks leading up to this day were filled with anticipation and anxiety as unforeseen challenges popped up. While the box fabrication was completed in January, the box supplier had a business trip outside his hometown and locked up the boxes in his workshop, to which we had no access for at least ten days. The launch day was approaching, and the stickers supplier needed to access the boxes to install the stickers. 

The stars were aligned for us. Shababuna Ezwieh managed, with the support of their network, to get the keys to the supplier’s workshop. Even though they started the process quite early and had the boxes and designs ready, these delays and last minutes issues had them work until midnight the day before the launch. While stressful and tiring, it was made up when tourists walking stopped by and interacted with the boxes.