The Regional Center for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage ICCROM - Sharjah organized the Arab Forum for Cultural Heritage as a call to action and to contribute to understanding the common past, with a focus on cultural property, including heritage sites, historical cities and artworks in the region. The forum aimed to discuss the different influences that led to the formation of the current systems of cultural heritage from the official and public perspectives to develop a guiding strategy for preserving cultural heritage from an Arab perspective while promoting awareness and popular appreciation of cultural heritage. And propose a vision for the concept of cultural heritage in the Arab world.
Dr. Tarek Waly, founder of the center, participated in the forum’s activities and presented a panel discussion on the role of education in developing awareness of the importance of cultural heritage, as part of the activities of the third day of the Arab Cultural Heritage Forum. He also participated with each of: Architect Rasem Badran, a Palestinian-Jordanian architect and head of the Board of Directors of Dar Al-Omran, Dr. Suad Al-Amiri, a Palestinian writer and architect in the field of cultural heritage preservation and founder of the Riwaq Center, Dr. Salma Samar Damluji, an Iraqi architect and professor in the Department of Architecture in the Islamic World at the American University of Beirut, Dr. Mourad Bouteflika is an Algerian architect and professor of Culture at the Department of Architecture at the University of Blida in Algeria. Manal Ataya, an expert in the field of museology in the United Arab Emirates; among the members of the jury for the first session of the ICCROM-Sharjah Award for Good Practices in Preserving Cultural Heritage in the Arab Region, which aims to honor and reward practices that contribute to the protection and conservation of tangible cultural heritage in the Arab world. The award was given to the Cultural Heritage Preservation Center for the project of reviving the historic center of Beit Sahour - Bethlehem - Palestine, a project that was selected from among fourteen projects submitted by Palestine, Algeria, Lebanon, Sultanate of Oman, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
