Impact of “Urban Transformation in the Southern Levant” Project

The project “Urban Transformation in the Southern Levant,” funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation-NORHED, seeks to understand the features of urbanization in Southern Levant, by focusing on the causes of urbanization, its mechanisms, patterns and consequences. The purpose of the project is to strengthen institutional capacity in higher education at Birzeit University, by focusing on research and education, through the study of urban transformation in the Southern Levant.

Throughout the project, 7 scholarships for PhD students have been offered, and 15 to MA students. Most of graduate students have been  offered job positions at different governmental institutions.

Other project outcomes include developing a spatial  database, which is now accessible to surrounding communities, equipping three new laboratories with necessary facilities for the use of students and researchers, scientific equipment and associated lab infrastructure were prepared for the benefit of the university students, the library of the Department of Geography has been supplied with more than 700 books, more than 10 peer reviewed papers were published in different topics about the Palestinian community, and archaeological excavations were conducted in Jordan and in Palestine.