“SMEs- Craftsmen in Hebron City Proposing Practical Thoughts and Ideas for Badran Plaza Revitalization in the Historic Centre of Hebron”

24 Mar 2022

As Part of “Promoting Upcycling in Circular Economy through Innovation and Education for Creative Industries in Mediterranean Cities (INNOMED-UP)” project In collaboration with seven European Union academic, research and professional institutions, in addition to Palestine, Jordan and Tunisia, and funded by the European Union, the last phase of the second community awareness workshop regarding the Socio - Urban Circularity was conducted On the 6th of March 2022 in the Hebron Old Museum/ Hebron. The Workshop was entitled: Development & Revitalization of public spaces in the Historic Centre of Hebron, Badran Plaza as a Pilot Project.

This Workshop aimed to publicize and inform the local community and institutions about the role of CCi & SMEs in developing and revitalizing the urban spaces in the historic Centre of Hebron, through the innovation and the creativity of designed recycled materials and elements to be fitted with the principles of conservation and restoration of historic centers, and to be used in the Badran Plaza as a pilot model. 

The workshop was opened with the speeches of the project's director, the project's advisory committee, official institutions. Dr. Shadi Al Ghadban project's director thanked the attendees for their participation and pointed out the importance of preserving old cities and the importance of teamwork and integrative work, Eng. Maher Al Tamimi representative of Hebron Municipality, Mr. Mohsen Zalloum, Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce and member of the Advisory Committee, Mr. Imad Hamdan, Director of the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee, member of the Advisory Committee, all of them stressed the importance of developing and reviving the Old City, preserving it and preserving its archaeological value.

Thereafter Different valuable lectures and topics presentations were submitted and discussed such as the reality of public spaces _ urban and social _ in the old city of Hebron by Arch. Helmy Maraqa from Hebron Rehabilitation Committee, The professor at Palestine Polytechnic University, Dr. Wael Shahen, gave a presentation about Concepts and principles of developing and revitalizing public spaces - urban and social in historical centers, and Arch. Essam Ejha from Beit-Lahem Conservation Center also gave a presentation on Applied cases on the development and revival of public spaces in historical centers.

In the end, the teamwork (BZU project management, Hebron SMEs, and students from Palestine Polytechnic University/Hebron and Birzeit University) gave a presentation about the role of innovation and creativity in recycled craft industries in developing and reviving public spaces, Badran Space in the Old City / Hebron as a suggested model, and a video presentation of Badran Square before and after the proposed intervention.

At the end discussions and recommendations were emerged and mostly focused on the importance of the topic and the necessity of the involvement of the local Craftsmen and their role in the development of the historic Centre by proposing ideas and creative designs to produce objects based on the principles of the circular economy to be used on the revitalization of historic spaces within historic centers.  

For more information about the workshop, please visit the following Sites and Links:

For more information about the Project, please visit the following Sites and Links:

The INNOMED-UP is funded by the #EU under ENI CBC Med Programme to the support of the EU/Programme