“Who’s Birzeit University and Why Hebron City was Chosen as A Pilot Area in CARISMED Project”

Birzeit University is a Palestinian Arab institution governed by an autonomous board of trustees composed of Palestinian educators and professionals. It strives to promote excellence in higher education by providing academic teaching, research, and training and relevant community programs within the context of sustainable development, social awareness and adherence to democratic values in a free Palestinian society. BZU offers 119 academic programs (76 bachelor programs, 39 master program, 2 PhD’s one in Social sciences and the other in IT Engineering, 2 diploma programs in education, 1 program for foreign students PAS) In 9 faculties at BZU. 

Birzeit University’s Department of Architectural Engineering, in collaboration with eight research, academic and professional institutions at the European Union, will lead the implementation of the CARISMED project. 

Throughout its implementation, the project will adopt Hebron City as a pilot area of CARISMED in Palestine. The city of Hebron is one of the oldest cities in the world, and the largest in the West Bank. Its old town considered as the vibrant part of it and has always been a terminal of tourists, a commercial, and religious destination. It is characterized by narrow, winding streets, flat-roofed stone houses, and old bazaars that had been named after crafts they were famous of, for instance: Kazazin (Glass craftsmen) neighborhood, the Hadadeen (blacksmith) market, and so on. The city has won the “international artisan city for the year 2016” certificate by the International Crafts Council due to its distinguished long history making the original Palestinian heritage and traditional crafts. As well as, the traditional architecture of the old city, which goes back to the Mamluk and Ottoman periods, witnesses to the development and sophistication of the city.

Follow the link for more information about BZU: https://www.birzeit.edu/