You are cordially invited to the first CPHC online lecture titled, ‘Conservation and Management Plan for Al-Khalifa Street Area’ taking place on Wednesday 24th March 2021 from 7 pm to 8:30 pm.

This lecture is not only the first of a 3-part lecture series occurring over the next few months, it also marks the launch of Spend the Day in Khalifa (SDK) 8, an annual event to promote al-Khalifa’s tangible and intangible heritage and raise awareness of Athar Lina’s efforts to conserve and transform it into a community resource.

To find out more about SDK 8 and its program, follow the event on Facebook.

The Conservation and Management Plan for al-Khalifa Street Area is one of the main outputs of the Citizen Participation in Historic Cairo Project.

The lecture will present, in more detail, the conservation and management guidelines for heritage sites applied to al-Khalifa Street Area where Athar Lina Initiative has worked since 2012 to safeguard its heritage as a community resource. The conservation and management plan builds on previous research and interventions and aims at integrating it within a clear vision for maximum impact. The output is a planning tool for Athar Lina and decision-makers. It can be used as a basis for similar proposals in other neighborhoods and can also be linked to city-wide plans. The lecture will also focus on the methodology employed throughout the project, as well as highlight and reflect on the options and possibilities regarding how to move forward and build on what has already been established. It will be given by project consultant Ahmed Mansour.

For registration: http://bit.ly/3tlgftu

Ahmed Mansour is an architect with a bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo and an M.Sc. in conservation of monuments and historical sites at the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation (RLICC) at KU-Leuven, Belgium. Ahmed is currently involved in several conservation and rehabilitation projects, such as the Mausoleum of Imam al-Shafi’i and Shurafa, and is the heritage industries coordinator at Athar Lina Heritage Design Thinking School. Ahmed is the urban conservation and management consultant for Citizen Participation in Historic Cairo, with a focus on al-Khalifa Street Area.

After the success of Athar Lina’s closing webinar for the Citizen Participation in Historic Cairo (CPHC) Project held in December 2020, and during which we presented the scope of the project and its outputs, we are happy to launch a virtual lecture series focusing on, and discussing in further detail, the project's main 3 areas within the district of al-Khalifa in Historic Cairo:

- Al-Khalifa Street Area, as an example of a residential neighbourhood along the main Qasaba with a wealth of heritage sites of both cultural and spiritual value, with specific conservation and management guidelines applied to it.

- Al-Hattaba, as an example of historic neighbourhoods listed incorrectly as informal settlements despite their historic fabric and heritage value.

- Zaynhum Housing, as an example of modern public housing projects built for low-income target groups within the historic city with untapped resources.

The areas were chosen to be as diverse as possible. They were also chosen to reflect different types of priorities that synergise with the work that Athar Lina Initiative already does in al-Khalifa. The project was implemented between 2017 and 2020 by Athar Lina Initiative under the umbrella of the Built Environment Collective, in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and funded by the Ford Foundation.

Check out the recording of the closing webinar of CPHC Project, here.

Over the next few months, project consultants will give virtual lectures presenting one of the three areas, with a focus on each area’s conservation, management and development. The lecturers will also highlight and reflect on the options and possibilities regarding how to move forward and build on what has already been established.

Each lecture will be followed with a moderated Q&A session, for us to listen to your feedback and input and for all of us to think together on how to move forward and build on this project.