The Palestine people is resisting occupation and isolation with the collaboration of artists from all over the world and, most especially, with a policy of rehabilitation for its historic centresOn 12 October, the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad opened the third Riwaq Biennale in the presence of various ministers and local authorities, and with the attendance of over 200 people from …

From 5 to 8 November 2009, Europe’s biggest cultural heritage show took place at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris. With a total of 250 expositors and over 250,000 visits, this venue has become a major meeting point for all professionals involved in heritage management and rehabilitation. This year saw the incorporation of specific sections for specialist firms in new restoration technologies, …

Coinciding with the exhibition “Living in the Mediterranean”, which ran at the CAATEEB in Mataró from 17 April to 22 May 2009, two lectures were given by Xavier Casanovas and Montserrat Villaverde. The exhibition, which has travelled to dozens of Mediterranean towns and cities, goes beyond commonplaces and preconceived ideas to promote knowledge of the territory, the city and the traditional …

On 26 November 2008, a symposium on Urban Design and the City of the Future was held in Milan. The event was organized by the Fondazione Èuropa—Osservatorio sulle politiche d'ell'Unione and was held at the headquarters of the Umanitaria society, a former convent complex that has been turned into a very active centre for the arts and political action in the city of de Milan. The objective of the …

From 29 September to 3 October, the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo-AECID, with the collaboration of the Ministry of Housing, organized the 6th International Encounter on the Management of Historic Centres. The training centre of the AECID, in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, was chosen as the host for this sixth encounter. The five days saw the presentation of …

On 7, 8 and 9 May, Seville was the venue for a meeting of local authorities to present and assess the guide Historic Districts for All. This is a series of documents aimed at municipal authorities and professionals in city rehabilitation, with the aim of sensitizing and providing guidance and training in new criteria of rehabilitation for historic districts.The 100 participants included …

The Heritage for Development Programme of the AECID and the Ministry of Housing organized the 7th Meeting on the Management of Historic Centres from 27 to 30 July, at the training centre in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Meeting under the title “Urban Rehabilitation and Law in the City: the Challenge of Social Equity”, representatives of over 20 countries, mostly Latin American, presented …

In May, the Town Council of Lefkara (Cyprus) organized the annual meeting of the Charter of European Rural Communities. The theme of debate over the five days from 14 to 18 May was participatory democracy. The 170 participants, representing 26 European municipalities, organized different activities to share their experiences. In order to help visitors to integrate and give them more direct …

The workshop was organized with participation from major stakeholders of traditional architecture in Jordan. This included Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Ministry of Municipalities and other government organizations dealing with traditional buildings. In additions there were participants from Greater Amman Municipality, Jordanian Universities, Private sector and local community.There …

The RehabiMed project and its results were presented in Turkey between 10 and 13 January 2008.A conference was held at the Technical University of Yildiz on 10 January, organized by the university and the Turkish Chamber of Architects. Over 100 people attended the talks by RehabiMed’s Project Manager, Xavier Casanovas, and the architects Irem Yaylal, Aynur Ciftçi and Banu Celebioglu. A …