A programme of joint activities launched to raise awareness of work underway to protect Jordan’s architectural and urban heritage.

On Thursday, 4 November, the Jordanian Engineers Association (JEA), through the Architectural Engineering Division, and the Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL), signed a memorandum of understanding to coordinate efforts for the preservation of architecture and urban heritage in Jordan. Under the aegis of the memorandum, a programme of joint awareness-raising activities is planned to support the protection of architectural and urban heritage to be announced in the upcoming months.

The JEA was established as a professional society in 1948 and licensed later in 1949. As of 2020, the JEA has more than 170,000 members made up of engineers and architects of all disciplines. The Jordanian Engineers President, Eng. Ahmed Samara Al-Zoubi, stressed the significance of establishing new collaborations with local and international institutions that support the work of engineers and architects in Jordan.

As part of their role, the JEA organises awareness-raising activities, implements training, and holds scientific workshops and conferences. The JEA also serves local communities in the region in cooperation with national charities through restoration projects in Jordan and Palestine.

Eng. Al-Zoubi, President of the JEA said: “On behalf of the JEA, we are very pleased to be working in partnership with CBRL towards the preservation of architectural and urban heritage preservation in Jordan. Through expertise of the JEA’s members have been successful in raising awareness of the importance of urban heritage within the architecture discipline. Through the JEA’s Urban Heritage Preservation Committee, we have been involved with activities around the recent inscription of As-Salt city on the UNESCO World Heritage List.”

Dr Carol Palmer, Director of CBRL said: “This memorandum fits well within the framework of the CBRL’s academic collaboration initiatives with national institutions from heritage-related sectors. We are thrilled to sign this agreement that signals cooperation with the JEA that will support future projects that bring together the antiquities and architectural sectors. CBRL Amman is an international research institute that has been active in Amman since the 1970s and exists to facilitate the work, study and research of scholars who come to Jordan from the UK and other countries in the cultural heritage, humanitarian, and social science fields, in general.”

The CBRL and JEA will organise joint activities including training sessions, a photography competition, workshops and lectures on architectural and urban heritage preservation, with special reference to World Heritage sites in particular.