A delegation from UNESCO, headed by the Director of the Organization in Iraq, Junaid Soroush, visited the College of Engineering at the University of Basrah. They were received by the Dean of the College, Prof. Dr. Mofid Turky Rashed. During the visit, future cooperation between UNESCO and the College of Engineering was discussed on the subject of capacity building adopted by UNESCO to help youth. The discussions included the possibility of involving students of the Department of Architecture in the projects implemented by UNESCO in the city of Basra related to the architectural preservation of heritage buildings and buildings in the city, with the aim of providing the students with the necessary experience in the maintenance and restoration of historical and heritage buildings, which will be done through two axes:
The first axis includes students making repeated field visits to the organization’s work sites in the city of Basra to closely examine the implemented projects, while the second axis will focus on holding workshops and seminars and giving lectures to students in the corridors of the College of Engineering, periodically to present the mechanisms used in preservation work and similar international examples. In addition to what was applied at work sites in the city, students were introduced to the architectural details used in conservation projects. On the sidelines of the visit, the team visited the Department of Architecture and met with the head of the department, Dr. Hamed Hayab Samir and reviewing the students’ projects and works.