Our Voices

We are a collective of heritage professionals, researchers, artists, educators, and activists- many from Syria and others from across the region. We share a commitment to a more just, inclusive, and community-led approach to cultural heritage.

Together, we are reimagining the future of heritage in the MENA region as one rooted in justice, care, and possibility.

  • Founder
    Architect | Heritage Specialist | Researcher

    Dr. Hiba Alkhalaf is a Syrian- British architect with expertise in architectural conservation, cultural heritage management, and post-conflict urban recovery. She holds a B.Arch. from the University of Damascus, an MSc in Architectural Conservation, and a PhD in Architecture. Her professional journey began with design and rehabilitation projects in historic urban areas across Damascus, Homs, and Cairo. Hiba has led and contributed to several regional and international initiatives, including: Managing Libya’s cultural heritage (MaLiCH), Sensing Place:Training in Action.

    She has worked closely with heritage professionals and institutions across Syria, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, and the UK, delivering capacity building training programs, emergency documentation and interventions, stakeholders and community engagement, and strategic advisory work in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.

  • Riwaq

    Safi is an architect and has joined RIWAQ in 2008. She received a B.S.c in architectural engineering from Birzeit University and MA in World Heritage and Cultural Projects for Development from ITILO, Turin, Italy. She has been leading and working on different projects including the rehabilitation projects of Beit Iksa, Hajjah and Birzeit, and Qalandiya. She is interested in cultural landscape and community involvement.

  • Head of Archive- Department of Antiquities (Tripoli-Libya)

  • Ghadeer Najjar is a Palestinian architect, cultural heritage specialist, and tourism consultant with over a decade of experience documenting and revitalizing the tangible and intangible heritage of Jerusalem and the broader Levant. Her work bridges architecture, culinary traditions, oral histories, and community-based tourism to bring forward nuanced, place-based narratives rooted in local identity.

    Ghadeer is the founder of "هنا عبق الشام" (Hana Sham Scent), a platform that merges artistic illustration with urban storytelling through maps, heritage-based merchandise, and cultural tours. She also leads training programs in heritage entrepreneurship, empowering women and small businesses to transform traditional knowledge into viable, locally grounded brands.

    Her recent projects include the development of heritage-based walking tours, illustrated cookbooks on Christian Palestinian food traditions, and UNESCO-focused reports on cultural landscapes. She is widely recognized for her work in mapping forgotten neighborhoods, restoring overlooked narratives, and creating visual tools that make history accessible.

    Ghadeer holds degrees in architecture and social anthropology, and has collaborated with institutions such as UNESCO, Bethlehem University, and the Sabeel Ecumenical Center. She is a passionate advocate for using heritage as a tool for cultural resilience, social justice, and economic empowerment.

  • Reem Furjani is an architect, researcher, and consultant specialising in critical heritage studies and cultural policy-making and management. She founded Scene for Culture and Heritage, serves as CEO of The Local Resource Consultancy and Training, providing consultancy and capacity building to heritage managers, and co-founded the Mediterranean Archiving and Digitisation Institute (MADI). She also advises as Member of the Heritage Committee at the Libyan Ministry of Culture, ensuring alignment of nomination files with UNESCO World Heritage guidelines. Additionally, Reem is an Advisor and Collaborator with the Archaeology Archive at the British Institute of Libyan and North African Studies hosted at the University of Leicester, and an Investigator at INHERIT Heritage Resilience Network at Anglia Ruskin University. Recently, she served as Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies at Oxford University and Ambassador of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) General Assembly 2023. Reem has contributed to cultural and heritage policy-making on local, national, and regional levels, including serving as voted-Ambassador of the South-Med Culture Group recommending EU cultural policies at the presidential Forum in Marseille 2021, in addition to UNESCO, Réseau EuroMed France, and other policy discussion forums.

  • Souad Jarrous is a Syrian writer and journalist. A graduate of journalism from the University of Damascus, she began her media career in 1994, contributing to numerous Arab newspapers and magazines with news reports, cultural features, and opinion pieces. She wrote regular columns for Al-Kifah Al-Arabi for over a decade and led coverage on Syrian affairs.

    Since 2007, she has been the Damascus correspondent for Al-Sharq TTT, published in London, and was formerly on the editorial team of Hatta magazine (2002–2004) in Beirut. She helped establish several youth-oriented publications in Syria and has contributed to Al-Hayat, As-Safir, and other regional outlets.

    In 2020, Souad launched the Wellfy Handcraftsinitiative in Hama to preserve and revitalize traditional crafts through contemporary production inspired by local heritage. The project uses environmentally friendly, traditional wooden molds to create modern designs, aiming to restore cultural identity and support local artisans in the aftermath of war.

  • Architect & Cultural Preservation Director.

    Housh El Sabon – Old City of Tripoli Libya. Project: How and House (2018–Present). Leading the “How and House” project since 2018, which focuses on revitalizing traditional crafts and preserving the architectural heritage of Tripoli’s historic core. Key responsibilities include providing residential and professional space for skilled traditional craftsmen and artists, directing hands-on workshops in heritage crafts, and organizing restoration lectures in collaboration with the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Tripoli.

    Manage cultural events and exhibitions in partnership with embassies and international organizations. Oversee the promotion and marketing of handcrafted products, supporting local artisans in reaching both local and international markets.Guided by the project’s core message: "Know your heritage, protect it, and live with it" – "أعرفه، حافِظ عليه، وعيش به"

  • Syrian Journalist and activist

  • Tamanahat Heritage Association - Ghadames Libya

    Zanjafour expert and trainer.

  • Mirma Al Wareh is an architect and researcher whose work explores the intersections of culture, society, politics, and architecture within the Syrian context. She recently completed her research project, The Manifestation of City Dynamics in the Cinema Theaters of Damascus, supported by Ettijahat: Independent Culture. Currently, she is a peer researcher at the Institute of Development Studies. She is also the co-founder of the Archive of Modern Architecture in Syria (AMASyria) and a member of the Young Syrian Urbanists (YSU).  

  • INP- Tunisia

    is a historian and archaeologist specializing in ancient civilizations, with over 20 years of experience in the fields of cultural heritage and museography. Her research has contributed to numerous publications, reflecting a sustained commitment to advancing knowledge and practice in heritage conservation.

    She has held senior roles at the Institut National du Patrimoine, where she led excavation, restoration, and promotion missions for Tunisian heritage. From 2013 to 2020, she served as Curator of the El Jem Coliseum, one of Tunisia’s most iconic UNESCO World Heritage sites.

    In 2023–2024, she was appointed chargée de mission at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, coordinating the final stages of the successful nomination of the Island of Djerba to the World Heritage List. She currently serves as Director of Museums at the Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs, where she continues to shape national strategies for museum development and heritage stewardship.


  • Deir Ezzor Digital Library Initiative

    She is a heritage architect and founder of the Deir Ezzor Heritage Library project, with over a decade of experience in cultural heritage preservation, museum development, and post-conflict recovery. From 2013 to 2023, she worked at Syria’s Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM), where she co-supervised major rehabilitation projects, led 3D documentation efforts of historic sites, and worked in close collaboration with international organizations including UNESCO and UNDP.

    Her contributions have supported global initiatives to safeguard endangered heritage, including participation in international conferences and co-curation of exhibitions focused on cultural resilience in conflict-affected regions. She holds a degree in Architecture from Damascus University (2012) and an MBA from the Syrian Virtual University (2020).