Under the patronage of HRH Princess Dana Firas, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Association of the International Council on Monuments and Sites in Jordan, and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Cultural Heritage, the first symposium of the Scientific Committee on Sustainable Development Goals – ICOMOS Jordan was held on Saturday 11/12/2021. (ICOMOS SDGWG/NC JORDAN) by default via the Zoom app.

At the beginning of the symposium, HRH Princess Dana Firas gave a welcoming speech in which she stressed the importance of linking cultural heritage to the sustainable development goals of the United Nations, and the reciprocal relationship between development goals and cultural heritage, and how the goals can contribute to preserving cultural heritage.

Then, ICOMOS Jordan representatives in the international SDGWG, Prof. Dr. Fadi Balawi, Director General of the Department of Antiquities, spoke about the importance of heritage and culture in the framework of the sustainable development goals, and reviewed case studies from Jordan to achieve the sustainable development goals, and concluded his speech with the priorities of the Department of Public Antiquities in the future. In this regard, he stressed that the department will cooperate with all relevant authorities to achieve these noble goals.

Engineer Bayan Al-Faouri and a PhD student at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom also spoke about the specificity of Jordan in achieving the goals of sustainable development, in particular the role of heritage and culture in addition to the priorities of the SDGWG – NC JORDAN and the proposed plan for the years (2022-2025), and Mr. Nizar Al-Adarbeh, a specialist USAID Office of Economic Development and Energy Project Management on the Role of Donors in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Al-Adarbeh spoke about the importance of the integrative approach in finding financing solutions and the importance of working with all partners and donors in unifying efforts, especially in light of the impact of the Corona pandemic on the global level.

Gabriel Caballero, the international coordinator for the sustainable development goals, spoke at the symposium on the topic of the SDGWG’s vision and mission, the mechanism for membership and participation in membership, in addition to the various groups within the international sustainable development goals working group and their respective priorities.

As part of the discussion segment, the questions posed by the attendees were answered, in which Her Highness confirmed the work of ICOMOS Jordan and its work plan for the coming year in establishing specialized scientific committees to promote heritage issues locally and globally.

Her Highness concluded the symposium by thanking the speakers and participants, and noting the opportunity to join the council’s membership and benefit from its advantages through its website and the council’s contact information.