Mr. Hani Al-Hayek, mayor of Beit Sahour declared the importance of this project to the town and its inhabitants and the activities and services included within. In addition, he emphasized the need to protect our cultural heritage and use it correctly to revive the area of Al-Souq, which is considered the town center.

Eng. Hannan Manoli, Project Development & Public Relations Department manager from Beit Sahour Municipality, provided an overview of the Requalification Project and its main activities.

Director of CCHP, Arch. Issam Juha, pointed out the need for cooperation and community involvement in all phases of the project to ensure its sustainability and revitalization. The Centre will intensify its efforts with the municipality to achieve the desires and needs of the community.

A brief description of the project component, its services and phases was presented by the three engineers at CCHP, Arch. Dima Ateeq, Arch. Salam Bannourah, and Arch. Athar Mufarreh. The project includes three stages of implementation: 

•  the rehabilitation of area of the old Souq (market) qualifying it to a public space;
•  Rehabilitation and expansion of the Well of the Lady Chapel;
•  The rehabilitation of two traditional buildings in the area adapting them to serve as a museum.

Furthermore, the three engineers displayed three preliminary designs for the Requalification of the Old Market Area in the Historic Centre of Beit Sahour, and put them into discussion with the audience in order to collect their feedback, desires and needs which shall be taken into consideration at the implementation phase.  The discussion included various community stakeholders and committees closely linked to the historic city and Well of the Lady Chapel.

In addition, Mrs. Mays Salsa', Head of Public Awareness and Public Relations presented a simplified view of the desired objectives of the project and the awareness programs and activities that will be implemented in parallel with the various project's phases targeting women, students, youth, locals, decision makers, tour agencies and guides to ensure the reviving, revitalization and sustainability of the targeted area.

Overall, Beit Sahour Municipality pointed out that the workshop was a resounding success and generated a large amount of essential feedback from the community that will help shape the Requalification Project and assure its long-term success.