Dr. Mohamed Othman Elkhosht, President of Cairo University, announced that the university has signed an agreement with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to establish the first UNESCO chair for the preservation of cultural heritage. It aims to preserve cultural heritage and contribute to the development of the local economy by providing job opportunities and raising public awareness of the value of cultural heritage among youth and civil society. This falls under the framework of the ongoing cooperation between Cairo University and UNESCO in various fields of education, science, and culture. 

Dr. Mohamed Othman Elkhosht explained that the UNESCO Chair for Science and Technology for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage aims to achieve preventive conservation, monitoring, and preservation of tangible cultural heritage by means of using the latest developments in science and technology for research, study, preservation, and protection of tangible cultural heritage, as well as enhancing institutional capacities through international collaboration. This collaboration should create a local and international multicultural network of partners; facilitate the exchange of knowledge; support training programmes, workshops, and courses; and provide technical and advisory services for projects undertaken by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and by companies specialized in the restoration and maintenance of antiquities.

Dr. Hossam El-Din Ahmed Abdel Fattah, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, added: “The UNESCO University Chair is a joint project between higher education institutions and UNESCO, in order to enhance knowledge, education, and research in a field which is a shared research priority,” noting that the UNESCO Chair works in the service of the pillars of higher education, scientific research, tourism, antiquities and sustainable development, all of which is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Egypt’s Sustainable Development Vision 2030.

For his part, Dr. Hani Helal, Professor of the UNESCO Chair and Principal Researcher, said that the UNESCO Chair for Cultural Heritage Preservation is based on the expertise and material and human resources available at the Rock Engineering Laboratory, the Egyptian Center for Non-Destructive Techniques for Heritage Preservation, and the Center for Archeology and Environmental Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, noting that the Center has completed more than 120 local and international projects over 40 years with the aim of preserving cultural heritage in cooperation with the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Cairo University, under Dr. Mohamed Othman Elkhosht’s leadership, has in recent years expanded its cooperation with UNESCO in a number fields and activities.

The new UNESCO chair is headed by Dr. Hani Hilal, Professor at the Faculty of Engineering and former Minister of Higher Education, and he is assisted by Dr. Mohamed Mohie Al-Qarmouty, Director of the Rock Engineering Laboratory at the Faculty.