Beirut Arab University supports the reconstruction of land affected by different factors, in this sense the University collaborates with different organizations in Lebanon for the benefit of the community, creating new sustainable constructions on land that already had constructions that allow citizens to live in a peaceful way.

• The Participation of the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture in the OEA Workshop

The Participation of the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture in the OEA Workshop on the Reconstruction of the Neighbourhoods affected by the 4th of August Blast within a National Vision for Sustainable Development Policies. The Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Built Environment, Professor Ibtihal Youssef El-Bastawissi, participated in the workshop organized by the Order of Engineers and Architects in Beirut in cooperation with the French Government, UNESCO, and the International Union of Architects (UIA).

Professor El-Bastawissi participated in the fourth session covering the legal aspects of the reconstruction process. the session was carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and the General Directorate of Antiquities in Lebanon. While moderating the public discussion panel at the end of the axis, Professor El-Bastawissi stressed on the importance of this axis, as well as all the other axes of the workshop which complement each other and enriched the studies carried out by the Architectural Faculties in Lebanese universities in collaboration with Order of Engineers and Architects in Beirut.

Professor El-Bastawissi thanked the President of the OEA, Jad Tabet, for organizing this workshop and for all the efforts he is doing to keep up with the reconstruction of the districts devastated by the explosion of August 4, 2020. The Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Built Environment, Professor Ibtihal Youssef El-Bastawissi, participated in the workshop organized by the Order of Engineers and Architects in Beirut in cooperation with the French Government, UNESCO, and the International Union of Architects (UIA).

Professor El-Bastawissi participated in the fourth session covering the legal aspects of the reconstruction process. the session was carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and the General Directorate of Antiquities in Lebanon. While moderating the public discussion panel at the end of the axis, Professor El-Bastawissi stressed on the importance of this axis, as well as all the other axes of the workshop which complement each other and enriched the studies carried out by the Architectural Faculties in Lebanese universities in collaboration with Order of Engineers and Architects in Beirut.

Professor El-Bastawissi thanked the President of the OEA, Jad Tabet, for organizing this workshop and for all the efforts he is doing to keep up with the reconstruction of the districts devastated by the explosion of August 4, 2020.

• The participation of the Faculty of Architecture at Beirut Arab University in launching the field survey of the damaged buildings in Beirut after the bombing

A field survey project concerning the public safety and the damaged buildings was launched under the auspices of the Governor of Beirut City, Judge Marwan Abboud, at the Order of Architects and Engineers on the 12th of August 2020.

This meeting gathered all the related public and private institutions including the mayor of Beirut, Eng. Jamal Itani, the president of the syndicate, Jad Tabet, the general director of Heritage, Mr. Sarkis Khoury, in addition to a large number of engineers and representatives of the concerned authorities of the reconstruction and planning.

During these meetings with the Lebanese authorities, the Faculty Dean focused on the necessity of coordination between all the sectors of the Lebanese society, including universities that can play a major role to overcome this disaster the soonest possible.

In addition, she emphasised on the need to pay great attention on restoring the damaged heritage based on scientific principles and taking advantage of specialist’s experiences as a part of preserving the architectural identity of our cities.

This requires gathering all the efforts of academic staff, students and specialists within a comprehensive strategy plan to survey all the damages using geographic information system (GIS), which will be achieved by the OEA.

• BAU participated in Beirut Urban Declaration Conference after Beirut Port Explosion

The Faculty of Architecture - Design and Built Environment at Beirut Arab University participated in Beirut Urban Declaration Conference for restoration of afflicted areas after the huge explosion that occurred on August four. The conference was organized by the Order of Engineers and Architects in Beirut in cooperation with the Faculties of Architecture in Lebanon whereby this event came after long preparations and workshops in addition to direct field work which started directly after Beirut Port explosion on August 4, 2020.

Since then, Professor Ibtihal El-Bastawissi, the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture- Design and Built Environment, has worked within the organizing committees of the Deans of Faculties of Architecture for Beirut Urban Declaration which included five sessions.

She invited a group of university professors from various faculties to participate in all aspects of conference activities in coordination with the Dean of Faculty of Human Sciences, Professor Mayssah El-Nayal. Professor El-Bastawissi also participated in a workshop organized by the Order of Engineers and Architects in Beirut in cooperation with the French government, UNESCO and the International Union of Architects (UIA) in order to achieve this declaration.

The university had interventions in more than one session in the conference where Professor Hassan Hallak gave a lecture entitled "The Economic and Social Role of the Beirut Port," in which he talked about the history of the development of Beirut Port and its economic and social impacts on the city. Dr. Khaled Sadek gave a lecture under the title of "The Urban Fabric of Beirut between History and the Present" in which he dealt with the development of Beirut's urban fabric during the historical eras that the city has gone through.

He mentioned the human values that the city has acquired, which are based on reverence of freedoms, respect of intellectual pluralism and openness to different civilizations. In the fourth session, Dr. Hiba Mohsen gave a lecture entitled "Rehabilitation and Restoration of Damaged Heritage Buildings", in which she discussed the importance of preserving the heritage and the risks that threatens it, in addition to several proposals for the rehabilitation and construction of old neighborhoods.