On May 18^th 2010, Dr. Ali Abdelhamid, Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Planning (CURP) and the instructor at the Department of Architectural Engineering, as well as Dr. Iman Amad, the Director of the Unit of Architectural Conservation and Reconstruction, participated in a workshop that was part of a joint project between the University and the School of Architecture and the Built Environment at the Royal Institute of Technology (Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. This project was financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

The workshop was hosted by the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul (SRII), Turkey in which a number of experts in the field of architecture and planning from the University, the KTH and the National School of Architecture in Rabat, Morocco participated.

The participants mentioned that the project aims to exchange visits and experiences between the University, the KTH and the National School of Architecture in Rabat as well as preparing a joint research study about preserving and managing historical cities and to focus on preserving the old cities of Nablus and Asilah in Palestine and Morocco. The workshop included discussing the final report of the project and future cooperation.

This cooperation project is expected to end by the end of 2010 and a final copy of the project's report will be submitted which will include a list of the research and activities that have been achieved during the previous years. Those researches and activities will be forwarded to the KTH for assessment which will, in turn, prepare the final report and deliver it to SIDA.

Dr. Abdelhamid pointed out that there is going to be a proposal for a future cooperation in the field of architecture and planning. This cooperation proposal will be set by the beginning of 2011 so as to get the necessary support and finance from SIDA.