Welfare Association hosted a closing seminar yesterday, February 23, at Qasr al-Hamra in Jerusalem for its EC-funded project, “Development of an Architectural Heritage Institute in Jerusalem,” with 50 participants from the local and international development community in attendance. The project team made presentations on the main activities and achievements of the project, which officially ends February 28, 2011.The four-year project was implemented in partnership with UNESCO, and funded by a grant of EURO 700.000 from the EC in order to develop a professional body in Jerusalem to institutionalize training in the restoration sector in Palestine. The project succeeded in establishing a training unit with a special curriculum and training manual for the architectural heritage professional sector, and trained 148 engineers, architects and contractors in international standards of restoration. International as well as local architectural experts were involved in the training. In order to encourage continuous education in the sector, the project also developed a specialized Information and Documentation Unit with a training library and produced technical publications and a project specific data base. It also established networks for advocacy of architectural heritage preservation in Palestine. A future phase of the Institute is under consideration.Participants in the seminar were international representatives and experts, and local agencies and individuals involved in architectural heritage preservation in Jerusalem