Athar Lina

Athar Lina is a participatory conservation initiative to establish modalities of citizen participation in heritage conservation based on a vision of heritage as a resource not a burden. Based in al-Khalifa in Historic Cairo, Athar Lina believes that only when cultural heritage is beneficial to the community, will the community become an active partner in its conservation. It believes that conservation can be a vehicle for development if practiced in a participatory inclusive manner. In order to enable the community to become an active partner, workshops and research projects are developed and implemented to determine the priorities and devise strategies. These are a necessary step towards implementation of feasible impactful interventions.

To motivate the participation of the community and sustainability of the interventions, heritage and projects, conservation is combined with social development and tourist promotion activities. Furthermore, the projects target children as one of the principal beneficiaries, hence the introduction of the educational program.

Athar Lina started in June 2012 with a participatory design workshop focusing on the neighbourhood of al-Khalifa in Historic Cairo. This neighbourhood stretches from Ibn Tulun Mosque in the north to al-Sayyida Nafisa Shrine in the south and is known for its impressive, yet under-appreciated set of listed monuments dating from the 9th to the 19th century. The question asked was on the relationship between these heritage sites and their surroundings and whether they could become resources the community benefits from. The recommendations of this workshop focused on three mains issues:

1. Identifying heritage nodes to conserve and rehabilitate for communal use.
2. Children as prime targets for heritage awareness activities.
3. Urban scale projects linking heritage to economic and social benefit through upgrade of public space, tourist promotion and capacity building.

These recommendations guide the work we do to this day. Projects implemented include the following:

1. Conservation of four domes from the 12th and 13th century and rehabilitation of an early 20th century building into a community centre.
2. Establishment of a heritage school for Khalifa’s children, run on a daily basis in summer and on a weekly basis during school. Funding for this free school is through a heritage activity program for private schools and a heritage education consultancy.
3. Promotion of the tangible and intangible heritage of al-Khalifa through craft development and tourist programs. The craft program focuses on knowledge exchange activities between designers and local artisans as a means of raising the capacity of both groups. Tourist promotion is through an annual event of guided tours, street art, street performances, exhibitions and recreational activities called (Spend the Day in Khalifa).
4. Urban upgrade activities focusing on infrastructure, mostly waste management and groundwater problems. The waste management program focuses on the rehabilitation of dumps into recreational spaces. The first dump, in Darb al-Husr was converted into a football field and al-Khalifa Ridge is the second project. The groundwater issues are addressed through the Athar Lina Groundwater Research Project.