About Us
Our Story
that cities belong to people, and that people should have an essential role in designing their own experiences in their urban settings. We also believe that the role of architect in the MENA region should shift from being purely a building designer to a facilitator who realises the needs of people in urban settings through the design process of placemaking. These beliefs developed over the years, and crystalised as we started to question our role in rebuilding our country after the start of its destruction in 2012.
has always been to provide accurate, timely and accessible information about Syria’s urban reconstruction policies. In the context of limited information, but high anxiety, about current and upcoming urban policy developments in Syria, we decided to establish Syrbanism. We did this in an attempt to address the need for people to engage with policy development and speak to others, with opinions and thoughts based on factual knowledge and accurate resources rather than rumour. Our mission requires tackling complicated topics that are related to reconstruction terminologies, approaches, legislations, informality and legal procedures.
is a contested word and concept, so it’s really important to have clarity about what is meant by this term. For us real reconstruction has not begun yet, because we consider reconstruction to be socially just on different levels, which means that besides being accountable and negotiable, any reconstruction project should consider building lives rather than just houses.
Our Team
Nour is an architect and urban researcher specialized in social justice, informality, spatial changes during conflicts. She is a DAAD Alumna. She holds a Diploma degree in Architecture from Damascus University and a Master of Science degree in Urban Design from TU-Berlin. Nour has worked as a senior architect in Germany for 6 years working on innovative new approaches and housing projects. Previously she worked at Damascus University as a research and teaching assistant.
Edwar is an architect and urban practitioner specialized in political architecture, urban development, post-conflict recovery, and community empowerment. He is a Chevening FCO Alumnus, he holds a Diploma degree in Architecture from Damascus University and a Master's degree in Urban Design and Development, University College London, UK. Edwar is the program manager of The Communications for Development C4D organization, a global community of professionals working in communication for development C4D, with members in 126 countries. Recently he is leading the delivery of a participatory peacebuilding toolkit in more than ten war-torn countries around the world.
Maram is an urban practitioner with a multi-disciplinary background focused on participatory urban development and stakeholder dialogue in integrated settings. Maram is a DAAD alumna. She holds a Bachelor degree in Architecture from the University of Jordan and a double Master’s degree in Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design from the University of Stuttgart, Germany, and Ain Shams University, Egypt. Maram has been working for the past several years with multiple regional and international organizations, including GIZ and UNRWA, on field-based projects focused on grassroot camps urban improvement, improvement of green infrastructures in host communities, and community-driven planning through co-design and inclusive strategies. She has been regularly assigned key roles in managing participatory platforms between community segments, private sector, technical consultants, non-governmental and governmental bodies, as well as steering components and networks.
With an MA in IR and Global Affairs, Majid has worked at MiCT (Media in Cooperation and Transition) as an editor, SM advisor, and Team coordinator. Later, he worked as a “Project Intern” with IOM - UN Migration assisting in two projects; Resettlement, and Migrant Entrepreneurship. In his latest job, Majid worked at VDSH e.V. as a project coordinator for the project (Networking / Knowledge Transfer for Syrian Civil Society actors in Europe), which aims to foster peer-2-peer learning and cooperation between Syrian CS NGOs and networks in EU and Syria.
Talah is an architect with academic research experience. She holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Damascus and a master’s degree in “Architecture, Landscape, and Archaeology”; an integrated Erasmus+ program jointly offered by the University of Sapienza and Federico II University, Italy; the National Technical University of Athens, Greece; and Coimbra University, Portugal. She has previously worked in architecture and graphic design in Damascus but was mainly driven by cultural heritage and sustainable development. She has conducted and been part of several research projects concerning urban and cultural topics.
Hiba is an urban and humanitarian practitioner. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Sudan University of Science and Technology and a Master’s in International Cooperation in Urban Development from Technical University Darmstadt. Her expertise lies in working with international organizations, particularly in Sudan, where she worked on projects that improve the living conditions of refugees and host communities. Additionally, she has worked in consultancy offices that provide project management and research services in humanitarian contexts within the MENA region.
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SCOPE OF WORK
Syrbanism areas of actions include mainly information; research; policies anaylsis; advocacy support; knowledge sharing & networking; as well as capacity building.
These areas operate in different urban development sectors such as Sustainable Development; Housing Land and Property (HLP); Informality, Participatory Design; Rural/urban Politics; Hiretage; Public space & Placemaking.