Under the patronage of Prof. Mohamed Diaa Zain El-Abedeen, President of Ain Shams University, Prof. Ghada Farouk, Vice President for Community Service and Environmental Development and Acting Vice President for Graduate Studies and Research, and Prof. Hossam Tantawy, Dean of the Faculty of Archeology, Ain Shams University, selected teams from the Faculties of Archeology, Engineering, Agriculture, and the Faculty of Graduate Studies for Environmental Affairs participated in the work of the 12th World Urban Forum, which is hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt as the first African country to host this important global event that aims to develop a vision for urban expansions and their relationships with their surroundings in order to achieve sustainable development.

Through the UNESCO Regional Office, seven working groups were formed to work on topics to support the management plan for Historic Cairo and its urban expansions, namely: alternative energy applications in Historic Cairo, urban economy and rehabilitation of heritage buildings, development and upgrading of heritage parks in Cairo, documentation techniques for heritage buildings, and socio-economic development of Historic Cairo by linking the surrounding community.

Different working groups from the Faculties of Archaeology, Engineering, Agriculture, and the Graduate School of Environmental Studies participated in these proposals and developed general frameworks for their implementation in cooperation with the UNESCO Regional Office within the framework of the University Forum for Heritage, which began in January 2024.

These proposals will contribute to the management and maintenance report for Historic Cairo, which is submitted annually to UNESCO. These proposals will also be activated and an implementation plan will be developed for them during the coming period.

 The event was attended by Dr. Samar Hamdoun from the Faculty of Archaeology, on the project of linking the surrounding community to heritage, and Mr. Islam Ezzat, assistant lecturer in the Department of Museums and Archaeological Sites Management and coordinator of the UNESCO University Heritage Forum, in addition to graduate students in the Department of Museums and Archaeological Sites Management: Heba Sami, Mahmoud Salama, Ahmed Sakr and Manal Ragab.