The Aleppo Project Digs Deeper into Post-Conflict Reconstruction Issues in Aleppo

CCNR's Aleppo Project is continuing to collect data on examples of post-conflict reconstruction to recommend best practices in preparation for the eventual reconstruction of Aleppo, Syria. The research team, including CCNR Director Robert Templer, CCNR Coordinator Ilona Ilyes, and CCNR Fellow Armenak Tokmajyan, recently traveled to Beirut, Lebanon to interview architects, urban planners and academics on the city's reconstruction strategies, and to meet Syrians living currently in Beirut to discuss the current situation in Syria and possibilities and strategies to plan for the future reconstruction of Aleppo.

The research trip to Lebanon adds a valuable perspective to previous research conducted by the team in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The team will also look at the post-war reconstruction of other cities to see what policy recommendation can be made based on those examples.

Members of the Aleppo Project team also recently spoke with Syria Direct about their preliminary findings based on surveys that were administered to more than 90 current and 1,000 former residents of Aleppo. The team plans to use information they gathered from the surveys to develop recommendations for a post-conflict reconstruction of Aleppo that incorporates ideas from the lived experiences of long-term former and current residents. In this way, the team hopes to include the voice of the refugees in the reconstruction process.