International Conference on Safeguarding of Oasis System in the Maghreb

7-9 May 2025, Tunis, Tunisia. As part of the project for the safeguarding of oasis systems in the Maghreb, the UNESCO Regional Office based in Rabat, in collaboration with the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Secretariat, the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH), ALECSO and other partners, is organizing the “International Conference on Safeguarding of Oasis System in the Maghreb”, in Tunis from 7 to 9 May 2025.

This conference will bring together 200 participants, including representatives from the five Maghreb countries, international experts from various regions of the world, representatives from UNESCO and its partners, and participants from the Tozeur Governorate (local officials, civil society representatives, etc.).

The event will include field visits, aiming to present a new approach to the preservation of oasis systems and to compare it with existing knowledge on the subject, not only in the Maghreb or Arab countries but also at a global level.

The conference is designed primarily as a platform for exchange on the issue of oasis system safeguarding in general and particularly in the Maghreb. It also aims to serve as a forum for discussing the relevance of UNESCO’s proposed new approach.

The conference will be followed by the publication of a book that will revisit the themes proposed by UNESCO, highlight the main lessons learnt from the conference, and outline a roadmap to ensure follow-up over the next ten years.

Background

The conference builds on the cooperation between the UfM Secretariat and the UNESCO Regional Office for the Maghreb. With a view to promote knowledge sharing for sustainable construction and urban heritage, the UfM Secretariat alongside UNESCO and UN-Habitat and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) organised the three-day Regional Conference “Challenges and Opportunities for Housing Rehabilitation in Historic Settlements of the Arab Region” (Marrakech, Morocco, 13-15 December 2023). The conference recognised the role of historic Arab Cites and Ksours in urban development and economic and social revitalization, as well as the importance of safeguarding urban heritage through effective and innovative housing solutions. It took stock of the status of housing in historic settlements in the MENA Region, through case studies from different countries, and defined the needed solutions and then proposed operational pilot projects to test these solutions.