INTERNATIONAL JOINT PROJECTS
Collaboration with International Organizations

CULTNAT, through its International Relations Department, is collaborating in several activities and projects with various esteemed international organizations, such as:

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

CULTNAT is an effective partner in several projects funded by the European Commission, namely:

o Euromed Héritage II Patrimoines partagés: This three-year joint project research program, and to improve the knowledge of the architectural and urban heritage of the 19th and 20th century in the Mediterranean basin.

o Traditional Water Techniques: Cultural Heritage for Sustainable Future (Shaduf): This three-year research project, aims to contribute to the development of a bank of information on traditional and indigenous technologies and to focus attention on the rich and versatile water and wastewater-related heritage in the Mediterranean region.

o Defence Systems in Mediterranean Coasts (SID-LIM): This two-year project, aims to build a website for the distributed databases of the participating countries on their costal defence systems, in addition to restoring an ancient defence-related building in each participating country and creating a museum near that building.

o Strabon: A three-year joint project, aims to offer the Mediterranean world a coherent group of online information systems which are multilingual and multimedia, dealing with the cultural heritage and touristic activities.

o Unimed Cultural Heritage II: This three-year project, aims to improve cooperation in the field of Cultural Heritage preservation, restoration and management by implementing extended cultural heritage databases, a dedicated portal and training courses in relevant fields.

IBM CORPORATION

In collaboration with the Supreme Council of Antiquities and IBM Corporation, CULTNAT is developing and maintaining a premier website", www.eternalegypt.org, which uses the state-of-the-art technologies to illustrate a selection of Egypt's treasures and cultural heritage

UNESCO has been and still is one of the main organizations funding several of CULTNAT activities and projects, such as:

o Strategic Approach to Egypt's Cultural Heritage A study funded by UNESCO and UNDP to study the present situation of Egypt's cultural heritage and suggests a strategic approach for this wealth, covering its documentation and the creation of a National Register and databases, site management, conservation and restoration, education and capacity building, cultural and ecotourism, as well as institutional arrangements.

o The Scientific Islamic Manuscript Heritage
Began in Sept. 2001 with a UNESCO fund, the project is documenting scientific Islamic manuscripts available in various institutions and private collections on the national and regional level.

o Al-Sirah-Al-Hilaliyya (Epic)
In collaboration with The Egyptian Society for Folk Traditions, CULTNAT is documenting Al-Asirah-Al-Hilaliyya Epic, as it is approved to be added to the UNESCO World Masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage.

o CULTNAT Library: The Center Digital library is developed with UNESCO support to be a model of an e-preservation library.