The University of Baghdad University hosted the first meeting of the BANUU cultural project with a number of European and Iraqi universities to develop and improve the concepts and technology of antiquities and cultural heritage, thus improving the reality of tourism and archaeological sites in Mesopotamia.
It is noteworthy that the word “Banuu” is originated from the Akkadian language and meaning “construction” and that this project is a continuation of WALADU project which is also an Akkadian word for “birth”. The announcement of the opening ceremony was at the University of Kufa at the onset of 2020 with a full support of the European Union. It included six projects directed towards developing the reality of higher education in Iraq, enhance the experiences of professors and members through the exchange of skills via free intensive courses and missions to European countries.
The university rector, Prof. Dr. Imad Hussein Marza Al-Husseini, stated during his speech that this project will contribute to the framing of the architectural and engineering designs of Iraqi antiquities, stressing that there is an international desire to cooperate with our university and embrace its well-known educational institutions.
In the meanwhile, a number of Iraqi students have been sent to Germany as part of WALADU training program for two consecutive months to develop their scientific and academic abilities, also the Universities of Bologna in Italy, Koç University in Turkey have entered this project along with the universities of Mosul, Qadisiyah and Kufa under the direct supervision of the ministry of higher education and scientific research. The meeting was attended by, His Excellency the minister of culture and antiquities Dr. Abdul Amir al-Hamdani, representatives of the EU and sober international universities, rectors of the universities of Kufa, Qadisiyah and Mosul and representatives of the ministry of higher education.
