Collaborators

 
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Natasha Aruri
Natasha Aruri is the co-lead of GenUrb’s Ramallah City Research Team. She is an urbanist and researcher, the co-founder and director of UR°BANA, an interdisciplinary research and design studio. Her work focuses on cities of exasperated insecurities, spacio-politics of and resistance to (neo)colonialism, and facing uncertainties through dynamic people-based spatial design strategies. Between 2019-2023, she was a postdoctoral researcher and coordinator at K LAB, TU-Berlin, working on the “Mapping Change” and “Critical Mapping for Municipalist Mobilization” projects for which she fundraised. Formerly she served as consultant in the development sector, as Professor of Urban Planning (Acting Chair) at Dessau Institute of Architecture (2018-2020), and as a visiting lecturer at several universities
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Andreas Brück
Andreas Brück [Dr-Ing, MArch, MSc, DG] is an urbanist and urbanite living and working in Berlin, working as researcher and lecturer at TU-Berlin’s chair of Urban Design & Urban Development (Prof. Million), Institute for Urban & Regional Planning (ISR), and is Managing Director of K-LAB (Kartography, Knowledge Mobilisation, Koordination, and Kommunication), a unit dealing with visualization and communication of the urban. He is co-founder and co-director of UR°BANA, a collective concerned with urban research, design, and action. His main research interests range from the envisioning of urban tomorrows, through methods and tools of urban design (especially its communication aspects), to incremental urbanism and co-design strategies.
 

City Research Team Members

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Mai Al Battat
Mai Al-Battat is a researcher with GenUrb’s Ramallah City Research Team. Mai holds a BA in architectural engineering from Birzeit University, Palestine, and she is currently completing her MA in Integrated Design Research at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Germany. Mai was engaged in programs related to heritage conservation and management, and she served as consultant to the German International Cooperation Agency – GIZ in programs focused on placemaking. She co-organized several exhibitions, and she conducted traineeships at Sakiya Art Academy, the Reiner Lemoine Institute, Visual Intelligence studio, and currently at the German Aerospace Center.
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Wala’ Lmlah
Wala’ Lmlah is currently an undergraduate student in business administration at Al-Quds Open University. In parallel to her studies, she is a part-time researcher with UR°BANA on the GenUrb project. She is a native of Ein Qinya, the neighborhood/village on which the GenUrb City Team at Ramallah is focusing. Further, she is involved in a feminist group in Ein Qinya and was part of a leadership program during her school years. Wala’ is passionate about reading books, especially novels.
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Amal Juma
Amal Juma holds a Bachelors Degree in Economics and Administration from alNajjah University, 1996. She pursued further training at Birzeit University in 1997 where she specialized in the field of journalism, particularly written and radio. Since then she has been working at the Women Affairs Technical Committee (WATC) as Media and Advocacy Officer, and in recent years she has been focusing on the sectors of emancipatory education and economic rights. She has conducted tens of training courses in gender issues and media and worked on several awareness campaigns. She develops communication materials (visual, audio and social media) and monitors the development of all WATC productions (written publications, documentaries, spots, etc.). She presents a weekly radio program titled “Against the Silence” which focuses on issues related to women specifically and the society more broadly. She is a regular contributor to a number of newspapers and electronic media outlets. She also advises and develops media strategies and campaigns for a number of Palestinian civil society organizations.

Implementing Partner

 
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UR°BANA
UR°BANA is about space and place – the four-dimensional environment that encompasses us. Their work is diverse in locations and spheres, hoping to contribute to innovative design perspectives, contemporary solutions, and fresh attitudes. The field of action is within the realms of the “urban” in all its dimensions and scales, while the products and services delivered are hybrids between urban research and analyses (UR) on one side, and experimentation with and realization of physical spaces (BANA) on the other. UR°BANA understands itself as a ‘think-do’ tank where urban research feeds into designing and making – and vice versa. Through questioning, understanding, challenging, debating, negotiating, retrofitting, designing, prototyping, testing, doing; the creative process responds to challenges with ideas and scenarios, going through experimentation, curation, and re-imagination, towards action and co-creation of improved environments, spaces of opportunity, and places of joy.
 

Local Partners

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Sahar Qawasmi
Sahar Qawasmi is the co-founder and director of Sakiya – Art | Science | Agriculture. She worked as an architect, restorer, planner, and cultural heritage expert with Riwaq the Center for Engineering and Planning in Ramallah, and Pyatok Architects Inc. in Oakland, CA. In 2012, Sahar coordinated the first edition of Qalandiya International (contemporary art biennale) and co-wrote the first of Riwaq’s Re-Walk Heritage Guidebook Series. In 2016, she co-curated the Ramallah Municipality exhibition for Qalandiya International III. She was an architecture fellow at Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany in 2014/2015. Her work is concerned with reintegrating traditional knowledge for environmental protection and cultural production. Sahar received her BA in Architecture from Birzeit University and her Master in Architecture from Miami University, OH. She is an Advisor to the Ramallah City Research Team with the GenUrb project.
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Sakiya

Sakiya is a progressive academy for experimental knowledge production and sharing, grafting local agrarian traditions of self-sufficiency with contemporary art and ecological practices. This circular system of knowledge production and sharing integrates agriculture within the framework of an interdisciplinary residency program, where cultural actors, such as farmers and crafts/small industry initiatives, assume a prominent role alongside local and visiting artists and scholars. Sakiya’s core programs engage food production, exhibitions, symposia, publications, and education/training workshops, exploring the intersections between art, science, and agriculture in a sustainable and replicable model.

Sakiya envisions liberation through a society whose confidence is rooted in traditional and contemporary ecological practices, whose tolerance echoes nature’s diversity, whose generosity springs from collective labor, whose creativity is enriched by the intersections between art, science, and agriculture, and whose prosperity is shared beyond boundaries.

Visit Sakiya's website here.

Co-Applicant

 
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Mudar Kassis
Dr. Mudar Kassis is an Associate Professor at Birzeit University who served as chair of the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies, Director of the Institute of Law, and is currently the Director of Muwatin Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, Director of the MA Program in Democracy and Human Rights, Chair of the Research Ethics Committee, and co-Director of the Windsor Birzeit Dignity Initiative. He has multiple engagements with the Palestinian civil, educational, and public sectors, and interests in ‘dignity' and urban space, and conducts research in epistemology, social and political philosophy, democracy, and human rights.
 

Takhayali EQ Exhibition

In September 2022, GenUrb’s Ramallah CRT hosted the Takhayali EQ Exhibition in Ramallah. The program focused on the community of residents in Ein Qiniya, particularly the Narrators and children. It was attended by about 120 adults and what felt like 60 children. A speaker on behalf of the village council confirmed that the proposals by the Narrators will be examined. It was covered by 2 local TV channels and 1 radio. 

We have attached invitations and copies of postcards about re-imaginging Ein Qiniya that were displayed at the event. 

Takhayali EQ Invitation AR

Takhayali EQ invitation (AR)

Takhayali EQ Invitation EN

Takhayali EQ invitation (EN)

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Takhayali Postcards (pdf)

Ein Qinya

Ein Qiniya (EQ) is located at the north-western edge of what today is the official Municipal boundary of Ramallah, and according to the Ministry of Local Government, it is part of the RABMA:  Ramallah, alBireh and Beitunya Metropolitan Area. Archeological remains date EQ back to the Bronze Age (3300-1200 BCE), although it is not clear if it was constantly inhabited. Like most Palestinian settlements, it lies on the slopes of a hill facing a valley. In spite of the rapid expansion of most of the tangent and neighbouring cities, towns, and villages in the last 2 decades, EQ remains quite small due to the fact that 12% of its area is classified as B Areas (under Israeli security control, civil administration by Palestinian Authority) and most of its lands beyond the residential core, 88%, are classified as C Areas (under full Israeli control, much declared as natural reserves banning any activities in it). Further, EQ is a ‘dead-end’ – at its western end its main road is blocked by an Israeli Army watchtower and closed checkpoint (it leads to the Israeli Dolev colony built on the lands of EQ, a mere 1.5 km away, and a bit more to the north the Talmon and Talmon A colonies), and until 2010 its eastern entrance was blocked by another checkpoint that restricted entry to and from Ramallah. Since the removal of barriers separating it from Ramallah a few years ago, the terraces and valley of EQ have turned to the largest informal natural park that residents of Ramallah spend time in on free days.

Most of the lands of the Ein Qiniya are owned by people from Ramallah, either historically or acquired by speculative investors during recent years in anticipation of its annexation to expanding Ramallah (as happened with parts of Surda, to the east of EQ, in 2012) and the ensuing spike in property value. The proximity to Ramallah has influenced life in EQ in many ways, among which an utter dependency in terms of services whether health, education, or groceries among other everyday needs as well as, to a large extent, employment. However, traditional ways of living and family norms are still strong in EQ, and a small number of families remain successful in farming (mostly leased lands) where they rely on agriculture and traditional crafts to earn a living. Noteworthy, agriculture remains common in EQ and surrounding areas due to the availability of natural springs and streams, as the high prices of water and land continue to undermine the viability of agriculture – and therewith food sovereignty – in the West Bank. There are no official statistics regarding waged employment of women in EQ, yet initial research indicates that women are involved in (unpaid) farming activities, are the caretakers of households, and only a few have paid jobs.

The community in Ein Qiniya is composed of the original families of the village that returned after their expulsion in 1917 by the British colonization, and ‘newcomer’ families that relocated to EQ after being forcefully displaced by Zionist militias in 1948 from areas within the Green Line. Local sources say EQ is currently inhabited by around 1,000 persons, while official statistics put the number around 800 persons.

تقع عين قينيا على الحافة الشمالية الغربية لما هو اليوم الحد الرسمي لبلدية رام الله ، ووفقًا لوزارة الحكم المحلي ، فهي جزء من  منطقة رام الله، البيرة، وبيتونيا المتروبوليتية. تعود البقايا الأثرية إلى العصر البرونزي (٣٣٠٠-١٢٠٠ قبل الميلاد)، لكنه ليس من الواضح ما إذا كانت مأهولة باستمرار. مثل معظم المستوطنات الفلسطينية، تقع على سفوح تل مواجه للوادي. على الرغم من التوسع السريع في معظم المدن والبلدات والقرى المماسية والمجاورة في العقدين الماضيين ، لا تزال عين قينيا صغيرة جدًا نظرًا لأن ١٢٪ من مساحتها تصنف على أنها مناطق ب (تحت السيطرة الأمنية الإسرائيلية، الإدارة المدنية من قبل السلطة الفلسطينية) ومعظم أراضيها خارج النواة السكنية، ٨٨٪، تصنف على أنها مناطق ج (تحت السيطرة الإسرائيلية الكاملة، وتُعلن الكثير أنها محميات طبيعية تحظر أي أنشطة فيها). علاوة على ذلك، تعد عين قينيا “طريق مسدود” – في نهايتها الغربية يتم حظر طريقها الرئيسي من قبل برج مراقبة تابع للجيش الإسرائيلي ونقطة تفتيش مغلقة (تؤدي إلى مستعمرة دوليف الإسرائيلية المبنية على أراضي عين قينيا، على بعد ١.٥ كم فقط، و اتجاهاً أكثر قليلاً إلى الشمال مستعمرات تلمون وتلمون أ)، وحتى عام ٢٠١٠ كان مدخلها الشرقي محظور من قبل نقطة تفتيش أخرى قيدت الدخول من وإلى رام الله. منذ إزالة الحواجز التي تفصلها عن رام الله قبل بضع سنوات ، تحولت المدرجات ووادي عين قينيا إلى أكبر حديقة طبيعية غير رسمية يقضي فيها سكان رام الله وقتًا في وقت الفراغ.

معظم أراضي عين قينيا مملوكة من قبل أشخاص من رام الله، إما تاريخياً أو حصل عليها مستثمرون مضاربون خلال السنوات الأخيرة تحسباً لضمها لتوسيع رام الله (كما حدث مع أجزاء من سردا، شرق عين قينيا، في عام ٢٠١٢) وارتفاع لاحق في قيمة العقار. لقد أثّر القرب من رام الله على الحياة في عين قينيا بعدة طرق، من بينها التبعية المطلقة فيما يتعلق بالخدمات سواء الصحة أو التعليم أو محلات البقالة والاحتياجات اليومية الأخرى وكذلك إلى حد كبير العمالة. ومع ذلك، لا تزال الطرق التقليدية للمعيشة والأسرة قوية في عين قينيا، ولا يزال عدد صغير من الأسر ناجحًا في الزراعة (معظمها من الأراضي المؤجرة) حيث يعتمدون على الزراعة والحرف التقليدية لكسب العيش. والجدير بالذكر ان الزراعة لا تزال شائعة في عين قينيا والمناطق المحيطة بها بسبب توفر الينابيع الطبيعية والجداول، حيث أن ارتفاع أسعار المياه والأراضي يواصل تقويض صلاحية الزراعة – وبالتالي السيادة الغذائية – في الضفة الغربية. لا توجد إحصاءات رسمية بشأن العمالة المأجورة للنساء في عين قينيا، لكن الأبحاث الأولية تشير إلى أن النساء يشتركون في أنشطة زراعية (غير مدفوعة الأجر)، وأنهم من يتولون رعاية الأسر، وأن قلة منهم فقط لديهم وظائف مدفوعة الأجر.

يتكون مجتمع عين قينيا من العائلات الأصلية للقرية التي عادت بعد طردهم في عام ١٩١٧ من قبل الاستعمار البريطاني، وعائلات “الوافدين الجدد” التي انتقلت إلى عين قينيا بعد أن نزحتها المليشيات الصهيونية بقوة في عام ١٩٤٨ من مناطق داخل الخط الأخضر. تقول مصادر محلية أن عين قينيا يسكنها الآن حوالي ١٠٠٠ شخص، في حين تشير الإحصاءات الرسمية إلى أن الرقم حوالي ٨٠٠ شخص.