European projects

EDUU was a 30-month international project (2017–2019) funded by the European Union under the Europe Aid - Civil Society Organizations - Local Authorities Program in Iraq. It was coordinated by the University of Bologna in collaboration with the University of Turin, the Centro Scavi Torino, the University of Kufa, the University of Baghdad, the University of Al-Qadisiyah, and in association with the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage of Iraq (SBAH) and the Youth Committee of the Italian National Commission for UNESCO.

The project aimed to strengthen the pluralism of Iraqi civil society through an extensive awareness-raising action on the importance of the country’s multicultural past. It involved a range of formative activities, with a particular attention to universities, schools, museums, and local communities.

Training and archaeological research in the Wasit Governorate

Experts from the University of Turin and the Centro Scavi Torino carried out a series of fieldwork activities in the Wasit Governorate, offering specific training for those directly involved in the protection of the cultural heritage (SBAH staff, university teachers and students, and leaders of the rural communities), in order to raise awareness and interest in the communities living near archaeological sites and so increase the protection of the local heritage.

In the first phase, these activities were carried out in the archaeological area of Tulul al-Baqarat and the surrounding region through extensive excavations and surface surveys. To these were added the catalogue and study of the artefacts discovered and the preservation of the mud brick structures in situ. The final step was to analyse and understand the processes of formation of the settlement at Tulul al-Baqarat and its transformations over time, also in relation to environmental and occupational changes in the surrounding region.

In the second phase, fieldwork activities were complemented by courses on various aspects of cultural heritage management held at the Italian-Iraqi Cultural Centre for Archaeology and Restoration in Baghdad and at the University of Turin and Polytechnic of Turin.

Development of museum educational itineraries and promotion of the Iraqi Cultural Heritage among students

The University of Turin and the Centro Scavi Torino also played a role in devising and implementing strategies aimed at supporting the local museums in Iraq in their efforts to enhance and promote their extensive pre-Islamic past as a valuable means of fostering and strengthening a collective sense of identity in the country.

In particular, the Centro Scavi Torino worked on communicating and discussing these topics to the younger generations through the creation of a comic book on the Iraq Museum – part of a trilogy centred on the historical and archaeological heritage – and a short animated film (“The Sound of that Beat”) set in the Sumerian Gallery of the same museum.

The focus on engaging younger audiences led to the set-up of the new educational room of the Iraq Museum, inaugurated in January 2020 and equipped with games, panels, and historical maps designed to capture the attention and stimulate the curiosity of the children visiting the museum.

The BANUU Project - Designing New Pathways for Employability and Entrepreneurship of Iraqi Students in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage - is an international three-year project (2020-2023) funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Capacity Building Key Action 2 in the Field of Higher Education.

The project is coordinated by the University of Bologna in collaboration with several international partners, including the Centro Scavi Torino. It aims to improve the employment level of students in the field of Humanities in Iraq by creating new opportunities of cooperation between universities, the public and private sectors, and developing paths to provide more job opportunities in the fields of preventive archaeology, cultural tourism, and cultural heritage management.

Development of entrepreneurship in the field of cultural heritage management, protection, and enhancement

A group of experts from the Centro Scavi Torino has organised several intensive online courses for scholars and students from the Universities of Baghdad, Kufa, Mosul, and Al-Qadisiyah as part of the BANUU project. The aim is to promote paths for the development of entrepreneurial skills among participants, also through the creation and implementation of start-ups in the field of Iraqi Cultural Heritage management, protection, and enhancement.