Beirut Hertitage Initiative
Notre Dame Building, 9th floor Independence Avenue Sassine Square Ashrafieh , Beirut Lebanon
Beirut Heritage Initiative (BHI) was launched as an independent and inclusive collective, in favor of restoring the built and cultural heritage of Beirut. BHI was born out of necessity, to bridge a vital gap of funding and coordination. BHI is organized around a team of experts and professionals with complementary skills, such as the Order of Engineers and Architects of Beirut (OEA) and the Beirut Built Heritage Rescue 2020 (BBHR20), and NGOs specialized in cultural heritage. It is based on continuous communication between all of the involved stakeholders, such as the National Heritage Foundation, Arab Center for Architecture, UN Blue Shield, Save Beirut Heritage, Live Love Beirut, Arc-en-Ciel, MARCH, Bebw' Shebbek, Together Li Beirut among many others. As of late August 2020, we organized our efforts and workflow in 3 phases: Emergency propping and sheltering, partial repairs and full reconstruction of heritage buildings affected by the August 4, 2020 blast.BHI started to organically anchor the revitalization efforts by identifying priority clusters to concentrate repairs and restoration works. This is crucial to channel energies and to foster multilateral partnerships, all to maximize the impact of what is being accomplished with scarce resources.