NAQSH: Empowering Youth to Revive Cultural Industries

Douroub: Promoting Syrian Intangible Cultural Heritage | Aleppo 2026

Ettijahat - Independent Culture announces the opening of applications for the NAQSH initiative, which aims to empower youth in Aleppo and its rural areas to revive Cultural industries , as part of the Douroub programme framework.

The NAQSH initiative aims to enhance the skills and knowledge of sixteen young people in Aleppo and its rural areas, from various cultural and social backgrounds, in the fields of developing and managing cultural industries projects and their protection.

This initiative focuses on Aleppo city and its rural areas due to its strategic and cultural importance, and the diversity of cultural industries within it. The ethnic, cultural, and social diversity of Aleppo provides a suitable context for testing initiatives that enhance social cohesion and create new forms of cultural expression inspired by people's lives and identities. In this sense, the initiative becomes a tool for exploring work and development at the local level that can be expanded, replicated, and adapted in other Syrian contexts.

This initiative focuses on individual traditional cultural industries and excludes all related to performing arts, music, and digital heritage.

To view frequently asked questions and complete the application form, please click here.

Initiative Objectives

To enhance the skills and knowledge of innovation and creativity for sixteen young people (eight young men and eight young women) residing in Aleppo city and its villages from all cultural and social backgrounds, in the field of designing and managing initiatives in cultural industries and their protection.

To provide cognitive and technical empowerment for the owners of 8 initiatives in different areas in Aleppo, led by youth residing in Aleppo city and its villages from all cultural and social backgrounds, in diverse fields of cultural industries, and to enhance their presence in the local economy, contributing to alleviating the economic and social isolation of at least 1,500 citizens residing in Aleppo.

To contribute to the documentation and protection of 8 local industries in Aleppo, and to enhance their role in strengthening social fabric, providing Syrian communities with opportunities to learn from these experiences.

Context

Aleppo city, with its rich architectural heritage and one of UNESCO's World Heritage sites, experienced violent conflict between 2012 and 2016, followed by a devastating earthquake in 2023. As a result, the eastern part of the city, which includes the Old City, suffered extensive damage, its social fabric was torn apart, and it lost many of its material and human components. Despite these challenges, approximately 500,000 residents still live there. Even with demographic changes extending over fifteen years, city residents continue to seek livelihoods despite the significant decrease in the number of youth and the increase in the proportion of women.

Aleppo city was historically known for its great expertise in trade and craft production, and the city's economic vitality has always centred around its markets, where traditional crafts and handmade products are sold. The destruction of these markets has paralysed the local economy. Aleppo is distinguished by its cultural industries that residents usually learn at an early age, but the displacement and migration of many skilled craftsmen threaten the survival and transmission of these cultural industries, which communities value and wish to pass on to future generations. These industries include: jewelry and accessories, handmade carpets, copper and silver, wooden crafts, food industries and Aleppo soap, Aleppo products, wood works, food preparation and cooking industries, and others.

With the highly sensitive transition path that Syria is experiencing, there is an increasing need to empower youth in their communities and improve their livelihoods, and investment in cultural industries appears to be one of the proposals that can be started from.

Initiative Activities

The initiative begins with a rapid survey of the cultural industries existing in Aleppo and its villages, in cooperation with two researchers in Aleppo and the Syrian Center for Policy Research. This survey aims to provide a clear understanding of the cultural industries landscape and their conditions in Aleppo, and to identify the main players.

In parallel with the survey, an open call for youth to submit proposals to develop small projects in the field of cultural industries in Aleppo is launched. This call targets small and medium-sized initiatives led by youth. These initiatives may already exist or be specially designed for the application.

A specialized committee of three experts in cultural planning and cultural industries studies the submitted proposals and selects 16 young people (two from each initiative). In the selection, cultural diversity and industries will be taken into account, and proposals that are developmental and growth-capable in the current context in Aleppo in terms of size, security and environmental conditions will be chosen.

The selected project owners participate in an intensive five-day training programme, led by two trainers and working on three parallel axes: the first is cultural industries and the importance of their protection and preservation, the second is the basics of small initiatives planning, and the third is an introduction to entrepreneurship skills. The training programme includes case studies of successful projects in Aleppo and field meetings.

Upon completion of the training, project owners revise and develop their proposals, and update six-month action plans reviewed by the two trainers. After that, contracts are signed with project owners, and each initiative owner receives financial support It ranges between two thousand and four thousand euros to implement a first step in the initiative.

In parallel with financial support, a facilitator is contracted to help each project owner develop their initiative according to needs and based on the trainers' recommendations, to ensure its implementation and enhance understanding of the field in which the initiative falls. Ettijahat sets a follow-up framework for each initiative.

With a general invitation to the public, a final day for the initiatives is organised to present them to interested parties working in the fields of heritage protection, youth empowerment, and results support. The results of the cultural industries survey are also shared and made available to interested parties.

Application Mechanism

This call is open to young people residing in Aleppo city and its villages from all cultural and social backgrounds.
Application to this initiative requires submitting a proposal for a small initiative in the fields of cultural industries.
The proposal may be for an existing initiative, or an initiative specially designed for the application.
Two people apply jointly with a proposal for one initiative.
The NAQSH initiative covers the necessary costs for developing the initiatives, including: raw materials, tools and equipment, initial marketing, additional training, and any other necessary items.
Current Ettijahat team members and general assembly members, and first-degree relatives of the team, or any projects involving personal cooperation with the Ettijahat team, are not eligible to apply.
Those currently receiving support from other Ettijahat programmes are not eligible to apply; however, those who closed their grants before the end of 2024 may apply.
An independent and specialised committee of three experts in cultural planning and cultural industriesstudies the applications. The committee remains confidential until the announcement of results.
The committee studies the submitted proposals with the aim of selecting 8 initiatives (16 young people) to support them according to the following criteria:

Quality of the proposal and its developmental potential
The initiative's capacity for growth and sustainability in the current context in Aleppo in terms of size, security and environmental conditions
The extent of the initiative's contribution to documenting and protecting local creative industries
Cultural diversity and diversity in types of cultural industries
Expected impact on the local community and enhancement of social ties
Realism of the proposal in terms of its design and implementation

All applications receive fair evaluation opportunities. Committee members are exempt from studying files that link them to applicants by first-degree kinship, and they will be evaluated by other committee members.
We are interested in knowing your own ideas, so please do not use artificial intelligence tools in writing proposals.

Key Dates

Open questions session via Zoom: 15 February 2026, at 3:00 pm Damascus time
Deadline for open applications: midnight, 28 February 2026, Damascus time
Project review period: first half of March 2026
Announcement of results: Second week of March 2026
Intensive training programme: from 30 march until 3 April
Implementation period for initiatives: May–November 2026
Final day and presentation of initiatives: end of November 2026

For inquiries, please write to: douroub@ettijahat.org

This programme is organised with the support of the British Council's Cultural Protection Fund and the Asfari Foundation, in cooperation with Mashrou BY DEFAULT.