WHV2017 Persian Gardens and Qanats

World Heritage Volunteers 2017 Heritage In Our Hands

PERSIAN GARDENs & PERSIAN QANATs Pahlevan-Pour WHS Garden Hasan-Abad-Moshir WHS Qanat 29th August - 9th September Mehriz-Yazd-IRAN

Organized by Sarvsaan Cultural Heritage Group

In Collaboration with

This Document has been prepared by Sarvsaan Cultural Heritage Organization to give a brief report of the camp World Heritage Volunteer 2017, which has been organized during Summer 2017 at PahlavanPour World Heritage Site (Mehriz, Yazd Province, Iran). The project was part of UNESCO initiated program of WHV and was in close collaboration with Iran Cultural Heritage organisation and local authority.

© 2018 Sarvsaan CHG RIGHTS RESERVED All rights reserved for Sarvsaan Cultural Heritage Group. Any reproduction in other material requires the permission of the organisation. ‫تمامــی حقــوق مــادی و معنــوی ایــن کتابچــه متعلــق بــه گــروه‬ ‫میــراث فرهنگــی سروســان میباشــد و هرگونــه اســتفاده از آن بایــد بــا‬ .‫اخــذ اجــازه صــورت بگیــرد‬

Acknowledgement We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Semsar Yazdi, head of Tamadon Karizi Engineer and Senir Consultant of ICQHS_UNESCO who supported us in this project in all aspect. We also express our sincere thanks to Mr. Samadiani, manager of Pahlevan-pour garden for his every day support and presence. We are grateful to Mr. Riahi Moghadam, deputy of Yazd Cultural Heritage Organization, who provides important guidance during the project. We also want to put on record our appreciation to Mr. Farhad Azizi, head of World Heritage Sites, Mr. Hossein Qafuri, head of ICQHS_UNESCO; Mr. Saadati, Head of Persian Garden Sites; Mrs. Danesh, Head of Yazd Cultural Heritage Organization; Mrs. Sareh Ziaei, head of Education of Iran WH sites; Mr. Senobari, head of Gonabad Qanat WHS; Mrs. Farhadi, head of Fin Garden WHS; and all the members of ICQHS and Yazd ICHO who put trust on our project and supported us in all aspects. We would also express our special gratitude to all NGOs and private sectors who supported us during this project: Barzigardi, Kashan Puppet Museum, Nartitee ecolodge and Semsar Library of Esmat Abad.

Our sincere gratitude to UNESCO WH Center, Better Wolrd Organisation and CCIVS to trust us for the second year to hold the campaign in Iran.

This project could not be successfully implemented without the great effort of our camp leaders and without heartily engagement of the best volunteers!

Index Preface; Nassim Zand Dizari

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Part I An Overview of the WHV 2017; Ameneh Karimian, Narjes Zivdar Agricultural Heritage Conservation; Barzigardi Patrimonito Day with Local Children

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Part II Volunteer Belgium Volunteer Volunteer Volunteer Volunteer

Essay (I); Arnout De Vleeschouwer,

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Essay Essay Essay Essay

18 19 20 21

(II); Arya Haghani, Iran (III); Marilou Lacroix, France (IV); Niousha Khatami, Iran (V); Daniele Plebani, Italy

Part III The Evaluation Parisa Setayesh

of the

Camp WHV2017; Marzieh

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Part IV WHV2017 People

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Preface Nassim Zand Dizari, Sarvsaan Co-founder M anager

and

Project

Who We Are. Sarvsaan Cultural Heritage Organization was founded on 2014, aiming to introduce and promote “participatory cultural heritage conservation” to the Iranian society.

Although participatory activities had occurred before, but they mostly targeted one specific group of community and natural issues. Sarvsaan enhanced the target audience and encouraged young people to take action and cooperate on hand-on activities in the realm of heritage preservation. The Cultural group itself consists of young volunteers who are architects, conservationists and heritage experts.

What World Heritage Volunteer

‫ ݲ‬To raise awareness among young people, volunteers, local communities, and respective authorities regarding the need to protect and promote World Heritage. ‫ ݲ‬Foster cooperation between local youth organisations, communities, site management and authorities. ‫ ݲ‬To get young people involved in World Heritage preservation through concrete projects on sites, allowing them to learn new skills and express ideas. ‫ ݲ‬Identify best practices and develop non-formal education tools to facilitate stakeholders’ participation in World Heritage education. ‫ ݲ‬Provide young people with opportunities to learn basic preservation and conservation techniques.

is.

‫ ݲ‬The World Heritage Volunteers action camps are organised by local youth organisations, NGOs, heritage or education related institutions or other organisations.

In the frameworks of the UNESCO World Heritage Education Programme, the World Heritage Volunteers initiative is led by UNESCO World Heritage Center (WHC) in collaboration with the Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS), European Heritage Volunteers and Better World.

What

the

Role

of

Sarvsaan

at

WHV

is.

World Heritage Volunteers Initiative as one of the most important International participatory programs in the realm of heritage, has been conducted annually by Sarvsaan CHG since 2016.

The first implementation on 2016, held at the World Heritage site of Maymand, a cultural landscape listed on 2015 under the criteria (v). The WHV activity focused on both cultural and natural resources of the context and improved the level of awareness among both local

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stakeholders (eg. one local NGO was founded at the time of the camp to continue the activities), and camp participants. Later on, the outcome of the conducted surveys and interviews with local people had been used in a scientific research. (for further information contact WHV

intangible heritage of the site. The site of the project was the intersection of two WHS of Pahlevan-Pour Garden and Hasan-Abad-Moshir Qanat, respectively listed on 2011 and 2015. The garden is one of the nine gardens listed as The Persian Garden dossier under the criteria (i), (ii),(iii),(iv) and (vi) ; and the Qanat is one of eleven Qanats in The Persian Qanats dossier under the criteria (iii) and (iv).

World Heritage Volunteers 2017.

The implementation of the camp was outstanding in two aspects, first the variety of activities which were conducted during 12 days, and secondly the successful collaboration with noticeable number of local and national partners.

2016 scientific camp leader Marziyeh Setayesh:m.p.setayesh@gmail. com).

The theme of 2017 has been suggested by one of former volunteer at Maymand camp (Ameneh Karimian) who has done several researches on Qanats and historic water systems. The camp was held from 29 August to 9 September at Mehriz town, Yazd province. During 12 days, 14 volunteers (5 international and 9 national) worked on several activities related to both tangible and

Iran Cultural Heritage Organisation

Iran World Heritage Sites Office Fin Garden WHS office

Persian Garden WHS office

Yazd Cultural Heritage Organisation

Gonabad Qanat WHS office

Mehriz Municipality

Pahlevanpour Garden WHS

Mehriz Cultural Heritage Organisation Sarvsaan Cultural Heritage Group WHV 2017

Mehriz Religious Sector Yazd Provincial Office

Following document is consisting of two parts: the first part is a comprehensive report of day-by-day activities and a detailed description of agricultural related activity. Second part is the essays provided by some of volunteers and also the evaluation of the camp which has been derived from the post-camp survey immediately conducted after the camp implementation.

Kashan Puppet Museum Barzigardi NGO

EsmatAbad Public Library

International Center of Qantas and Historic Hydraulic Structure ICQHS_UNESCO Tamaddon Karizi Consulting Engineering

Nartitee Ecolodge

Diagram of Collaboration; the thicknesses demonstrate the level of collaboration at the project.

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An Overview

of the

WHV 2017

Ameneh Karimian, Narjes Zivdar; Camp Leaders

1.

Hassan-Abad Qanat and Pahlavan-Pour Garden

It is said that about 700 years ago, two righteous men named Hassan and Hossein Shah managed to dig a Qanat with 17 side branches at the base of Shirkooh mountain, but none of the branches led to good discharge. So they vowed to donate one fifth of the water to the people in need, if the Qanat happened to bring an acceptable discharge of water. One of these branches hit a wonderful and sustainable source of water resulting in a plentiful discharge with little fluctuation over time. This Qanat is about 50 km long, starting from the mother-well in Mehriz, and ending in Hassan-Abad in Yazd City (ICQHS, 2008: 35, 36). With a discharge between 110 liters/second and 200 liters/ second (based on the season and amount of rainfall) (ICHHTO, 2016: 195), the Qanat crosses several historical gardens, watermills and cisterns. Although, today the watermills and cisterns are out of use.

From its first appearance point to the division spot in Mehriz, Hassan-Abad Qanat runs through various gardens, the owners of which gardens have no share of the Qanat water. Nevertheless, they have planted trees along the water canals (ibid) to provide shadow and prevent evaporation. After passing through houses and gardens in Mehriz, the water finally enters a canal which flows to Yazd. Water runs on ground surface throughout Mehriz city and as a result, it has created a green belt around Mehriz, resulting in a great impact on the quality of its climate (ibid: 198). The water is used for irrigation in the city of Mehriz and in Maryam-Abad and Hasan-Abad areas in the city of Yazd.

A view to Hasan Abad Qanat passing through the Pahlevanpour Garden . Š Ameneh Karimian

Bagh-e Pahlavanpur with an approximate area of 25,000 square meters, was formerly the winter residence of the rich or noble men of Mehriz (ICHHTO, 2011: 256). Located in southeast of Mehriz, it is considered as a combination of a fruit garden and a promenade garden, which reflects both traditional and modern landscape design (ICHHTO, 2011: 272). Dating back to the Qajarid era, the garden was originally comprised of two separate gardens, having two different owners: one garden with a winter house, caretaker’s house,

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5. The 6. The Dehno 7. The

division point (in Mehriz City) appearance point/ the division point (in Village) appearance point (in Yazd City)

As the duration of camp was 12 days, it was decided to focus on four sequences in proximity: the access point, the first appearance point, The Pahlavan-Pour Garden and the first division point.

Pahlevanpour Garden Plan . Š WHV Dossier

tower, and stable, and the other one, which was without any buildings (ibid: 391). This garden is considered as a rural Persian Garden and represents all the major elements of a Persian Garden including the Qanat, the intricate geometrical design, the plants layout (Kart), the palace and the surrounding walls.

One of the main objectives of the event was to present a lucid image of Persian Qanat and Persian Garden to the volunteers. To reach this, a scientific panel on Persian Qanat and Garden was organized in the first day, following a site visit and walk with experts in the following day. The work sessions were defined as concrete actions on Qanat in parallel with the garden for each day.

2.

Qanat Conservation Activities

Based on its function and physical condition, different sequences along the path of Qanat were considered and evaluated. The activities were then defined specifically for each sequence towards an integrated approach and common objective. The sequences are as followed: 1. The 2. The 3. The 4. The

mother well access point appearance point (in Mehriz City) Pahlavan-Pour Garden

Hasan Abad Moshir Qanat Plan. Š WHV Dossier

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The second sequence, the access point, is located out of the city and along Madvar-Gharbal road. People still used to go there to bring potable water, believing that it has a better quality than the tap water. As a part of a WHP, this vast open area was suffering from garbage and wastes. Therefore, a two hour work session was dedicated to clean this zone.

appearance point of Qanat in all the cities in the region.

In the past, as there was no chemical in the detergents this habit was harmless. But today as almost all the detergents consist of chemicals, the water will be polluted and later when it flows to the garden it might damage the products. Considering this fact, the volunteers tried to talk to the community and shed light on the consequences

The Second Sequence: The collected trashes! ©Ali Asghar Samadiani

The fourth Sequence: Volunteers dredging the Qanat basin at Pahlevanpour Garden ©Ameneh Karimian

The third sequence, the first appearance point, is located out of the city, in an environment similar to the access point. Like the former sequences the work began with collecting trash from the environment. Local people go there to collect drinking water. Moreover, it’s common to see people washing their clothes and carpets at the

of this action and how it might affect the products that they might use themselves. Another problem in this spot was that the edge of the Qanat path was destroyed and caused the water to seep into the grounds and go to waste. The volunteers collected stones from the surroundings, made cement mortar and built a masonry wall under the supervision of a local foremen.

The fourth sequence, the Pahlavan-Pour Garden, was the base of all permaculture sessions and some of the Qanat activities. During which the cleaning was took place both on Qanat path and all around the garden.

The volunteers tried to communicate with the tourists and local people to explain them the project and to try to engage them in this activity.

The fifth sequence, the division spot, is located inside Mehriz and needed a massive cleaning job, as well as restoration of the brick walls of the room and the garden behind. This activity took several work sessions and because it was in the city, it attracted more attention and included engaging the help of a number of locals.

The third Sequence: Volunteers reconstucting the edge of Qanat path ©Ali Asghar Samadiani

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of Yazd Cultural Heritage and the Director of Maybod Cultural Landscape Center gave his speech on Cultural Landscapes, Historic Urban Landscapes with a focus on Cultural Landscape of Maybod. Then Dr.Ali Asghar Semsar Yazdi, the UNESCO-ICQHS Senior Advisor talked about the Current Condition of Qanat in Iran and the World. With an emphasis on the significant role of

Since all the sequences lacked a proper description board, a common project was defined for all the seven spots: a bilingual panel was designed to give the essential information about Hassan Abad Qanat and illustrate a general image of the whole Qanat path for the visitors.

3. Raising Awareness Activities

The fifth Sequence: Volunteers and local craftsman restoring the brickwall of the Division Point ©Ameneh Karimian

Expert Day: ¨Dr. Ali Asghar Semsar Yazdi giving speech on the current condition of Qanats ©Mohammad Hassan Zivdar

In order to develop a process to raise social awareness among the people and the participants, some activities had been arranged and implemented during the 2017 WHV Camp including: expert talks, interactions with children and local people, intangible heritage related activities, patrimonito sessions, informal talks, heritage site visits and formal talk sessions at the end of the Camp. A brief description of some of these activities are outlines below.

indigenous knowledge in developing qanats over many centuries in Iran, he encouraged the volunteers to get involved in preservation activities of Qanats. Dr.Rasoul Senobary, the Director of Gonabad Qanat Base and Ms.Somayah Farhadi, the Director of Fin Persian Garden Base were also in the panel. They both gave a brief speech about theses World Heritage listed properties.

In closing, the members of Sarvsan Cultural Heritage Group, Nassim Zand and Parisa Setayesh shared the previous camp experiences on the Cultural Landscape of Maymand with the audience and volunteers. The challenges and objectives of the WHV 2017 Camp had been also mentioned at the end of the panel discussion.

3.1. Expert Talk A scientific panel on Persian Qanat and Persian Garden was organized on the first day. The panel discussion was held in the International Center on Qanats and Historic Hydraulic Structures (ICQHS) in Yazd on the first day of the camp. First, Dr.Sasha Riahi, the Deputy

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how to use special natural materials as well as weaving technics and helped the volunteers in weaving their own baskets. At the end of the session every volunteer brought their own basket to his/her own home as a souvenir.

3.2. Intangible Heritage An evening was spent with a Zoroastrian Yazdi couple from Nartitee Ecolodge, to learn more about their culture and traditions. Volunteers cooked traditional sweet bread with the help of the couple. The Zoroastrians explained different customs, traditions and their beliefs to participants. They also tried to show them some special objects such as their cloths to give a better taste of Zoroastrian culture to volunteers.

Another evening was spent to learn to weave basket with the help of a local master. He thought the volunteers

Local Master teaching how to weave basket. ©Ameneh Karimian

Volunteers joined a Zoorkhaneh ceremony which is inscribed in UNESCO list as ‘Pahlevani and zoorkhaneh rituals’, and got informed on how it fuses elements of pre-Islamic Persian culture (particularly Zoroastrianism, Mithraism and Gnosticism) with the spirituality of Shia Islam and Sufism.

These sessions were held to learn more about the local intangible cultural heritages.

3.3. Patrimonito Session Each night patrimonito sessions were held. These sessions aimed to improve volunteer’s knowledge on World Heritage idea and the related implementations.

Each volunteer was obliged to prepare a presentation about world heritage sites of his/her country/city to introduce to the group. It also helped to promote intercultural exchanges among volunteers. We had patrimonito sessions on different topics including different cultures,

Tina, wearing traditional Zoroastrian clothes and teaching how to cook Sirok (traditional Zoroastrian bread). ©Marzieh Setayesh

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Abad Qanat for over 10 days, the volunteers also visited heritage sites related to qanats such as the mother well, water mill and Yazd Water Museum as well as other heritage sites in Mehriz and Yazd during the camp. A half Day excursion to the Sar-Yazd national Heritage site, half day excursion to the Mehriz garden site and two small two hour site visits to Khoormiz Castle, the ancient Cyprus tree and Zoorkhaneh (traditional Sport complex) took place. In a one day excursion to historical city of Yazd which recently had been inscribed as a World Heritage Site, volunteers had also visited several heritage sites and heritage buildings such as: Amir Chakhmaq Complex, Grand Mosque of Yazd, Dowlat-Abad Persian Garden (World Heritage Site) as well as Yazd’s Sabaats and Badgirs all over the city.

architecture and heritage all over the country such as Shiraz and Gorgan. International volunteers shared the culture of their countries including Italia, France and Belgium. The experience of sharing details and stories about every ones hometown with others brought out how the heritage of different nations and different culture belongs to each other.

3.5. Informal Talks In every one of the qanat sequences, activities and informal talks with local people caused increasing awareness for both volunteers and local people: 1st Seq: In the first sequence, the volunteers gathered around the mother well while the site managers and local people had been telling them stories and traditions related to hardships and difficulties of digging qanats and their maintenance in the past which informed the volunteers’ through informal story telling.

Guillaume and Marilou giving speech on France Cultural Heritage ©Marzieh Setayesh

3.4. Heritage Site Visits In addition to have the opportunity of living in the heritage site of Pahlevan-Pour Garden and Hassan

2nd Seq: In the access point where volunteers conducted environmental cleaning, informal talks made many local people and children to participate in cleaning the qanat course.

3rd Seq: In the appearance, volunteers tried to talk with local people in order to inform them about the consequence of washing the cloths and dishes in the qanat appearance. They also got involved in restorative and cleaning activities.

4th Seq: Before the Camp, no permanent gardener was in charge of maintaining Pahlavan-Pour garden.

After informing the site manager through the permaculture

Site Visit: SarYazd Castle. ©Fereshteh Sabetian

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4.

activities in the garden and informal talks, they employed a gardening team to maintain the trees, plants and the agricultural systems permanently. In this sequence the children and local families had been informed by the volunteers and camp participants through friendly talks.

2017 WHV Camp Results

As the results of 12 days of voluntary work in Mehriz in the framework of 2017 World Heritage Volunteers Camp, some achievements including short term and long term outcomes can be mentioned as:

5th Seq: For the division point was a public space, the restorative and cleaning activities in this area attracted more attention and led to engaging the help of some locals.

- Increasing social awareness in the local and international level about the importance of Qanat, as an exceptional hydraulic system in arid regions of Iran as

Volunteers and local people discussing about Qanat from two perspective: what is the role in local life, why is it necessary to conserve it. ŠAli Asghar Samadani

In general, conservation activities and informal talks with local community had led to a mutual connection between volunteers and Mehriz residents.

3.5. Formal Talks In the closing ceremony several experts and local officers were asked to attend a wrap up meeting. The objective of the formal talk at the end of the camp was indeed to share experiences and results of the WHV 2017 Camp as well as developing a process for future improvement. By Gathering all sectors including NGOs, local stakeholders, local farmers, multicultural and international participants, academia, experts and the government we tried to conduct participatory discussions about the contemporary issues related to Persian Garden and Persian Qanat.

Final Presentation of the camp: a meeting with Yazd Cultural Heritage manager, Mehriz municipality and ICQHS head and senior consultant and WHS site manager. ŠMarzieh Setayesh

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well as its communal management system from past to present through the interactive activities.

- Gathering of several sectors including NGOs, local stakeholders, local farmers, young people, multicultural and international participants, children, academia, experts and the government to conduct participatory problem solving about the contemporary issues related to Persian Garden and Persian Qanat.

- Increasing local awareness by Informing farmers about the Med Fly, and how to control them to save the pomegranate trees through the informational brochure prepared as a result of Barzigardi survey.

in charge of maintaining Pahlavan-Pour garden.

After informing the site manager through the farming activities in the garden, they employed a gardening team to maintain the trees, plants and the agricultural systems permanently.

Furthermore, the long term impact of the 2017 WHV Camp is indeed to build a way forward to continue the preservation of Qanats in Iran as well as increasing local and international awareness to this globally important agricultural heritage system in the form of a chain of WHV Camps in the world heritage sites of Persian Gardens and Qanats all over the country.

- Conducting participatory conservation activities addressing both tangible and intangible aspects of heritage preservation, from physical rehabilitation of heritage buildings to enlivening the collective memory through the traditional rituals.

And one of the most notable outcomes: - Before the Camp, no permanent gardener was References: ICQHS, UNESCO (2008) Qanat Nomination as World Heritage, Final Report, ICQHS, UNESCO, 24 December, 2008 ICHHTO (2015) The Persian Qanat: for Inscription on the World Heritage List (Executive Summary), UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved from http://whc.unesco.org/ uploads/nominations/1506.pdf ICHHTO (2011) The Persian Garden, Nomination file, UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved from http://whc. unesco.org/uploads/nominations/1372.pdf Pahlevanpour Garden Photo Archive Final Day: Volunteers and local authority in one frame

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a reliable source of water to traditional family farmers in mostly dry areas, where farming would have been impossible otherwise. Therefore we come up with the idea of Promoting Permaculture by developing EcoFarmTourism in our Country.

Agricultural Heritage Conservation Ryhanna Tizmaghz, Ali Khaleghi; Barzigardi NGO

1.1. Barzigardi Workshops during the Camp

1.

Due to approach one of our goal in the 1st phase of the project, which is Researching & Adjusting Iran Traditional Farming and Agriculture Methods, we find the volunteer workshop, (which is held in one of the oldest region of irrigation technology for cultivation), a very good opportunity. It also help us to work in a community based environment and sharing ideas. Prior than that, we can learn from locals, whom have the most efficient knowledge and are the best expert to use lands in a sustainable way.

About Barzigardi project

Today in Iran like so many other countries the number of people who are able to provide their own nourishments and food ingredients is very small. Following the expansion of urban spaces, industrial life and capitalism, city residents in their modern life style, don’t really think about processes of food production. Among this crowded city life, there is some people who started to think a little deeper, and maybe out of curiosity they have started to travel and explore more and more and seeking for the reason of this distance between their life and the real life. EcoFarmTourism likely is one of the best solution to discover this aspect of life for modern societies. Unfortunately in Iran, which is located in Fertile Crescent, EcoFarmTourism hasn`t been promoted and developed yet. Traditional skills and methods of farming and agriculture in Iran are really vast and different and some of them are rare Permaculture (sustainable agriculture) methods. Therefore they can included as tangible and intangible farming and agriculture heritages of our land.

1.2. Camp Days-Gardening Workshops by Barzigardi Team Day 01: After several days of research in local gardens and Pahlavanpour orchard in Mehriz and communication with gardeners, Barzigardi team has found out due to the recent invasion of Mediterranean Fruit Fly pest, there is no motivation for gardeners to take care of their fruit trees or even spend some times in their gardens.

Qanat Irrigation system in Iran is one of the best example of the most incredible water engineering by our ancestor which is barely but still using in desert area of Iran. Recently FAO announced it as one of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). The Qanat Irrigation technology and related knowledge system in Iran date back to at least 800 BC .Yazd and Kashan regions has one of the oldest Persian agriculture systems irrigated by Qanats. The Qanat system has sustained food security and livelihoods by providing

Day01: Open talk with local gardeners. ŠBarzigardi

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The main product of Mehriz gardens is pomegranate, and the pest attacks are completely destroying all the fruits on the trees step by step.

After further communication and an open talk session with local gardeners and a pest expert, we have realized the depth of gardener`s problem and the situation they're facing. Therefore with volunteers and locals cooperation, we wrote down every details which have mentioned

Day 01: Volunteers wrapped up the points, problems and suggestions in a “past, now, future” format ©Barzigardi

Day 03: The orchard spot we have chosen as the pilot site for controlling Medfly, was right behind the west clay wall of Pahlavanpour Garden. The spot has a fair distance from other trees in the garden to make it as hard as it can be for the pests to fly over these trees.

The main work of the day was to scan all pomegranates on the trees to collect the spoiled fruits and at the same time to check the healthy ones. The spoiled ones

Day 02:Volunteers collecting spoiled pomegranates. ©Mohammad Hassan Zivdar

by locals about the history of gardening in the area, conditions and problems in gardens in the present and what we can do for the future to help us through a better understanding for next sessions.

Day 02: After the open talk with local gardeners, Barzigardi team has searched and communicated with permaculturist about more solutions for Biological Med Fly Control in the world and added them to the local solutions. Therefore, for the first step, with great contribution of volunteers, we collected all the spoiled pomegranates on the ground under trees. And then Pahlavanpour's gardener has suggested to burn them all out side. In the end we have chosen a pilot spot in the garden to continue our works in the next few days.

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Day 02: Volunteers collecting spoiled pomegranates. ©Ameneh Karimian

were recognized by fruit physical shape and color or by the female sting spot, and they have been collected to boil as Cattle Food. And stamens inside the calyx of the healthy ones was removed by a tiny stick to protect them from pomegranate Carob Moth pest and sometimes even Medfly. (Based on local gardeners knowledges and experiences) This step for the Biological Control of Medfly is needed a great human resources to be done, therefore volunteering as a Barzigard/Ecofarmtourist can be very useful and consider as a motivation for local gardeners.

Day 04 and 05: We've collected all the Water Bottles during camp days to make them into the traps. We have chosen two Homemade Solutions which were quiet easier to find their ingredients in Mehriz to fill up the bottles.

The solutions are made from sugar, dry brewer yeast, non-alcoholic beer, vanilla essence, household ammonia and water all in a specified ratio.

Day 04: Volunteers putting holes on the bottles and coloring the entrance into the yellow. @Barzigardi

In the next step we've made some small holes on the top of each bottles and then we designed the entrance with yellow color to welcome the medflies. (Due to researches they`ve been attracted to this color) We hung the traps on the Pomegranate Trees of the spot and after only one day, so many medflies have been fooled to be trapped.

Day 06: Last day in the pomegranate orchard of Pahlavanpour Garden we've made Bugs Hotel to attract beneficial insects to control pests. We`ve used wooden boxes, old tables, clay pipes and whatever we found in and around the garden to make the buildings of the hotels. Then we equipped them with dried leafs, wood chips and brunches, hay, plane tree fruits, bricks, broken potteries, pipes, cardboards and etc. . We placed them in different spot among trees to welcome the beneficial insects like spiders, bees, wasps and ‌ into the orchard to have medflies and other pests as their meals.

Day 05: Volunteers making Homemade Solutions to fill up the bottles.

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Three types of affected pomogarnates in the garden; yellow one: The small hole shows the medfly already attacked the fruit; below: half spoiled by medfly; up right: totally spoiled ŠBarzigardi

Day 06: volunteers preparing the Bugs Hotel ŠAmeneh Karimian

1.3. Conclusion After six days of working in the garden we've marked the pilot site with a recycled piece of wood. All steps with details has been typed down for the Pahlavanpour garden manager as a pilot project to take care of pomegranate trees of garden in a biological way. Plus some sustainable gardening tips has been wrote down for him. Also “The Medfly Biological Control� brochure in Farsi language has been made for locals.

During the camp days, we have tried to communicate with locals as much as possible. We've tried to consider local gardeners experience and point of view in the gardening works. In the last day of camp we also gave a report to Mehriz City Governor and Yazd Cultural Heritage manager to show them the importance of local`s

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participation in their own city future.

Barzigardi/EcoFarmTourism can be a solution for local gardeners to motivate them taking care of their own garden. It can supply volunteers for them as human resources and also it will provide additional income if they featured their garden for tourists. Our domestic fruits are our gardening tangible heritage and local knowledge of gardening and agriculture is an intangible heritage of our country to respect and conserve for the next generation. surrounding wall was another program. During this session volunteers learned how to make the plaster and use it in the damaged area under the supervision of local foremen.

Patrimonito Day with Local Children PATRIMONITO is an initiation of WHC UNESCO to address the importance of children and teenagers education on WHSs and community role on preserve cultural context and its embodiments, such as tangible and intangible cultural heritage. in response to this initiative, like WHV 2016 Maymand, one entire day was dedicated to children and teenager related activities. Kashan Puppet Museum members joined the camp from the first day to

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get to know about the site. Several dynamic, interactive and pedagogical activities had been designed to increase the children knowledge on the cultural heritage issues.

Music, puppet show (Khaymeh Shab Bazi), producing traditional toys from natural materials in the garden (VijVijak and Boat), and traditional games (Alak Dolak) were conducted to increase children knowledge about Qanat and Garden and the necessity of preservation.

Teenagers and children who participated were informed and transferred in collaboration with Semsar Library at Esmat Abad Village.

Puppet show narrating Qanat story ©Nader Rezaeian

Up: Playing Alak Dolak; Below: Children and Puppet Museum performing a song which

Up: A local child playing with his own made VejVejeh;

has been composed by Amir Sohrabi during the camp. ©Nader Rezaeian

Below: Children and volunteers producing boat toy to release in Qanat. ©Nader Rezaeian

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Volunteer Essay (I) Arnout De Vleeschouwer; Belgian Volunteer

My name is Arnout De Vleeschouwer and I’ve graduated as a Master student in Classical History at the University of Ghent, in Belgium. I always knew that I wanted to study something else after I graduated, but I decided to take some time off and do something different before I’d start a new course of study. After four years of university and writing a thesis, I wanted to take a break from studying for a while. That’s why I decided to join a volunteering project. This decision was pretty easily made, because volunteering abroad is an ideal opportunity to try something completely different. It offers the possibility of gaining work experience, while simultaneously being immersed in the local culture and meeting new people. It’s experiencing a country in a way that a travel agency can never offer.

I chose a volunteering project from the World Heritage Volunteers- program, supervised by UNESCO. This was also an easy decision: I’ve been a history student for the last four years, but a history enthusiast for most of my life, so I cherish any remembrance of the past, be it a monument, artefact or tradition. This is why I believe that protecting and preserving cultural and historical heritage for future generations is one of the most important responsibilities we have, especially in these times, where destroying the past of a people is being used as a weapon with devastating results. Thus it’s no wonder that I think very highly of worldwide organisations like UNESCO, or local organisations like SarvSaan, who dedicate their resources on doing exactly that, preserving and protecting cultural heritage.

So why Iran? In Belgium, just like any Western European country, the emphasis in classical history is on the great civilizations of the West, being mostly the Greeks and the Romans. We learn that they were the

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foundation of our modern society, and in a way, the foundation of civilization itself. This statement however, severely underestimates the importance and influence of the eastern empires of Mesopotamia and Iran, most notably the Persian empire. This has left me with the desire to visit Iran, the heartland of many civilizations with an importance equal to those of the West, and of which I sadly know so little. The qanats are a perfect example of the impressive accomplishments of the Persian empire, some of them being thousands of years old and still in use by the people of present-day Iran. This led me to believe that the UNESCO WHV-project on the preservation of the Persian Qanats and Gardens, organised by SarvSaan, would be an ideal experience for me.

Arnout preparing Medfly trap. ©Ryhanna Tizmaghz

Looking back on the project I can only say that I made the right choice. I was part of a group of about fifteen people, of which the vast majority was Iranian and some of the most pleasant people I’ve ever met. I’ve mentioned above that I believe that volunteering is the ideal way to learn about the local culture of a country, while working shoulder to shoulder with local people.

That’s what I was looking for, and I was delighted when the other Iranian participants, the local community and the organisation were more than happy to share their stories and traditions with me.

The working sessions included clearing sites of litter, repairing sections of the Qanats that needed it the most, looking for ways to protect the gardens against invasive species of insects as well as holding a campaign to raise public awareness about the preservation of the Qanats and gardens. The work was intensive, but the SarvSaan organisation made sure that the daily working sessions were diverse enough to keep it interesting. To conclude, I found the camp a rewarding experience, because I was able to visit some beautiful places and talk to amazing people, while still having the feeling that I was doing something useful, that I was offering something back to the local community. And that’s why I would recommend this camp to anyone who is looking for a similar experience.

Volunteer Essay (II)

Arya Haghani, Iranian Volunteer

For me, this voluntary program was a unique and novel experience which I feel proud of having participated in it. Every member of this camp just felt it deep in their heart and they just felt obligated to do whatever task they were doing in the best possible way. This was an important result of the camp and one which we would find effective in future careers and daily lives. This is one of the results of this program and it’s really effective for their future career and daily life activities. Working with participants from different regions of the country and foreigners was just another aspect of this voluntary program which was quite a good way of encouraging people and nations to communicate with each other and getting familiar with the other nations and local people’s cultures and traditions. The Patrimonito sessions held at this camp for some nights was one of those interesting extracurricular activities and was really fun as as an opportunity to learn interesting facts from different nations which you might not have encountered through Internet surfing.

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Persian gardens like Pahlavan-Pour garden,in which we were staying during the camp, aren’t just like an ordinary garden and they are like a mixture of different aspects relating with climate and weather conditions of the area, cultural background of local people and the country and also the purpose of providing a calm and suitable place for local families and children to spend their weekends with each other. Dating back to Qajar era in the 19th century, the garden which was once in possession of a prominent local businessman named Ali Pahlavan-pour is an epitome of world-famous UNESCO-registered Persian Gardens where the mixture of natural and manmade elements leading to an awesome artistic achievement reflecting religious and symbolic components to materialize the concept of Eden or paradise on earth. There is also a Pavilion located in the middle of this garden with water flowing in the middle of it and ventilators which will make the air pleasant for visitors. Also tall Plane trees on both sides of the paths which the Hassan Abad e Moshir Qanat passes through, will provide shadows and a very delightful context that you wouldn’t like to miss it at all.

The activities which the participants did during the program involved different sections. One of these activities was related to Qanat and the division building

Arya and another volunteer covering the Garden Sourranding Wall with a new clay layer. ©Nader Rezaeian

which was built in its path. The participants had a tour visit of the observation wells and mother well in the Qanat’s path which informed the participants about the mechanism of Qanat by observing them. After that they visited the descripted division building which the Qanat was divided to two passages and there was a rule which was accepted by the whole local community many years ago and they made an agreement for that based on some religious roots. Rehabilitation of this division building was a marvelous task which was well done by the camp participants and they conserved it and rehabilitated it with the original materials that it was first built with.

The second kind of activities that the participants were obligated to do was the gardening works.

At the beginning, there was a session where the local farmers were discussing their problems about pests and financial issues and told a little about the history of agriculture in that region and the climate conditions which had changed a lot in the recent years and the climate change had brought many problems for them.

After this session, the camp participants just discussed about the possible biologic solutions for helping the local farmers have sustainable and productive agriculture in their farms. Then under the supervision of Barzigardi group, a group which is trying to inform and educate local farmers and other people about sustainable and permanent agriculture by using biologic and eco-friendly methods, the participants tried to eradicate the med fly pests from pomegranate trees that this was the principal product in Mehriz and local people and economy were just becoming weaker and weaker and maybe it’ll cause future migrations from these villages to urban areas and damaging the cultural and demographic distribution. The solution offered by the group was a biological method for fighting with these pests after lots of research, consults and experiments done by other or local farmers in that area. According to the follow ups by Barzigardi group, the observations are showing a positive effect for this method and it’s becoming efficient. The morale of the camp participants for helping local farmers and saving these trees, was just unexpected and amazing and they did lots of teamwork activities which I think is just

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appreciable.

In conclusion, what I can say about this camp, is nothing except the best camp that I have ever participated to. The camp leaders were just so kind, industrious and had a great attitude with other participants and managed everything just as planned. The participants which were selected for this camp, had the same characteristics and were so friendly with others and they had a very flexible manner and I think that they enjoyed every moment of this camp as well as I did. I’ll highly recommend other enthusiasts and followers, to attend this kind of voluntary programs as it’s just a novel experience for them during their whole life and they wouldn’t like to miss it at all.

Volunteer Essay (III)

Marilou Lacroix, French Volunteer

As one of the four international volunteers in the UNESCO World Heritage project in Mehriz, I can say that this experience definitely made me discover a whole new culture. Living and working among Iranians for ten days allowed a complete immersion in the culture and in the country, which I would not have had the chance to experience without this project. I am very happy that I took part to this adventure that made me discover Iran, its cultural heritage, its food and, last but not least, its wonderful people. Moreover, I feel very lucky that I had the opportunity to stay in a Persian Garden, a beautiful place at the heart of nature.

Concerning the project in itself, it allowed me to learn more about Iran’s qanats, agriculture and political situation. I truly felt affected by all that is at stake today around the system of qanats in Iran, and I feel like it is a responsibility of mine to transmit all the knowledge and experience I got thanks to this project now that I am back home. I believe that as long as people are aware and informed about this cultural heritage, it will be kept

safe and preserved. Also, I hope that sharing my Iranian experience at home will help taking down the stereotypes that European people can sometimes have towards this country.

For other projects in the future, I would advise trying to involve the authorities and local people more in the project. I am aware that it can be a long and

about the culture and living conditions in Iran before arriving – especially for girls. Everything will go smoothly as long as you are prepared to what’s waiting for you in Iran. Among all my trips around the globe, I never experienced such a cultural shock as in Iran. But that is definitely all the beauty of it!

Finally, I would like to thank Sarv Saan for offering me this great opportunity to discover Iran in a way that I would never had otherwise. I hope I will be back soon for a whole new project, or at least to visit the amazing people I met during this adventure!

Volunteer Essay (IV)

Niusha Khatami, Iranian Volunteer

Marilou learning how to weave basket. ©Marzieh Setayesh

difficult approach, but I think it is really necessary to get support from them so that the project doesn’t stop after the volunteers leave. If these people, who are the first concerned by the work done on the project, are persuaded to commit to this project, then the volunteer work can have a real impact. On the contrary, if they don’t keep up the work after the volunteers leave, the problems we have tried to tackle for ten days still won’t be solved. To my mind, this volunteering was just a punctual action that aimed at launching a longer process based on a certain civic engagement from the authorities and the locals. I sincerely hope we managed to affect some people about what is at stake for Iranian qanats today, so that the work we did will not be for nothing.

If I could give a piece of advice to potential future international volunteers, I would recommend inquiring

I divide the camp into three parts. The first was the place that we settled, The Pahlavan-pour garden.

Second one, was the work sessions, working on Qanat and Garden and generally the written schedule and the third part was something hidden and unwritten but was as important as the duties which I want to name it, the spirit of the camp!

Pahlavan-pour garden reminds me of a lecture.

Mohammad Beheshti’s lecture in Kashan university about “Where is Kashan?”. One topic was about the how difference of climates affect people and what people do in each climate to reach comfort in living. He mentioned that there are some dilemmas in every place and Solving them leads to a historical experience and the result is the knowledge that is called culture. Therefore, different environments result in different cultures.

Another topic in the lecture explained why people chose arid climates to live in as it looks to have no natural resources. It was a comparison between two types of lands; dry lands like most parts of Iran and fertile lands like Europe. In one of them natural resources

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and obstacles are potential and in the other one is de facto. In fertile lands human’s duty is to grab the visible sources and use them and control the obstacles, while dry lands seem to have deficiency in resources but in fact they are only hidden and people have to find it (qanat is a good example of how people of arid climates reached

cleaning which took longer than we expected.

And the last but not the least was the invisible part which I think was like a power source to us. The interactions we had during the leisure times or while working and generally the atmosphere was empowering. In routine life people barely think of anything else but their daily work; but in the camp there were people with valuable thoughts about everything that obviously these thoughts come from great minds.

I noticed that there was almost no selfishness among the members and everyone was trying to adapt themselves to every situation. In fact, everyone could easily ignore their convenience in order not to cause any discomfort for others. Generosity and forgiveness, were the characteristics that could easily be seen and it made that spirit so special. Honestly, I never thought that people with this personality even existed! The camp made me evolve in many aspects and the unique experiences I had made a difference in my way of thinking. It raised me up!

Niusha,Introducing herself to local teenagers. ©Nader Rezaeian

water) and have to approach the land gradually and uncover the jewel hidden in it. There are some examples such as Fin garden, Shazdeh Mahan garden and to me, pahlavan-pour garden was one of these jewels too since it’s a garden in the middle of a dry city.

About the second part, work sessions, were really exciting. The skills we learned through the period were unique, as they are not the type of tasks that people deal with everyday. I mean, some of them can be seen but not felt; the amount of its difficulty is not understood until people try to do it themselves. Once the process is done by people, it will be appreciated. The tasks such as mixing the mortar of clay and straw and covering the walls with it, or mixing the cement and gravel, collecting stones and making a small wall. I had no idea about how much mortar we needed, how many stones should be collected, and how long will it take to build the wall or cover the wall. When I participated, then I knew how hard it was. It was the same for basket weaving and pool

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Volunteer Essay (V) Daniele

plebani, Italian

Volunteer

The UNESCO Heritage Volunteer program is a remarkable initiative by itself, and the way I saw it implemented in Iran confirmed the expectations I had. I wanted to help people to get in touch with their heritage and at the same time discover it by myself. At the end of the camp we asked ourselves, “Were we able to make an impact during our stay?”

To answer this question you can check videos and pictures taken during those weeks: that way it is possible to catch a glimpse of the answer, but I think that it is important also to tell how local people reacted. The gratitude in the faces of the farmers when we exchanged opinions about some problems, the smiles of the kids

when we helped them to build some small boats and put them on the Qanat’s water, the pride of the man training in Zourkhaneh, the people who get out of their cars when

Daniele (left person), helping other volunteers to clean up the Historic Hammam of the Garden. ©Ameneh Karimian

we were trashpicking and shaked hands with us and thank us: all those are precious memories that can tell you what we have accomlished. However, the moment I care the most regards an old man who used to watch us as we were repairing the urban section of the Qanat. It was a hot day and he has been standing for some time.

I offered him some water and asked if he was satisfied with our work. He smiled and replied: “God bless you!”.

In the end I can say that I have achieved my goals and came back home with new awareness and experiences.

A suggestion for future volunteers: you will get the most out of this experience when you’ll feel that the walls you are repairing, the songs that you are hearing are World Heritages. When this happens you will realize that such heritages belong to humankind – and thus, to you.

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Inquiry 1-3 regarding General Management and leadership with inquiries like the quality of Ca preparation, Group Dynamics, communication and conflicts, camp leading and time manageme

Marzieh Parisa Setayesh, Camp Leader

The evaluation forms were structured in two sets of inquiries, one concerning the expectations and preparation and the other concerning how the camp helped in knowledge improvement for the volunteers.

1.

4/5

Average grade of activity

The Evaluation of the Camp WHV2017

Inquiry 4-8 regarding Camp objective inquiries, regarding the work progress of the activities p

the camp and received engagement ofalocals and authorities. inquiries score of (4.5) on a 1-5 scale.

Other rewarding activities according to the evaluations Inquiry 4-8 regarding Recreational activities including quality of food and accommodation, exc and free work time. processes of both restoration and rehabiliwere The volunteers graded these on a 1-5 scale.

In the firstactivities category concerning tation activities andinquiries agricultural heritage and general m and leadership was average gradedwhich (4) or high.

The 2nd category concerning camp objective excursions andon site visits received scores of (4.3), graded (3.54) on average and the 3rd category concerning quality of accommodation and past ti (4.4) and (4.0) respectively.

As it could be observed graded 4.15) on average. during the camp, the garden was an amazing location

Expectations and Preparations

2/7

ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD

EXCURSIONS AND FREE TIMES

WORK PROCESS: WEAVING BASKET

AUTHORITY ENGAGEMENT

LOCAL PEOPLE ENGAGEMENT (YAZD AND MEHRIZ PEOPLE)

The evaluation results indicate that the volunteers were happiest with accommodation, food, group dynamic and communication during the camp. On average these

WORK PROCESS: AGRICULTURAL HERITAGE AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

The volunteers graded these inquiries on a 1-5 scale.

In the first category concerning general management and leadership was on average graded (4) or high. The 2nd category concerning camp objectives was graded (3.54) on average and the 3rd category concerning quality of accommodation and past times was graded 4.15) on average.

4/0

3/7

WORK PROCESS: RESTORATION AND REHABILITATION WORKS

Inquiry 4-8 regarding Recreational activities including quality of food and accommodation, excursions and free time.

CAMP LEADING AND TIME MANAGEMENTS

Inquiry 4-8 regarding Camp objective inquiries, regarding the work progress of the activities planned in the camp and engagement of locals and authorities.

3/7

GROUP DYNAMICS, COMMUNICATIONS, CONFLICTS

Inquiry 1-3 regarding General Management and leadership with inquiries like the quality of Camp preparation, Group Dynamics, communication and conflicts, camp leading and time management.

4/5

4/4

2/6

PREPARATION OF THE WORK CAMP

For evaluating how the expectations of the volunteers matched up with their experiences 10 inquiries were designed which could be divided into three main categories.

3/9

4/3

Average Grade of a Activities: Expectations and Preparations. @Sarvsaan

for accommodation and the group dynamic between the camp volunteers was outstanding, everyone became friends rather quickly and luckily no notable issues were confronted in this regard.

The least satisfaction scores indicated by the evaluation report concern engagement with local people and the work process of Basket weaving, which received the respective scores of (2.6) and (2.7), this was partly due to lack of opportunities for interaction with locals and the low population density of the Mehriz, because of this there was only a few unplanned encounters with locals in free times and less than expected local participation

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in activities.

2.

Improvements of Knowledge

For evaluating how the expectations of the volunteers matched up with their experiences 10 inquiries were designed which could be divided into three main categories.

Inquiry 1-2 regarding Iran Culture and Heritage.

Inquiry 3-7 regarding General camp abilities such as teamwork, English language and capacity to live and work in difficult conditions.

Inquiry 8-10 regarding knowledge about the camp site, Mehriz, the Qanat and Persian gardens.

The volunteers graded these inquiries on a 1-5 scale.

In the first category concerning Iran’s culture and Heritage

The evaluation results indicate that generally the volunteers were satisfied with the knowledge improvements and on average these inquiries were graded (4.2). Out of the 10 inquiries graded the highest was knowledge about the Persian Qanats graded (4.9) on average, which is due to the expert panel with ICQHS on the first day of the camp, close interaction with Qanat structures and sequences in rehabilitation activities and the presence of Qanat experts during the camp.

Teamwork skills, knowledge about Mehriz and knowledge about the Persian Garden were other highest scores with (4.6),(4.5) and (4.4) average scores respectively.

The least scores were related to knowledge of the English language, knowledge about other countries culture and heritage and capacity to live in hard conditions which were given the scores of (3.7),(3.9) and (3.8) respectively.

Average Grade of a Activities: Improvement of Knowledge @Sarvsaan

was on average graded (4.1) or high. The 2nd category concerning general camp abilities was graded (4.02) on average and the 3rd category concerning knowledge of the camp subject and camp site was graded (4.60) on average.

Note: The charts used in this report have been derived from Evaluation Forms which volunteers filled after the implimentation of the camp at the request of Sarvsaan CHG. Thanks to Arya Haghani (camp volunteer) the data was collated and analyzed to produce the charts.

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Nassim Zand Dizari

Marzieh Parisa Setayesh M.Arch.Architecture and Urbanism

M.Arch.Post Disaster Reconstruction

Ameneh Karimian,

Narjes Zivdar

Sarvsaan Co-founder WHV Project Manager

WHV2017 Camp Leader & Social Media Coordinator

WHV2017 Camp Leader & Scientific Coordinator

WHV2017 Camp Leader Assist

Ryhanna Tizmaghz

Ali Khaleghi

B.S.Business Management

B.A.Dramatic Literature

Amir Sohrabi

Bahar Modaberi

Barzigardi Co-founder WHV2017 Volunteer

Barzigardi Co-founder WHV2017 Volunteer

Kashan Puppet Museum Founder and Manager

Kashan Puppet Museum Volunteer

M.Arch.Conservation

B.S.Tourism Management

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M.Arch.Landscape Design

B.A.Music

Fereshteh Sabetian

Shokran Rahiminezhad M.Arch.Urban Planner

P.h.D.Restoration

Zahra Karamad

Arya Haghani

WHV2017 Volunteer

WHV2017 Volunteer

WHV2017 Volunteer

WHV2017 Volunteer

Guillaume G. Rocamora

Niousha Khatami

Arnout De Vleeschouwer

Sadaf Shahisavandi

WHV2017 French Volunteer

WHV2017 Volunteer

WHV2017 Belgian Volunteer

WHV2017 Volunteer

M.A.World Heritage Studies

B.S.Political Science

M.Arch.Archtecture

M.A.History

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B.S.Civil Engineering

M.Arch.REAP-HCU

Nastaran Nazhdaghi

Mohammad Hasan Zivdar B.S.Architecture

M.Arch.Architecture

Sahar Keshmiri

Daniele Plebanin

WHV2017 Volunteer

WHV2017 Volunteer

WHV2017 Volunteer

WHV2017 Italian Volunteer

Parinaz Abbasi

Mariloux Lacroix

WHV2017 Volunteer

WHV2017 French Volunteer

P.h.D.Islamic Urbanism

M.S.Psychology

B.S.Economics

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B.S.Political Science

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