• Location: Antakya, Türkiye
  • Date: 2023
  • Programme: Change by Design 
  • Project Partners: Herkes İçin Mimarlık, Hatay Mimarlar Odası (Hatay Chamber of Architects), ASF UK
  • Activities: Learning and Capacity Building, Advocacy

In November 2023, ASF–UK and Herkes İçin Mimarlık (HiM) organised a two-day public forum in Antakya. More than 30 participants, including grassroots groups, civil society organisations, local NGOs and built environment professionals working on the city's reconstruction after the February 2023 earthquakes, came together to share experiences and learn from one another.

Held under the theme of "living heritage", the forum created space to reflect on the places, practices, knowledge and memories that make Antakya what it is. Through site visits, group work and open discussions, participants explored what is at stake in the reconstruction, and how to advocate for community needs to be reflected in reconstruction plans. 

The forum resulted in a collective statement, signed by six organisations that joined the forum: Hatay Deprem Dayanışması Derneği, Karaçay Koordinasyonu, Hatay Ekoloji Platformu, Nehna, and the Hatay branches of the Chamber of Urban Planners and the Chamber of Architects.

The statement sets out six main challenges facing Antakya's living heritage and its communities, including lack of basic infrastructure, ecological destruction, encroachment on natural and collective spaces, loss of memory and sense of place, displacement and gentrification, and personal safety. It also proposes three complementary ways forward: meaningful public participation, community-based organisation, and civil society and professional support. Together, these aim to place the people of Antakya and their living heritage at the centre of the city's future.