This Friday we welcome back former student Nasr Chamma to give an open lecture titled Rethinking Refugee Camps: Syrian Refugees within the Context of Jordan, about his experience working with UNHCR at the Zaatari and Azraq Refugee Camps in Jordan and how urban planners and architects can play a role in improving the living conditions and livelihoods of refugees in existing camps.
“Today humanitarians must rethink refugee camps and design them differently, ensuring that refugees’ rights, engagement and ownership are considered in the long-term,” says Nasr.
After completing his internship with UNHCR as part of our master program before graduating last year, Nasr continued to work with the agency as a volunteer and has spent the last six months analyzing the current refugee camp model within the context of Jordan to elaborate a proposal for how to improve conditions from an architectural and urban planning perspective. The lecture is open to anyone who would like to attend.
Nasr is an architect from Lebanon and will be working on his PhD thesis at our university (UIC) while seeking employment as a refugee camp site planner in Jordan.