May 2008, 
Bloudan Grand Hotel.

The word "Sustainability" became a keyword when it comes to development. The UDP believes that the sustainable urban management and development would bring solutions at different levels, i.e. on both, local and governmental levels to Syrian cities.

To address this approach, a workshop was conducted on the sustainable urban development in Syria. The workshop took place in Bloudan Grand Hotel in Bloudan town, which is located to the northwest of Damascus.

The attendances were from a variety of organizations and governmental institutions and entities; such as mayors and members of city councils in addition to representatives from several international organizations; such as the UNDP, JICA, City Allience.

The first day of the workshop constituted of lectures and discussions about sustainable urban development in the local and international contexts. The lecturers and attendances discussed the challenges, shortcomings, and achievements.

In the second day, the attendance were divided into working groups and mainly discussed the Urban Development Programme with its activities and indicators. Following the working groups discussions, the attendance discussed the outcomes of the workgroups and they came out with conclusions and recommendations.