Under the patronage of Dr. Besher Al Sabban, Governor of Damascus, a workshop on rehabilitating and enhancing the rooftops in the Old City of Damascus was held on the 26th of January 2010 in the new auditorium of Damascus University’s Faculty of Architecture.
The workshop brought together representatives from the Damascus Governorate, the Syrian-German Technical Cooperation’s Program for Sustainable Urban Development: Rehabilitation of the Old City of Damascus Project, line ministries, Damascus Order of Engineers Syndicate, sectoral directorates, Damascus University, private universities, and representatives from local NGOs and JICA.
This mix of stakeholders created a wide basis for discussion, enabling comprehensive coverage of the rooftops issue with all its architectural, religious, touristic, social and ecological characteristics considered.

The workshop sought to both seek ways to benefit from the large surface area of the Old City’s rooftops while also enhancing the city’s landscape by better positioning water and diesel tanks, water heaters, solar energy panels and satellite dishes.  The workshop also addressed the technical problems created when these new elements are placed on traditional roofs which were not designed to support increased weight.   
The workshop also discussed the necessity for a regulatory framework for rooftops, and how this framework could be included in the building code. The participants also suggested architectural and greening solutions in order to enhance the landscape of the rooftops. The workshop contributed a draft guideline for organizing rooftops in the Old City and utilizing them in a safer and better way.