Participants in a conference organized on Saturday on “Fez and the challenges of sustainable development” underlined the need to work to establish sustainable and environmentally friendly development of the spiritual capital of the Kingdom.
The speakers during this meeting, which is part of the 15th annual day of Fez, reviewed on this occasion the achievements and prospects for development of the city according to a sustainable approach while overcoming the dysfunctions resulting from the imbalance between rampant urbanization and the creation of green spaces.
Emphasis was also placed on the importance that the stakeholders concerned should give to the preservation of water resources and green spaces by generalizing sanitary dependencies and access and by introducing the most advanced techniques in terms of management and waste recovery. The development of urban transport is one of the recommendations made by the participants in this context.
It was also a question of emphasizing the need to strengthen the development of the city of Fez in order to consolidate its cultural and economic influence and establish a social and environmental balance.
Opening this conference, the president of the Yawm Fez Foundation (Fez Day), Abdelhai Rais, underlined the importance of the annual Fez Day, “an opportunity to focus on the changes that the city is experiencing and to explore the means to guarantee harmonious and environmentally friendly development”, adding that this 15th edition sees the participation of the signatories of the Fez Call, launched during a previous edition.
After emphasizing the richness of the cultural, architectural and artistic heritage of the Idrisside city and its ancestral history, Mr. Rais noted that the objective of this day is to perpetuate the glorious history of Fez and offer local actors from different backgrounds to think about the future of the spiritual capital by balancing between socio-economic and sustainable development.
For his part, the president of the local council of ulemas, Abdelhaq Belmajdoub, affirmed that Fez occupied in the past a preponderant place among the learned cities in view of the competence of its scholars, welcoming the choice of the theme of this day which is in harmony with the Council’s orientations in terms of promoting sustainable development.
In celebration of the annual Fez Day, a series of activities are scheduled from January 4 to 11 to highlight the heritage and future of the city. Thematic exhibitions, such as the one dedicated to innovation serving the city and the region at the Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University, or the one on architecture, art and traditional crafts at the private University of Fez, will allow you to discover the multiple facets of Fez.
The closing day will be marked by the signing of a partnership agreement between the Jour de Fès Foundation and the Moulay Idriss High School Alumni Association, thus sealing the commitment of past and future generations to the city.
Celebrated at the initiative of numerous civil society associations active in the fields of heritage preservation, environmental protection and the dissemination of citizenship values, this annual day aims to examine and debate the mechanisms to even to concretize the commitments signed on January 4, 2011 to implement ambitious development projects and programs, bringing progress and prosperity for the city’s population.
Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981, the city of Fez tends to reconnect with its prestigious past and to highlight its ancestral heritage, its historical monuments, its borjs and its walls.
