A three-year project that trained Syrian refugees in Turkey on the restoration of cultural heritage received an award from Europa Nostra in the field of education, training and awareness-raising. Europa Nostra, one of the oldest and most influential European platforms on cultural heritage, granted the project — titled Stewards of Cultural Heritage — a prize of 11,000 euros ($12,100).

The Istanbul-based project, run by the German Archaeological Institute, or DAI, equipped two Syrian archaeologists and three architects with the advanced skills to recover and restore Syria's rich cultural heritage, when the right time comes. 

Europa Nostra acknowledged that this project serves as a model for other countries "attempting to engage displaced yet skilled refugees in cultural heritage activities, with a view to promoting their central role in future rebuilding programs upon their, hoped for, return to their native countries,” the jury of European experts said, according to the Europa Nostra website.

The program consisted of seminars, workshops and a summer field project in Doliche, an archaeological site under excavation by German archaeologists near Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey.