Eva Ziedan: Cultural heritage as mediation and women's partecipation in reconciliation in Syria

Eva Ziedan, a Syrian expert in cultural heritage and community development and a member of the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network, reflects on the role of heritage as a tool for dialogue, mediation and peacebuilding at a critical moment for Syria. She describes it as the set of everyday practices, memories and traditions through which communities interpret their past and imagine their future, and argues that, in a country marked by competing historical narratives, it can offer a space to question identities and build a more inclusive citizenship.

Drawing on her experience with Syrian communities, Eva shows how women have used shared cultural practices to resist hate narratives and reconnect communities divided by conflict. She stresses that addressing grievances through dialogue and solidarity, rather than revenge, is essential to rebuilding trust, and that recognising the knowledge and initiatives already present at grassroots level is key to sustaining these efforts.

The episode is part of #HerStories, the podcast of the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network, produced in collaboration with IAI and Women In International Security Italy, dedicated to the voices of women mediators and peacebuilders from the Mediterranean.

Listen on Spotify