3.3.3. Group of Activities 3

The recommendations proposed for group of activities 3 match the Action criteria A.6, B.4 and C.2 of the ICOMOS-IFLA guidelines. Tailor-made activities were designed to meet the requests.

For Actions A.6 "*Recognizing local populations as knowledge holders*" and C.2 *"Recognizing key stakeholders for rural landscapes, including rural inhabitants*", we propose the following action:

 Training courses for moqannis and professional figures working in the qanat. To this end, the Council of the No-Ras Qanat will evaluate be necessary for hiring new moqannis or other specific jobs related to the conservation and management of the qanat. If so, training sessions supported by the Municipality (for the economic support and the bureaucratic aspects) and the local university (for the details about the qanat engineering and heritage aspects) will be organized.

For Action B.4 "*Consider economic, social and environmental values*", we proposed the following action:

 Investing in non-invasive sustainable technologies to improve qanat efficiency. The importance of integrating modern non-invasive and sustainable technologies in ancient structures and systems, such as the qanats, has been recently emphasized by the European Union by promoting "Research and Innovation Actions" within the Horizon Europe program for reusing and improving traditional heritage crafts and systems.<sup>4</sup> The technological improvements that could be applied to the qanats are many and, here, we provide some examples. One of them is satellite imagery, a valuable and user-friendly tool for monitoring the state of conservation of the wells when access to them is prevented (i.e., during conflicts, natural disasters or pandemics) [61,86,87]. The

growing availability of open access imagery makes them more accessible and usable for everyone. Moreover, numerous researchers developed methodologies to identify and document endangered qanats [49,88,89]. Another example regards internal damage and stability that may be evaluated and mitigated through the construction of low-weight structures, spread and pile foundations or retrofitting (e.g., load decreasing, load-bearing columns and walls and load-diverting arches) [90,91]. One final solution is to keep the secondary road unpaved to avoid further spread of tarmac, using bio-enzyme products, such as Perma-Zyme, Terra-Zyme, or Fujibeton, which guarantee soil stability and the long-term durability of the unpaved road. These are economic and environmentally friendly solutions that have been extensively employed in countries, such as India [92], Egypt [86] and Australia [87]. The improvement in the current road plan will allow for a faster and simpler connection to the center of Chavan with Tabriz and the neighborhood village.
