RozhenKM – Cultural Heritage Orgnaization

Cultural Heritage Organization's president

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rozhen Kamal Mohammed-Amin

Rozhen Kamal Mohammed-Amin is an architect and academic with an interdisciplinary background and research interest in the confluence of digital technology, architecture, urban planning, and heritage. She holds a BSc. in Architectural Engineering (University of Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region of Iraq) and a Master's and Ph.D. in Computational Media Design and Environmental Design (University of Calgary, Canada). She is currently an associate professor and researcher at the Kurdistan Institution for Strategic Studies & Scientific Research (KISSR) and co-founder and president of the Cultural Heritage Organization (CHO). Rozhen also serves as the vice president of RASHID, an international network dedicated to safeguarding Iraq's cultural heritage with ECOSOC/UN special consultative status (based in Germany). She is also a member of the UK Government’s UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) International Development Peer Review and Talent Peer Review Colleges. During her professional practice between 2004 and 2006, she designed, co-designed, and supervised numerous architectural and urban planning projects at the State Organization of Tourism, the Ministry of Municipality and Tourism, and her design studio.

Between 2016 and 2022, she taught and supervised undergraduate and graduate students in different departments at Sulaimani Polytechnic University (SPU). During the same period, she also founded and directed two research centers at SPU, including the first interdisciplinary Digital Cultural Heritage (DCH) Research Centre in Iraq. From August 2020 to September 2024, she was a co-director of the Nahrein Network, based at University College London (UCL), and an Honorary Research Fellow as well. She is also an alumni of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) program.

Rozhen’s research combines heritage, digital technologies (like AR and VR), and storytelling to develop and evaluate empathy-eliciting experiences for cross-generational dialogue and reflections. She connects her interdisciplinary digital heritage research with local and global challenges and needs such as women empowerment, peacebuilding, digital literacy, creative industry, and climate change. Rozhen has professional and scholarly activities or talks in 23 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, Australasia, and the Middle East. She is a recipient of numerous national and international appreciations, scholarships, awards, and fellowships and is also the developer, proposal writer, and director/co-director for a number of academic and heritage projects that received international funds from the UK, USA, and the European Union.