Since its inception in 2007 a primary focus for Rozana has been on youth, encouraging young people to learn through team-work to look upon themselves as Palestinians with a common vision, one national people instead of diverse groups divided by religion, gender, clan, or village. The major mechanism for putting this concept into practice is the Birzeit Heritage Festival when Rozana recruits and trains volunteer youth – both men and women — from northern West Bank villages and organizations, including Birzeit University.
The volunteers receive intensive and on-site training in three phases: setting up, implementing and finally closing a large event which, in Birzeit, attracts over 30,000 visitors. It starts five weeks prior to the Festival’s opening and includes sessions on public relations, communications skills, film-making and photography, event management, and exhibit-curating. Supervision is usually provided by a Volunteers Committee – considered to be a crucial factor because these men and women constitute the future cultural, artistic, economic, and tourism leaders of the larger Palestinian community. Much of the funding for the project has come from the European Union beginning in 2013.