Ancient structures were built following design rules that are no longer available. The design was based on geometry instead of mechanics, focusing on the equilibrium among the parts rather than on the strength of the materials. The change in perspective of design rules is one of the reasons for the difficulty in providing an adequate estimate of the safety of historic buildings and the main reason for improper, unnecessary and sometimes harmful interventions. Moreover, there is a need to reverse the direction of the civil construction sector which is responsible for much of the global carbon emissions and energy consuption. Thanks to the availability of new digital manufacturing and virtual reality tools, there is an opportunity to learn from the past to change the way we design and build structures towards a sustainable transition of civil engineering. The Construction History and Preservation Engineering (CHAPE) proposal aims at filling this gap through the design of an EMJM programme that recovers the knowledge of ancient structures, providing a fundamental historical and theoretical framework to understand the structural behaviour of masonry. In the meantime, by learning from the past, CHAPE aims to develop the tools for sustainable design, fostering the rationale of construction based on geometry and the use of low-impact materials for waste reduction and material saving. Innovative and integrated teaching methodologies will be developed to attract top-tier students, combining on-site survey on monuments with the generation of digital twins, experimental laboratories with the numerical simulation for predictive analysis. The project aligns with EU priorities, contributing to the green deal, the sustainable urban development, and the digital transition, building on a strong academic network of HEI’s from the Mediterranean area and successful international collaborations, including the International Summer School on Historic Masonry Structures since 2018.