Sustainable Cities Lab Speakers
Roudaina Al Khani
Architect MAA, Urban and Regional Planner DEA, PhD.
Roudaina Al Khani is Director and Founder of Platforms for sustainable cities and regions and lecturer in Planning and Urban Design at University of Westminster. She has extensive experiences in sustainable development and integrated urban planning from Europe and the Middle East, from local governments, consultancy to ministries and international organisations, NGOs and research. She is a board level expert and a project manager driving innovative processes.
Among her works prior to Platforms is leading the statement report for Copenhagen Sustainable City Strategy at Copenhagen City aimed at inclusive, liveable and economically dynamic city with high environmental quality. She managed Agenda 21 on behalf of the Finance Administration and the debate platform on architecture and planning with the Danish Architecture Centre. She worked on the regional plan of Holbaek and advised the Danish Ministry of Urban and Rural Affairs on the implementation of EU-Reference Framework for Sustainable Cities.
Roudaina advised German International Cooperation in 2008-2009 on transferring sustainable city development strategies to Syria working with 16 cities. She assessed planning, legal settings and capacity building needs, and co-launched the Syria State of Cities Report. She was also a high-level international advisor on planning and sustainability at all levels to the Syrian Presidency in 2009-2011 establishing Sustainable Syria Programme and advising on the National Five Year Plan and the planning system. She oversaw the establishment of plans, including Damascus Master Plan.
Roudaina’s research on harbour-front redevelopment, revitalization and sustainability in North Europe led to her Ph.D. in 2007 from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. She was member of the Scientific Committee of the 15th World Conference Cities & Ports, Rotterdam, 2016, chairing its topic on joint sustainable strategies.
Roudaina has a Master Research Degree DEA in Urban Policy, Spatial Planning and Management from Paris Planning Institute. She is an Architect from Damascus University and Member of the Danish Association of Architects.
Lab leader and
organiser
Zainab Alireza
Senior Urban Designer, MA Housing & Urbanism
Zainab is a Senior Urban Designer in AECOM’s Buildings and Places studio with ten years’ experience. Holding a Masters in Housing and Urbanism, Zainab has an extensive understanding of the factors influencing good urban design and has a keen interest in developing positive public experiences through urban strategies.
Zainab has experience working on projects at varying scales and location, including long-term spatial visions for mega-city regions, masterplans and urban design strategies for residential, commercial and retail projects..
Zainab recent experience has been focused on Strategic planning, possessing a deep understanding of physical and social influences unique to regions . Most recently, Zainab has played key roles in South East Protected Landscape - 25 year vision, the Jeddah Plans 2033 and the Connected Gaza Vision 2050.
Faredah Mohsen Al-Murahhem
Associate Professor, College of Design, Umm Al-Qura University
Faredah Mohsen Al-Murahhem is currently the Vice Dean of Academic Development and Entrepreneurship in the College of Design (Umm al-Qura University), with one year experience as the Vice Dean at the College of Engineering at Prince Mugrin University in al-Madinah, and three years as a Vice Director of the scholarship & inter-University Relations. Al-Murahhem is an associate professor with experience of teaching in higher education. She holds a Ph.D. in Interior Architecture and Architecture and heritage in specific, and a Diploma in Research Methodology from the University of Brighton in the United Kingdom. She has a Master of Interior Design and a Diploma in Education from Umm al-Qura University, a Bachelor degree in Interior Architecture from King Faisal University (Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal) in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Murahhem contributes to conferences and has some publications, her master thesis has been published and awarded a prize for the celebration of the 100 years of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The book covers a unique documentation of the Roshan (wooden projected window) and the traditional houses surrounding the Holy Masjid of Makkah). In her teaching strategies, she raises awareness of traditional architectural forms and highlights cultural values among students. She is a professional and affiliate member of selected institutions nationally and internationally (Saudi Council of Engineers, RIBA, and AHRA). She is also a water-colorist and has exhibited in Saudi and abroad
Dr. Dina Al-Nahdy
CEO /Partner ENTEC Environmental Technology Company
Dina Hasan AlNahdy co-founded “ENTEC” Environmental Technology company in 1995. With a bachelors in accounting, diploma in Environmental Management and an honorary doctorate in Environmental affairs and sustainable development from the U.N.F as well as being a certified LEED consultant, Alnahdy oversees the strategic direction of ENTEC.
Working as a consultant since 2007 dedicated to improving the environment by offering sustainable environmental and Green economical solutions to clients from both private and governmental sectors in KSA along with ENTEC team of experts.
Dina is also president of the environmental committee in Jeddah chamber of commerce where she works on bridging the gaps between private sectors and ministries to facilitate achieving the countries environmental and sustainable goals and empowering local private sector and individuals to be on global standards IN THE VIEW OF VISION 2030.
The long and impressive list of Alnahdy community work includes organizing environmental awareness programs. “Hand In Hand national environmental awareness initiative” that broke the world Guinness record in the largest hand printed environmentally friendly canvas in the world a ( 10235 m2) spreading environmental awareness to more than 1,2 million people from all categories of the community. In addition to many awards and achievements successive for her outstanding achievements awarded by GAMEP, European – Arab environmental organization and numerous awards crowned her efforts in environmental and sustainability from several global and local organizations.
AlNahdy is a member of a long list of organisations, such as Center for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE), Saudi Society for Environmental Sciences, VP of Women’s Comity for Maritime Safety Border Guard Mecca area.
Dr. Areej Al-Wabil
Principal investigator - Engineering Systems
Areej is a Principal Investigator in Center for Complex Engineering Systems (CCES) at KACST and MIT, and a Principal Investigator in the Joint Center of Excellence for Earth and Space Sciences at KACST and Caltech. Her research interests are in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), User experience (UX) and Interaction Design. Prior to joining the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), she was a Postdoc in MIT's Ideation Lab at the School of Engineering and served as the Vice Chair of KSU's Software Engineering Department, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at Prince Sultan University (PSU), Research Associate at the University of Texas, and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent's School of Engineering and Digital Arts.
Dr. Sumayah Al-Solaiman
Assistant Professor, College of Design, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University
Dr. Sumayah Al-Solaiman is Dean of the College of Design and Assistant Professor at the Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University. She has a PhD in Architecture from Newcastle University (2010). Her thesis was titled “The Architectural Discourse of Riyadh: An interpretive-historical reading of its contemporary architecture”. Both her Master of Architecture (2002) and her Bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture (2000) were from King Faisal University. Her 16 years of teaching experience include 4 years at Newcastle University.
She completed her Ibn Khaldoun Postdoctoral Fellow in the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Nov 2013-Jan 2015). Her research interests include areas of intersection between architecture and politics such as the mediation of power in space and place; ideologies and nation-building in architectural practice; and regionalism within modernism. She has some peer-reviewed publications and participated in conferences and symposia. She was also editor-in-chief of ‘Forum: International Journal of Postgraduate Studies in Architecture, Planning and Landscape’.
She was appointed a member of the municipal council for the mayoralty of Dammam in its third cycle (2016-2020). She is also a columnist at Al-Yaum Newspaper. She has represented Saudi Arabia in official delegations to India, Austria, the UK and the USA.
Her past positions include, Vice Dean for Quality, Development and Academic Accreditation, Chair of the Graphic Design and Multimedia program at the College of Design and Director of the Patents and Technology Transfer Office at the University of Dammam. Besides her academic and administrative duties she was the organizer for the International Sustainability through Biomimicry conference (Dammam, 2012); head of the executive committee of UD’s participation in the International Exhibition and Conference of Higher Education (Riyadh, 2013 & 2014) and project manager for the redevelopment of UD’s website.
Duncan Bowie
Senior research associate, Bartlett School of Planning, UCL
Duncan Bowie has extensive experience of spatial planning and housing strategy practice, having worked for the Mayor of London, the Association of London Government, the Housing Corporation, the London Docklands Development Corporation and the London boroughs of Newham and Lambeth.
He joined the University of Westminster in September 2010, having for the three previous years been Reader in Urban Planning and Regeneration at London Metropolitan University. He has published in professional journals on spatial planning and housing issues and published three books: a book on planning and housing in London under the Mayoralty of Ken Livingstone ( People, Planning and Homes in a World City Routledge 2010) a book on planning history (The Radical and Socialist Tradition in British Planning : From Puritan Colonies to Garden Cities Routledge 2016) and Roots of the British Socialist Movement ( Socialist History Society 2014)
Angela Brady OBE PPRIBA
Architect, TV broadcaster Design Champion
Angela is a past president of RIBA (2011-2013), and graduated in Architecture from the Dublin Institute of Technology with a post graduate scholarship in Copenhagen & Part III exam at Westminster Uni London.
Angela is a director of award winning Brady Mallalieu Architects, set up with Robin Mallalieu specialising in quality contemporary sustainable design based in London. She was chair of RIBA Women in Architecture (2000-2005) and promotes more women into construction.
Angela has given over 100 keynote speeches around the world, including in India, China, Vietnam, USA, EU, UK and the Middle East on sustainable city making and low carbon design. She advises many design review committees on creating a quality sustainable built environment, including with Design Council Cabe, Corydon and Bexley.
As a professional TV broadcaster Angela co wrote and co presented the TV series “Designing Ireland” about Irish Architecture, Craft, Industrial Design and Design Thinking. She presented design style of 6 cities on ‘The Home Show’ on Channel 4 and designed and built the house on “Building the Dream” in 65 episodes on ITV.
In 2016 Angela was awarded an OBE and PDSA for services to Architecture.
Marie Dariel
M.A., M.Sc. Urban., Cert. Psych.
Marie Dariel is Director of A Thousand Faces Ltd. She is specialist in integrated urban development and urban wellbeing, blending 15 years of international experience in sustainability, capacity building and psychology in France, the UK, Africa, China and Latin America. She trained at the Institute of Urban Planning and Architecture of Venice, the Institute of Political Studies of Paris (Sciences-Po) and the Gestalt Centre of London, and collaborated with UN HABITAT, with French and British construction and development leaders such as Eiffage, British Land, Stanhope, ARUP, and developed design labs with Chinese best universities and innovation leaders.
With her consultancy company “A Thousand Faces Ltd.”, she helps city leaders, designers, developers and organisations to create places that are better for people and bring better quality of life in cities, by integrating human well-being, biomimicry, environmental psychology in urban projects and reconnecting them with nature, people’s sense of growth, safety, belonging and happiness.
Nuha Eltinay
Architect, Planner, RTPI
Nuha is the Director of Urban Planning and Sustainable Development at the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI) since 2014. Nuha is currently a PhD Researcher at London South Bank University, School of Built Environment and Architecture. Her research deals with building urban resilience in the MENA Region with focus on the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the contexts of climate change, conflict, and displacement.
Nuha's works include presenting a comprehensive research and engagement program MENA Urbanization Knowledge and Disaster Risk Management at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) in Sendai, Japan 2015, in collaboration with the Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI) – World Bank Group.
She participated in the 2015 UNISDR Expert group on developing the Indicators for the New 10 Essentials-Making Cities Resilient Campaign, the GFDRR 2016 Understanding Risk Forum, the 2017 UK Alliance for Disaster Risk, the 2017 UNISDR-Words into Action Words: Implementation guides for the Sendai Framework /guideline (National Focal Points, National Platforms and Local Platforms), 2017 Policy recommendation: Coherence between the Sendai Framework, the SDGs, the Climate Agreement, New Urban Agenda and World Humanitarian Summit, and the role of science in their implementation. Nuha is also involved in the ongoing process of the development of UNISDR Roadmap and Guide on the use of Open Data Infrastructure for Urban Resilience.
Nuha is a qualified architect and member of the British Royal Town Planning Institute since 2010.
Tony Lloyd-Jones
Director of Consultancy and Research at Max Lock Centre, University of Westminster
Tony Lloyd-Jones is a Planner and Reader in International Planning and Sustainable Development in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at the University of Westminster in London. Director of Research and Consultancy at the University’s Max Lock Centre.
Tony Lloyd-Jones' international urban sustainability-related research focuses on use of spatial, statistical and other analytical methods to explore development impacts of rapid urbanization in cities and regions in Sub-Saharan Africa, South and South East Asia, and Latin America.
Previously, Urban Policy and Statistics Adviser to DFID from 1997 to 2005, he advised the UK Government on housing and sustainable urban development issues at the United Nations. Author of recent policy guidance on urban resilience, disaster risk management and reconstruction for DFID, the World Bank and other agencies.
Dr. Effat Abdullah Fadag
Director of the Center for Art and Design, Dar Al Hekma University
Dr. Effat Abdullah Fadag is an Associate Professor of Fine Art. She is an artist and an academic. Exhibiting her work both locally and internationally. Dr. Effat received her Master and Doctorate of philosophy in Fine Art form the University of Creative Art, KENT, becoming the first female in Saudi Arabia with a PhD in Fine Art. She worked as the Department chair of Islamic Art at King Abdul-Aziz University. She was a full-time consultant at Dar Al-Hekma University, serving as the Dean of Hekma School of Design and Architecture for three years.
During that time, she was a part time consultant at King Abdullah University for Science and Technology developing the Art in Lab-Residency program. Dr. Effat is also the founder and Creative director of Naqsh Art Studio. A studio that raises art understanding and support artistic social initiatives with the community. She is currently working at Dar Al Hekma as the Director of the Center for Art and Design.
Declan O’Carroll
Architect ARB, RIBA
Declan O’Carroll is Practice Director Architecture and Masterplanning at Atkins. He is a chartered architect, practitioner, lecturer, writer and researcher with 30 years of professional experience and a portfolio of over 40 successful projects in the UK, Europe, Middle East, China and East Asia. Declan O’Carroll acted for more than a decade as the Global Architecture Leader for ARUP and as the Group Leader of ARUP Associates, supporting the development of architecture studios in Milan, Shanghai, Shenzen, sitting at the Global Building Executive Board of ARUP.
Declan O’Carroll is a recognised world expert in sustainable design and has devoted himself to leading pan-disciplinary integrated teams and redefining the conventions of building-design partnerships to include collaborations with artists, psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists and other professionals. He has been commissioned by a variety of leading clients such as British Land, Stanhope, Barbican, BSkyB, ParkView International, Nokia China, Qatar 2020 Fifa Bid Committee, GSK and University of Cambridge.
His projects have been recognised for their excellence in concept, design and delivery, receiving international, national and regional awards including; World Architecture, RIBA, BCO, Civic Trust, British Construction Industry among others.
Declan O’Carroll is a Visiting Lecturer to a number of global architecture schools and has held a number of institutional positions including the Green Issues Strategic Review Committee of the British Council for Offices. He offers consultancies through his new studio Atelier OCA to clients, collaborators developing innovative projects throughout the world.
Kieran Power
Environmental and social scientist
Associate Director – Sustainability and Resilience at AECOM
Originally educated in Australia, Kieran is an environmental and social scientist working in the areas of urban resilience, disaster risk reduction, sustainability and climate change adaptation. He currently leads AECOM’s involvement in Europe and the Middle East with major transnational programmes such as the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) programme. As part of the 100RC initiative he has worked with cities in varying stages of development, including Ramallah (Palestine), The Hague (Netherlands) and Paris (France) to deliver complex stakeholder engagement and produce public-facing strategies aimed at building capacity to withstand and bounce back from acute shocks and chronic stresses. Kieran is also one of the authors of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) Resilience Scorecard for Cities and is AECOM’s coordinator the Making Cities Resilient programme, which currently has over 3,800 member cities.
Kieran is also passionate about supporting organisations to prepare for the effects of climate change. Working across the critical infrastructure, local government and Defence sectors, his projects have ranged from technical risk and adaptation assessments, to hands-on engagement and training with communities and practitioners around climate adaptation pathways. Before joining AECOM, Kieran worked in a sustainability capacity building role with Australian community housing organisations, helping to remove barriers to investment in energy efficiency and tackle energy poverty.
Georgia Butina Watson
BA MA PhD FRSA
Professor of Urban Design and Director of the OISD-Urban Design Research Group, Oxford Brookes University. She is also Academician and Regional Co-Ordinator of the Academy of Urbanism and Chair of the Urban Design Group Book Award scheme.
Georgia Butina Watson has an extensive portfolio of teaching, research and consultancy work. She has directed many high-profile research projects funded by UK and international governments, research councils and other bodies and has won many commendations and national awards for innovative research projects. She was also voted one of the top 50 women UK Planners by the Planning Magazine and is registered on the panel of experts for Sustainable Urban Environments (SUE) group. She was Head of the Department of Planning at Oxford |Brookes University (2001-2015), Research Tutor and Chair of the University Research Degree Committee.
Georgia was a Principal Investigator of the EPSRC funded project on Retrofitting Cities 2050, which includes sustainable urban futures scenario building and visioning and is a Co-investigator of the ESRC funded Healthy Urban Mobility (HUM) project. Her professional expertise includes the study of urban morphology, environmental psychology, participatory planning and urban design, sustainable urban design, public/private partnerships in planning and urban design, community development, healthy cities, urban growth management and place-identity. She has published a number of books including Designing Sustainable Cities in the Developing World (with Roger Zetter) and Identity by Design (with Ian Bentley). She has also published a large number of journal articles and papers on urban design matters and has been a keynote presenter at many UK and international conferences.
She is presently involved with the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) on the growth corridor linking Oxford and Cambridge and is an evaluator for the Healthy New |Towns programme, funded by the NHS England. Her key international projects include the evaluation of the Qatar National Plan; Sustainable Community Development projects in Thailand, Mexico, Brazil, Vietnam, Russia, Palestine, Slovenia and Croatia.
Ahmad N. Sadek
Architect, Urban and Regional Planner PhD
Dr. Ahmad Sadek is Director at Platforms in the Gulf Region. He is a highly experienced architect, spatial planning consultant and educator. Throughout his practice and academic experience, spanning over 20 years, he has undertaken a variety of senior positions with Government Institutions and international consulting firms in which he has contributed, led, and advised on the delivery of all aspects of spatial development planning and management. Among recent works, Dr. Sadek advised RAK Municipality and Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council on various urban and regional planning matters.Of his works: establishing the ESTIDAMA programme, casting the vision of Abu Dhabi Plan Capital 2030, delivering a brief for Abu Dhabi Emirate Spatial Plan and establishing a Master Plan for Eco-Business Park at RAK.
Dr. Ahmad Sadek has occupied positions in prestigious universities across GCC, Middle East and Europe, among which the American University of Sharjah, and has taught in graduate urban planning programmes and trained and mentored public planning officers. He has also designed several mixed use and recreational developments.
All the while, Ahmad Sadek has been endorsing innovative planning methods to meet the principles of sustainable and resilient development reflected in his consultancy work and his planning and design of sustainable communities and buildings in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Ahmad Sadek is a qualified architect with a PhD in Spatial Planning from the University of Venice (IUAV), Italy in 1998. He speaks multiple languages including Arabic, English, Italian and French; and he is a member of the American Planning Association (APA).
Ben Stringer
Senior Lecturer
Ben Stringer has lectured in architecture for many years, including at UCL, Oxford Brookes, and the University of Westminster, where he currently leads a Masters design studio (DS12), and teaches history and theory.
Ben has recently been studying Architecture’s relationship with rurality. He is concerned that that the discipline, and society in general, has become overly ‘urban centric’ and that cities in any case, cannot be properly understood in isolation from their rural hinterlands.
In 2015 he organised the conference ‘Re-imagining Rurality’, and he is currently working on a book of essays and artworks with the same title. He recently edited a Villages and Globalization issue of the journal Architecture and Culture. He is also a trustee of a city farm in Oxford.
Ahmad Sukkar
PhD. M.Res, M.Arch, BA-Dipl.Arch
Ahmad Sukkar is an architect, urbanist, educator, and researcher based in Oxford. His work examines the interaction between culture and architecture in connection with design, heritage and identity in the Middle Eastern cities. Conducting research on the humanities and Islamic architecture, he has recently completed the Imam Bukhari Visiting Research Fellowship at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, which was supported by awards from both the centre and the Barakat Trust in Oxford. Completing a PhD in Humanities and Cultural Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London, he is currently working on publishing his doctoral thesis on architectural humanities in Islamic studies, which received several awards and has recently made the final shortlist for the British Association for Islamic Studies’ De Gruyter Prize for the Study of Islam and the Muslim World. His Master’s Degree in Architecture and Urbanism at the Architectural Association in London received distinction and an international award.
Ahmad Sukkar has worked at leading architectural offices contributing to award-winning projects in Europe and the Middle East. At Zaha Hadid Architects, he contributed to Pierresvives Building in France, which received the Royal Institute of British Architects’ European Award, 2013; at Wael Samhouri Architecture and Urban Design, he contributed to the Faculty of Letters and Humanities at the University of Damascus, which received the Cityscape Special Award, Highly Commended for Master Planning, 2010. He has presented his work at international conferences, exhibited internationally, and published individual and team-work widely.
Nouha Hansen
BA (Hons) Architecture
Nouha Hansen is the Director of Architecture at Platforms for sustainable cities and regions. Nouha is currently studying for her Masters of Architecture degree at the University of Westminster where she founded and lead the student Architecture Society.
Nouha completed her bachelor degree at University of Westminster in 2015 with First Class Honours. Before joining Platforms, Nouha worked at Sheppard Robson Architects on the new Imperial College Molecular Science Research Hub, London and London Business School. She also participated in architectural competitions for University of Cardiff, University of Cambridge and University of the Arts London. In 2014, Nouha and her team from Westminster won the First Prize of the American Institute of Architects’ Student Charette for their Water Maze as a reinterpretation of urban swimming. Nouha and her team have just won the DS Smith First Prize at the International London Fabrication Festival 2017 held at the University of Westminster for best use of material in their pavilion design.
Nouha believes in a cross-disciplinary work process and being open to inspiration and replies from any knowledge/experience field. She has a special interest in the cross-over of architecture and the arts and how the arts can benefit architecture in revealing unusual interpretations and connections for understanding and developing spaces and their uses.
Sustainable Cities
Lab assistant
Thanks to our knowledge collaborators:
Thanks to our sponsors:
Lab Day Sponsor
© Platforms for Sustainable Cities and Regions LTD
All rights reserved
Company registered in England and Wales
no. 9573242
Registered Address
United Kingdom
78 York Street,
W1H 1DP London
+44 (0) 7460466622