Speakers

Ahmed is the section head of planning and contract support in the municipality of Abu Dhabi with 15 years of experience working in different senior positions in the Department of Municipalities & Transport. His focus is to search for the best plans to implement on projects strategy, moreover looking forward to find new creative methodologies that help our environment.

With over than 25 years’ experience in architecture and urbanism gained from delivering projects and leading teams in Canada and the Middle East, Akram brings together projects with great attention to human factors, and a sense of place and is extensively focused on sustaining and improving the quality of life.

Akram is passionate about cities and communities and the way they develop and grow within the diverse and evolved economic and social dynamics. Regardless of the scale of his projects, he pays most of his attention to human interaction within the urban space, the expression, and the meaning of this interaction and finally the implementation of these spatial patterns into a place in a real environment.

Akram's belief in having a proper study of the place and the land affects his works and visions. He uses the current technologies in collecting and analyzing information and data which are essential to reveal the potentials of the land and the place and help planners and designers to make an informed decisions in creating, developing, and maintaining communities.

In his current role as a principal planner in Dewan Architects, he acts as a primary point of reference for all matters related to regional planning, master planning and urban design including visioning and planning design processes.

Alanood Al Mazrouei has more that 19 years of public sector experience, and 8 years is the Abu Dhabi’s Housing Sector. She conceptualized and lead the first National Housing Demand and Supply study for Abu Dhabi setting the foundation for the government capital projects planning as a cornerstone for the process thereafter, which helped ensure integrated planning amongst the different players in the housing ecosystem for the delivery for government housing communities. Alanood also contributed to transforming the award-winning customer journey by leading the digital transformation in customer-centric manner, and facilitating providing neighborhoods with the required services and amenities.

Alexandra has a degree in economics, a bachelor's degree in management, has been with the company for several years and is a major projects expert, specialising in complex infrastructure projects (municipal projects). 

Alina is a highly talented architect and urban planner with a passion for new architectural forms and buildings that bring something unique and exciting to cities. She brings a wealth of international experience to her work, having lived and worked in the UK, Spain, China, India, Vietnam, and the Middle East. As a founding member of Studio3eight, Alina has been instrumental in building the firm's reputation as a leading international design practice. Her outstanding portfolio of work, which showcases her expertise in landscape design and sustainability, has earned her several design awards and competitions. She is a dedicated team leader and mentor and was recognized as one of Asia's top designers under 40 in 2018.

Angelica has 20 years of International experience in Europe, Asia and Middle East. Lived in Portugal, Singapore, Malaysia and, for 7 years, in UAE. Award Winning for Landscape, Masterplanning and Urban Design Projects. Worked in multiple and diverse projects in scale and complexity. Her portfolio includes

extensive Public Realm and Masterplanning projects such as River of Life, Red Sea Project MP and Expo

2020. With extensive experience in teams interaction and in managing all stakeholders, including, public entities, design, marketing and sales teams among others. Currently working with Al Futtaim Group Real Estate in all Landscape MENA projects.

Bassel Omara is a multi-award-winning Egyptian architect, designer, and artist with a humanitarian vision who won numerous accolades and honours both regionally and globally. With over 15 years of experience and a successful record in both the public and private sectors spanning from Egypt to UAE, KSA, Qatar, Oman, Iraq, Libya, France, Mali, Iceland and Germany.

As the CEO of Q Properties, Mr. Hudson brings with him more than 26 years of experience as an industry leader in master development, property development and asset management in the United States, Southeast Asia and Gulf Region.  During this period, he has successfully delivered to market billions of dollars in new real estate, creating great places to live, work and play around the world.  Before joining Q Properties, Mr. Hudson served as founding member and Chief Strategy Officer of ROSHN Real Estate, Saudi Arabia’s newest property development giant, as Chief Operating Officer at Kinan International Real Estate Development, among Saudi Arabia’s larger private developers and with a number of major developers and homebuilders in the United Arab Emirates, Southeast Asia and United States.  Mr. Hudson holds degrees in Architecture and City Planning from Yale University and MIT as well as his MBA from the University of Warwick in the UK.

Brian Leung is an Associate Director at ICON and Chartered Landscape Architect (CMLI).  He has over 15 years of experience in the UK and UAE across a broad range of sectors, and degrees in Landscape Architecture and Landscape Urbanism.  He specializes in resort and community planning, hospitality and public realm design, with projects completed in the UK, Middle East, Asia and Africa.  Brian believes in a sustainability led design approach, understanding the site to identify and preserve its spirit of place, to craft spaces and experiences which elevate the quality of life.

As the Digital lead of InSite International, Chris is responsible for transforming the way we design and advise, to help clients become future-ready and working with professionals across the business to enhance the way they design and implement integrated solutions across core digital competencies, including visualization, data analytics, digital modeling, computational design, information management, and solution development.

Chris is a recognized expert in digital technologies and data in the context of cities and urban development. He leads companies Smart City capability across the GCC and Aisa and has extensive experience delivering smart city planning, city infrastructure, and city digital platforms.

David brings more than three decades of international experience to his work in the fields of urban design, landscape architecture and site planning. He has completed projects throughout the world including Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.

In addition to his design sensibilities, he provides clients with significant commercial and procurement expertise, with a strong corporate governance focus. He leads teams to successfully design and implement complex, mega-projects as well as smaller scale public realm improvements, park designs, and open space revitalizations, transforming spaces across a broad range of scales. David’s LEED accreditation reinforces his keen focus on sustainable design and smart growth.

Ms. BASLICAN is a professional Senior Landscape Architect with over 16 years of experience in landscaping fields, she worked in contracting and consulting companies, coordinate all the disciplines of the design for soft and hard landscape of the project, prepare and coordinate of the IFC submissions for the masterplans, hard landscape, soft landscape (as per the sustainability requirements), levels and grading with the surface water design, exterior lighting, urban street furniture of the Precinct to the client as well covering and updating the design due to DRCT comments. Ms. Duygu is currently responsible for preparation of the public open spaces including Neighborhood, Linear, Family and Palace Parks with Eco Corniche, Barahaat and Sikkas concept design, detail design and construction plans including hard landscape, soft landscape, exterior lighting, irrigation and surface and stormwater projects, 2d rendering and 3d visual and animations.

Farah is an award-winning climate change strategist and co-author of the Middle East regions’ first book on net zero cities. She has 20 years’ experience in the built environment gained in the US, UK, Southeast Asia and most recently the UAE.

Since arriving in Dubai in 2015, Farah has been steering sustainability and innovation agenda in the built environment across the Middle East. Her name is synonymous with implementable sustainability and energy strategies, and she has supported several iconic projects, including the Museum of the Future, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Bee’ah HQ in Sharjah and the Expo 2020 Sustainability Pavilion, to achieve their sustainability goals.

While based in the UK, Farah was heavily involved in creating the energy strategy for the country’s first zero-energy building, Ashmount Primary School, which won the 2015 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Sustainable Buildings Award.

As an innovator, Farah focuses on implementing best practices in the built environment by applying systems related to the Food-Energy-Water Nexus, biomimetics, the Five Capital model of Sustainability, Liveability, and Inclusive Innovation Frameworks, which will build the foundation of the cities and communities of the future.

Farah is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and Chair of CIBSE’s UAE Chapter, LEED and WELL Accredited Professional and Verified Research Expert for the Dubai Future Foundation. Farah is an active advocate of STEM education for future generations.

LinkedIn link profile: linkedin.com/in/farah-naz-fcibse

Born in Sao Paulo in 1974 and raised in Lisbon, where he moved in 1977, João Branco studied Architecture and Town Planning at Lisbon Technical University’s Faculty of Architecture (UTL), Portugal, and Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura del Vallés, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain, as an Erasmus student. He graduated in 2000.

Working as a town planner and urban designer, he discovered the water features theme as a powerful urban design tool to enhance public spaces. So, from an early stage, he started working on integrating the water element into architecture, landscape design and public art projects.

During the last 20 years, he has conceived, developed and supported hundreds of multi-scale water feature projects worldwide, primarily for retail, hospitality, public plazas, roundabouts and theme parks. Also, having worked in international companies, such as GHESA and now OASE, has been crucial to building a solid worldwide experience, allowing him to speak at several professional events, attend multiple international exhibitions and constantly support global partners in the conception of innovative & memorable fountain experiences.

• Link to LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcgbranco/

• Link to Professional Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/publicshape/

Landscape Architect passionate about creating sustainable, inspired outdoor spaces. Over fourteen years of experience developing high profile and complex projects such as residential communities, resorts, airports, and educational facilities across multiple regions including the Gulf, the Middle East and Africa.

Currently leading the landscape team at Diamond Developers, crafting sustainable, community-driven spaces that bring people closer to nature.

Dr. Kheira Anissa Tabet Aoul is a sustainability professional, Architecture and Building Science Professor, and currently Head of the Architectural Engineering Department, at the United Arab Emirates University. She draws from 30 years of international academic and professional experience in USA, North Africa and the Middle East. She is engaged in education and practice-based research focusing on advancing the design and execution of a sustainable, socio-culturally sensitive built environment in hot climatic zones. High Performance buildings, building integration technology and human factors in the built environment are her major areas of expertise and research interest. In 2019, Prof. Tabet Aoul was appointed as Director of ZEMCH Network (www.ZEMCH.org) UAE regional center, and serving as the Chair of ZEMCH 2021 International Conference in UAE. She has a strong record of accomplishment in providing the necessary expertise in Sustainable Design and Green Building Practices, in both professional and educational environments.  Outcomes include extensive publications, Editorial roles, successful supervision of Masters and PhDs and leading major interdisciplinary consulting and research projects in UAE and internationally. Kheira holds a PhD in Building Science from Sheffield University (UK). She is a LEED Accredited Professional and Green Advantage Certified (USA).

Lorenzo Zoli is an Italian architect and a PhD holder with over 20 years of experience. He was appointed Managing Director of M+N Architecture in 2010 and since then he has been based in Abu Dhabi from where he has led the development of the company in the GCC market. For more than a decade he has been exposed to all sides of the design business, overlooking the growth of the company, which delivered over 250+ projects in the field of education, residential developments, mixed use, governmental buildings and interior design.

Maria is a passionate Sustainability and Women’s Equality advocate. Solopreneur and Founder of “Sustainability Switch Consultancy“ which helps organizations drive their Sustainability Agenda in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Board Member and Sustainability Chair for the Non Profit Organization “ Lean In Equity and Sustainability” with a mission to empower women in the energy transition.

Maria holds Sustainability Credentials from Cambridge University (CISL) and a Master’s and Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering.

Maria has 22 years of experience in Corporate Strategy and Project operations for significant large-scale Projects and Government Initiatives. Expert knowledge in the development, implementation and performance monitoring of companywide process workflow framework inclusive of Environmental, Social and Governance objectives.

Maria is a Key Note Speaker in the topics of Sustainability ,ESG and Diversity ,Equity and Inclusion and is invited regularly to participate in international conferences as well as host executive high level workshops on relative Climate Change Subjects.

Mohamed comes from Engineering background with holistic experience in sustainable design development & sustainable construction management. With a collective experience of more than 13 years, Mohamed has been taking integral role in delivering green buildings, providing design solutions towards sustainable green urbanism & Masterplans, integrating long term life cycle carbon assessment with life cycle costing, and collectively putting on all these KPIs in the context of climate change and sustainability.

Mohamed had the privilege to provide services to well-known mega developers in the MENA region supporting their corporates/ projects objectives towards the triple bottom line [people, planet, profit].

Mohamed has successfully won several regional & international awards last year pertinent to sustainable public realms and human centric urban designs.

Mohamed holds Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the American University of Sharjah, and is consistently developing his academic capacity being LEED AP, PQP, WELL AP, PMP, RMP, CEM, CMVP, LFA, & Urban GHG specialist to deliver the best value to his clients.

Mohammad AlHashmi is an architect that has started his journey as an urban planner within the Department of Municipalities and Transport for the past two years. He aims to work alongside his colleagues and develop planning guidelines and policies that ensure a prosperous future for the residents and communities of Abu Dhabi.

Paolo Caratelli is a Licensed Architect in Italy (OAPPC, Florence Chapter), and currently Associate Professor of Architecture at Abu Dhabi University since 2011. He holds a M.Arch. magna cum laude, and a Ph.D. in Architectural and Urban Design from the University of Florence, Italy.

He collaborated on several projects as design manager, architect, and planner for private developers and public institutions as well.

Paolo is an active researcher on architectural and urban sustainability, and investigator about social and cultural changes in architectural design. He published in several international peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings, serving also as guest editor and reviewer.

Stephen Goldie is the City Planning Advisor at Al Ain Municipality.

He has over forty years’ experience in urban planning and design, mostly at executive level.

His urban planning and design experience ranges from regional and metropolitan strategy to complex inner-city design, from high-level policy and legislation to seemingly intractable local disputes, and from detailed urban design to complex management issues, including:

• An urban expansion for a third of a million people,
• A high density transit oriented development; and
• 100 km of metro rail in three different projects.

Earlier this year Stephen received a 2023 UAE Ministry of Energy & Infrastructure Research & Innovation Award for groundbreaking work on Artificial Intelligence Supporting Urban Planning.

Tamara is an Associate Director – Net Zero Advisory at AESG. She holds a Masters’ degree in Environmental Engineering with specialization in the fields of Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions and Decarbonisation. Her sustainability journey in the UAE started with a 6-year engagement with Dubai Government, as part of the DSM PMO office, implementing the Energy Efficiency (DSM) Strategy in Dubai across 11 programmes and more than 10 key government sector stakeholders and private sector market players.

She has led and supported with the design and execution of key activities: DSM PMO office establishment (institutional mechanisms & procedures, organisational objectives, priorities, budget requirements), implementation of operational plans and roadmaps, DSM savings monitoring and evaluation (via data collection, modelling, top management presentations), Capacity and Awareness Programmes.

As part of the AESG Strategy & Advisory team, she has expanded her expertise to accompany government and private sector to plan and implement their Net Zero/Decarbonisation, ESG and Sustainability Journey as it evolves over time. She supports clients to understand their key Net Zero drivers, reporting requirements, following with the design of a tailored Net Zero strategies, roadmaps, action plans, timelines, budget requirements and supporting tools to successfully implement their decarbonisation initiatives and achieve Net Zero goals.

Will's mission is to bring contemporary, sustainable landscape design to one million homes across the globe. 

He is advocating the benefits of a life lived closer to nature; empowering people to engage with climate, ecology, and biodiversity for healthier and happier lives. 

WILDEN, his next-generation landscape studio based in Dubai, uses innovative systems and online design to deliver visually stunning gardens. WILDEN connects clients with local expert landscape architects and contractors, specialising in native plants and local materials.

A UK Chartered Landscape Architect practicing in the United Arab Emirates since 2014, his portfolio is varied, bold, award-winning. It includes prestigious multi-disciplinary projects in previous roles including the Sustainability Pavilion for the Dubai Expo and has won several awards including Young Talent of the Year at the Design Middle East Awards.

Will is the Founder and Chief Nature Nerd at WILDEN!