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AGORA CAUMME 2020 Conference

In Academic
Wednesday, December 2, 2020

GUC’s Faculty of Architecture hosted AGORA CAUMME (Contemporary Architecture and Urbanism in the Mediterranean and the Middle East) - Mediterranean: Between expansion and regeneration Conference 2020 at GUC. The three-days international online conference on GUC’s premises started on November 25th and was concluded on the 27th.

 

The joint-hybrid conference is a collaboration between GUC represented by AGORA research platform” initiated in 2019 by Prof. Dr. José Manuel Pagés Madrigal, Director of Architecture and Urban Design Program GUC and M.ARCH. Husam R. Husain, Instructor of Architecture and Urban Design Program GUC, General Secretary of AGORA CAUMME 2020 Conference, and AUMME (Architecture and Urbanism in the Mediterranean and the Middle East) which is a research platform initiated in 2010 by Professors Ashraf Salama, Hossein Sadri and Murat Soygeniş, who are academics and experts from various countries of the EU (European Union) and the Mediterranean.

 

The conference was attended by numerous academics and experts from around the Mediterranean and EU. They were greeted by Prof. Dr. Ashraf Mansour, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the GUC and Prof. Dr. Yasser Higazy, GUC President, Prof Dr. Paolo Colarossi, Conference President, Director of GUC’s Architecture and Urban Design Program, as well as founders of the AUMME research platform.

 

In his opening speech, Prof. Mansour emphasized the importance of the role of universities in policy making as contributors of strategies based on scientific data and providers of qualified graduates capable of implementation and enablers of reform. Prof. Mansour exemplified this notion through GUC’s Branding Egypt initiative, that was further supported and facilitated by the Egyptian government to both enable and advance Egypt’s sustainable urban development in a modern unified outlook of its identity and heritage across governorates.

 

Additionally, he kindly announced granting a contribution of 100,000 Euros from the GUC to develop architectural curricula across participating universities to include rehabilitation and affordable housing as strategic lines in their intended learning outcomes to meet the challenges of the countries in both the North and the South of the Mediterranean region. On the last day of the conference Prof. Dr. Yasser Higazy, GUC President, ended the conference with a speech thanking all the partners of this conference specially Prof. Dr. José Madrigal and the UFM (Union for the Mediterranean) for fostering the role of universities of the Euro-Mediterranean countries.

 

AGORA CAUMME 2020 Conference had fruitful talks and valued contributions from over 20 countries, 78 presentations, 10 keynote speeches, with over 600 virtual attendants on the first and second days. On the third day, the GUC was honored to host the launch of the UFM 2040 Action Plan for Affordable Housing, which gives direction and insights to all involved actors and stakeholders in both the EU and UFM. Furthermore, a meeting of Architecture and Urban Planning Schools of the Euro- Med region and PAUMME Competition followed and concluded the last day.

 

Academic Structure of the Conference:

The Five Main Partners of the Conference were: GUC, AGORA, AUMME, The University of Palermo, DE- Urban Design Studios and UFM was a strategic partner with GUC to launch the 2040 Action Plan from the Transportation and Urban development Sector of this Institution.

  1. Conference President: Prof. Dr. Paolo Colarossi, Former Director of Urban Planning at the “La Sapienza” University, Rome, Italy  
  2. Head of the Scientific Committee: Prof. Dr. Jose M. Pagés Madrigal, , Director of Architecture and Urban Design Program GUC
  3. Founders of AUMME:
  • Prof. Dr. Ashraf Salama, Professor of Architecture and Director of Research on Architecture and Urbanism in the Global South University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
  • Prof. Dr. Hossein Sadri, Professor of Architecture and Urban Design and Lecturer of Architecture Contemporary Challenges at Coventry University UK
  • Prof. Dr. Murat Soygeniş FAIA RIBA UIA, Architect and Professor Founding Partner of S+ Architecture
  1. List of Keynote Speakers:
  • Prof. Dr. Paolo Colarossi, Former Director of Urban Planning at the “La Sapienza” University, Rome, Italy
  • Prof. Dr. Martha Thorne, Dean of IE School of Architecture and Design, Madrid, Spain and Executive Director of Pritzker Architecture Prize
  • Prof. Dr. Ashraf Salama, Professor of Architecture and Director of Research on Architecture and Urbanism in the Global South University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
  • Prof. Dr. Carola Hein, Professor and Head of the History of Architecture and Urban Planning Chair at TU Delft
  • Prof. Dr. Maurizio Carta, Professor of Urbanism and Regional Planning, Academic Senator of the University of Palermo
  • Prof. Dr. Hossein Sadri, Professor of Architecture and Urban Design and Lecturer of Architecture Contemporary Challenges at Coventry University UK
  • Prof. Dr. Olimpia Niglio, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
  • Prof. Dr. Murat Soygeniş FAIA RIBA UIA, Architect and Professor Founding Partner of S+ Architecture
  • Prof. Dr. Nicholas Anastasopoulos, School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA)
  • Jorge Mario Jauregui, famous architect, doctor honoris causa by Universidad Nacional de Rosario awarded sixth Veronica Rudge green prize in urban design, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, GSD. by Harvard
  • UNESCO Chair Earthen Architecture: Camilla Mileto & Fernando Vegas, Universitat Politecnica Valencia Spain

 

  1.  Speakers in the UFM launching ceremony co-hosted by GUC:

  • Dr. Horst Lorenz Seehofer, Minister of the Interior, Building and Community

  • Ambassador Ayşe Asya, UFM Deputy Secretary General in charge of Transport & Urban Development

  • Jumana Attyat, Director general, Housing and Urban Development, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

  • Ambassador Nasser Kamel, Union for the Mediterranean Secretary General

  • German Bernal, Policy Officer for International Cooperation– Southern Mediterranean countries, DG EAC

  • Laura Hetel, Policy Officer for the Southern Mediterranean Countries, DG RTD

Main Topics: Urban Transformation, Urban Informals under the umbrella of four methodological perspectives: Landscape, History, Socio-Economic, and Geo-Politics.