Academic Commitee

Prof Sahar Attia

Board Member, Ecocity Builders, Chair UN Universities Network Initiative

Dr Sahar Attia is an Emeritus Professor of urban design at the Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University. She is a member of the Supreme Council of Urban Development in Egypt,  a member in the Stakeholders Advisory Group Enterprise UN-Habitat,  a board member of Ecocity Builders, and the vice-chair of the Science & technology working group in the International Parliamentary Union.  

Prof Juliet Davis

Head of Welsh School of Architecture and Author of Care in Cities: Ethics of Urbanism  

Juliet Davis is Professor of Architecture and Urbanism and Head of School at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University. Her teaching and research span the fields of Architecture, Urban Design and City Planning history and theory, reflecting interests in urban change and regeneration, post-industrial cities, health, wellbeing, and ethics.   

Juliet practiced architecture and urban design in London for ten years before entering academia in 2007, contributing to Eric Parry Architects’ regeneration of St. Martin in the Fields amongst other projects. She completed an AHRC-funded Ph.D at the London School of Economics’ Cities Programme in 2011. She is also a graduate of Cambridge University, completing a BA in Architecture in 1995 and a Diploma in Architecture in 1999.

Dr Costis Toregas

School of Engineering & Applied Science, George Washington University  & Ecocity Builders Board Member and Treasurer

Dr Costis Toregas is the Director of the Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute at The George Washington University (https://cspri.seas.gwu.edu/).  He is a respected consultant to national governments and intergovernmental organizations, and a much sought-after speaker on the impact of technology in government, sustainability, and society.   

Prof Siraj Sait

Director, Royal Docks School of Business & Law, University East London, Co-chair UN Habitat SAGE

Professor Siraj Sait is Director of the Noon Centre for Equality and Diversity, University of East London. A graduate of Madras, Harvard, and London universities, Sait is a human rights and development expert and has worked on projects in over 24 countries. He is a founder member of the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN), and Co-chair of the UN Habitat Stakeholder Advisory Group Enterprise (SAGE).  

Christina Olsen

Managing Director, Center for Ecocities, BCIT

 Christina Olsen is Manager of BCIT's Institute Sustainability office and its Centre for Ecocities where she uses her global 20-year background in sustainability research, consulting, and operational management to leverage system change at the organization and city level. She has previously worked with the San Francisco Planning Department, Nutter Consulting smart cities strategy firm, Wilson Center Urban Sustainability Lab, and Post Carbon Institute, among others. She is also on the board of the EcoSmart Foundation, a Vancouver non-profit organization developing multi-stakeholder initiatives in the renewable energy and green building sectors. Christina holds a master’s degree in Sustainability and Environmental Management from Harvard and a BA in Environmental Studies – with a joint major in Anthropology – from the University of Victoria.

“The Ecocity Summit is a tremendous gathering of city-focused people from all regions of the world and from all backgrounds: academics, youth activists, policy makers, urban planners, ecologists, and concerned citizens. Such diversity helps compost old ideas into fertile new directions of thinking, taking action, and working together. That’s what the theme of connecting communities is all about. It’s what’s desperately needed to transform our battered social and ecological systems.”   

Dr Luisa Bravo

Board Member, Ecocity Builders, Founder, City Space Architecture

Dr Luisa Bravo is a global academic scholar and educator, cultural entrepreneur, and public space activist. She has more than 20-years' experience in the professional field as urban planner and designer with a specific focus on public space. Her expertise is grounded in extensive academic postdoctoral research and teaching in Italy and Europe, the United States, Middle East, Asia and Australia. Luisa is the Founder and President of City Space Architecture, an Italian non-profit organization promoting public space culture globally in cooperation with UN-Habitat. Luisa is also a Board member of Ecocity Builders.  

Prof Catalina Turcu

Professor of Sustainable Built Environment, Bartlett, UCL

Catalina Turcu is Professor of Sustainable Built Environment at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London (UCL). Her work contributes to the understanding and measurement of urban sustainability at the local level. Theoretically, her research adds the institutional dimension to the traditional three-pillar (economic, social, environmental) understanding of sustainability.   

Empirically, Catalina examines sustainable urban transformations at the local level by integrating social, institutional, and physical aspects of the built environment. More specifically, Catalina’s core expertise spans across three areas: the role of institutions in shaping urban sustainability; the social context of urban sustainability; and material narratives of urban sustainability.   

She has published widely, contributed advisory roles to many national and international organisations, and fulfilled scientific appointments with the World Bank (WB), United Nations (UN), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and World Health Organisation (WHO). Catalina is a trained architect and worked in architecture and planning consultancy for 10 years before joining Academia.  

“Any sustainable city model remains largely a social and political challenge not a technical fix.”