Antje Stokman studied landscape architecture at Hanover University and Edinburgh College of Art. After graduation she gained practical experiences as a landscape architect in many international projects and was Associate Professor in Hanover University from 2005-2010. Since 2010 she is director of the Institute of Landscape Planning and Ecology within Stuttgart University and founding partner of the practice "osp urbanelandschaften" in Hamburg. Making use of the synergies between science, teaching and practice, her work evolves around the aim to develop new areas of involvement and design approaches for the profession of landscape architecture – by defining it as the art of integrating complex ecosystems, infrastructure systems and human lifeworlds. She was awarded the Topos Landscape Award in 2011, the Lower Saxony Science Prize in 2009 and is member of the German national advisory council on spatial planning since 2010. Since the implementation of the MSc IUSD, she is Director of Admissions and teaches in various courses within the IUSD. She is the Course Director of the MSc IUSD and teaches in various courses within the IUSD at University of Stuttgart.

Ines Wulfert studied at the University of Stuttgart, where she received her diploma of Architecture and Urban Planning in 2014. During her studies she developped a strong interest in projects with a social and ecological approach, which at the same time were not only planned, but also practically implemented in different cultural and spatial contexts. For that purpose she joined several international summerschools, in Southafrica, Egypt and Peru. During an internship of three months in a well established grassroots organisation  in Rwanda, she gained deep insights in the fields of architecture and infrastructure planning as tool for sustainable development aid. Since September 2014 Ines started to work as a research assistant at the Institute for International Urbanism and was part of the IUSD Course Coordination Team at the University of Stuttgart, where she represented Raoul Humpert during his PhD research trip to Tunisia.

Franziska Laue holds a Diploma in Architecture from TU Berlin and a M.Sc. in Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design (IUSD) Stuttgart/Cairo. Since 2003 she was engaged as a freelance advisor in projects in Germany, Syria and Burkina Faso and Egypt. From 2007 until 2011 she worked for the GIZ Urban Development Programme (UDP) in Aleppo. Since 2008 she was involved in local and international conferences, exhibitions and publications on local identity, informal urban development in the MENA region. Recently, Franziska was member of exhibition and publication teams for “Aleppo Archive” (DOC Aleppo) on urban heritage conservation and archiving as well as “Space Time Dignity Rights” (DAZ Berlin) on refugee camp improvement strategies. She has published on a long-term research on informal urban growth in Damascus, Syria. A present academic focus is climate change adaptation in the MENA region. Since October 2013 she is research assistant at the International Urbanism Institute and is part of the IUSD Course Coordination Team at University of Stuttgart.

Lynn Mayer obtained the degree of Architecture at the University of Stuttgart in 2005. She worked in the architectural office LCM in Mexico City and took terms abroad in Barcelona and Cairo during her studies. After her thesis, she worked as a senior project architect for LIGANOVA, a multidisciplinary office of Brand&Retail Marketing in Stuttgart, Berlin and London. Her projects included mainly the interior design and furniture design, CI Design and Marketingstrategies for several Brands like Hugo Boss, Levi´s Blue and Dr. Hauschka. Parallel to her professional practice with small architectural projects, she is a research assistant at Stuttgart University at the Instiute of Urban Design. Since September 2011 Lynn was also a reseach assistant at the International Urbanism Institute and part of IUSD Course Coordination Team at University of Stuttgart.

Sandra Meireis graduated in 2010 with a diploma in architecture and design from the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart, where she subsequently became a teaching assistant in the department of architectural history, theory and criticism. During this period she was enrolled at the Architectural Association, London studying 2011/12 in the MA programme History and Critical Thinking. Following her main area of interest her master's thesis focused on the political relevance of (derelict) urban spaces in London, Berlin and Warsaw, so-called domains in abeyance. The prospective subject of her PhD continues to conduct this research. Since April 2013 Sandra is a research assistant at the International Urbanism Institute, was part of the IUSD Team and is now involved as external expert within the IUSD at University of Stuttgart.

After completing a Diploma in Architecture and Urban Design (Stuttgart University) at Prof. Kurt Ackermann in 1991, Matthias Rottner worked as a building planner and an architect in different architecture offices in Stuttgart (Heinle, Wischer and Partners, Fahlbusch and Köhler Architects, Rainer Walder Architects). Center of his interest was the planning of hospitals and retirement homes. Since 1996 he collaborated as an assistant lecturer at the Department of Planning and Construction with Prof. José Moro at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of Stuttgart University. In 2006 the complete department changed to the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning. He was teaching in the "Sustainable Architecture" Core Module within the IUSD at University of Stuttgart.

Architect and urban planner, educated at Cambridge University and the Architectural Association London. Doctoral thesis “CampCities–Community-driven Planning for Urbanised Refugee Camps” (2009). He was professor at the institut for International Urbanism at the University of Stuttgart (2010–2013) and co-initiated the IUSD program.

Raoul Cyril Humpert studied at the École Nationale Supérieure d´Architecture de Montpellier, France and the University of Stuttgart, Germany where he received his diploma of Architecture and Urbanism in 2012. During his education, he developed a strong interest in the multidisciplinarity of architecture and gained extensive practical and international experiences while working for landscape architects Pfrommer + Roeder, architecture photographer Roland Halbe and Shanghai-based French interior design office LIME388. He also participated in different workshops for mudbrick constructions in Lyon, for walkable cities in Hefei, for public schoolyards in Cairo and for water sensitive urban design in Lima. Additionally Raoul worked as a student assistant at the Institute for Art and Design and the Institute for International Urbanism at the University of Stuttgart. He hold a teaching position at the University of Innsbruck and since November 2012 Raoul is research assistant at the International Urbanism Institute and is part of the IUSD Course Coordination Team at University of Stuttgart. 2014 he participated in the cultural exchange program CCP by the IFA in the „Association pour la Sauvegard de la Médina“ in Tunis as well as he started his PhD research on the „Influence of traditional architecture on inhabitant’s satisfaction“ at the Institute of Housing and Design.

Marwa Dabaieh is an Egyptian architect and BioGeometry practitioner, worked for the last 12 years in the field of sustainable architectural conservation, environmental design and energy efficiency buildings. Marwa received her bachelor degree in architecture from Egypt in 2001. She earned a master degree in environmental design in 2006 and a PhD in conservation of vernacular architecture in 2011 from Lund University in Sweden. Marwa mainly applies transdisciplinary approaches in her research work through participatory action research methods. She received the Swedish Elna Bengtssons foundation prize for scientific research in 2012 for her PhD project in the Western Desert of Egypt. Marwa had several publications and lectures in the fields of energy efficiency buildings, sustainable conservation, environmental design, vernacular architecture and BioGeometry. As a practitioner, she participated in several design projects in Egypt, MENA region and Europe. She joined the teaching staff of IUSD master program at Ain Shams University during fall 2012. Marwa’s research focus was passive low-tech vernacular methods and their adaptation for contemporary energy efficient and zero energy building practice.

After completing a Diploma in Architecture and Urban Design (TU Berlin), the Bauhauskolleg Transitspaces (Bauhaus Dessau) and a MA in Planning Research and Theory (The University of Sheffield) Nina Gribat obtained her PhD on the topic of “Governing the Future of a Shrinking City: Hoyerswerda, East Germany” at the Department of Architecture and Planning at Sheffield Hallam University. Her research interests include governing processes of urban shrinkage and informal urban developments. Nina often works with Foucault's writings on governmentality and their potential contributions to reconceptualising critical planning and urban theory. Since April 2011 Nina was part of the IUSD Course Coordinatino Team and teaching in the "Urban Policy, Planning and Sustainable Urban Management" Core Module. Between 2013 and 2014 she was interim director of the International Urbanism Institute at University of Stuttgart.

Marwa A. Khalifa has obtained her B.Sc. & M.Sc., “Urban Planning” specialization from Ain Shams University (ASU), while her PhD was a joint supervision between ASU and the University of Sheffield, UK. Dr. Khalifa has major interest in environmental assessment, strategic planning, upgrading of informal settlements and participatory planning approaches. She combines the advantages of having both the theoretical grounds and practical application experience. She has been teaching and supervising multidisciplinary topics, both undergraduate and postgraduate since 1996 and is currently Associate Professor at the Department of Urban Planning and Design. Simultaneously, she provided consultancy services to both national organizations such as General Organization for Physical Planning and Informal Settlement Development Facility as well as International Organizations such as UN-Habitat related to her area of expertise mentioned above. Additionally, since 2007 she has participated and coordinated several international cooperation projects with universities in EU, Latin America, South Asia and MENA Region related to higher education reform in the field of participatory planning and natural resources management. Since the start of IUSD Marwa is intensively involved with the program teaching electives (informal settlement development) and Master Thesis supervison at the Ain Shams University in Cairo.

Mohamed Asar is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, where he received his Bachelors degree in 1997 & PhD in Architecture & Environmental Design in 2008.  He obtained his M.Arch in Human settlements from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium in 2000. Recently, he works as a Senior Technical Consultant & Advisor for both the General Organization of Physical Planning & the Technical Committee for the Higher Supreme Council of Planning & Urban development in Egypt. His research interests include environmental adaptation of buildings as well as sustainable design with the use of instruments during fieldwork & utilizing simulation programs to improve thermal performance of buildings. The strategies & process of dealing with Informal settlements and the urban poor is of special interest. He was part of the IUSD Course Coordination and is now external experts for Supervision of Master Theses within the IUSD at Ain Shams University.

Mai Moustafa Sabry received her BSc. in Architecture Department in 2009 from Ain Shams University, Cairo. She is MSc. candidate at Ain Shams University and currently working on her Master thesis. She attended several courses and workshops through the CNRD student exchange program in Cologne, Germany. Mai has worked as an architect at IDG consultancy offices in Cairo in 2009, she worked also as a Teacher Assistant at the department of Architecture “Misr international University” between the time 2010 and 2012. From September 2012 till March 2013 Mai was part of the IUSD Course Coordination Team at Ain Shams University.

Nouran Azouz received her BSc. in Urban Planning and Design in 2009 from Ain Shams University, Cairo. Nouran is MSc. Candidate at Ain Shams University; her on-going Master thesis is on the “Good Urban Governance of Informal settlements in Metropolitan Areas”. She attended several courses and workshops through the CNRD student exchange program in the Faculty of Applied Sciences, ITT, Cologne, Germany. Nouran worked for “Takween” for Integrated Communities, where she participated in a UNESCO report on rehabilitation of historic Cairo. She also participated in “Tadamun” project, which is under the partnership of the AU of Washington and Ford Organization, as a researcher on the issues of Urban Governance in Egypt in correspondence to Global Models. She was part of the IUSD Course Coordination Team at Ain Shams University.

Mona Mannoun received her BSc in Architectural Engineering from Misr International University, Egypt in 2008. Her Master thesis at the Department of Urban Planning at Ain Shams University, 2014 is on “Self-developed Areas in Egypt”, focusing on the urban fabric and the architectural elements  of different case studies in Egypt and Germany that depend on people who build their own neighborhood. In addition, Mona Mannoun works on a hands-on project related to informal settlements. She worked at ökoplan and IDG consultancy offices in Cairo between 2009 to 2010 and 2010 to 2012. Mona was the assistant programme coordinator for the MSc IUSD at Ain Shams University Cairo.

Ebtihal Abbas is an urban planner and designer holding a MSc. in Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design (IUSD) from Stuttgart University in Germany and Ain Shams University (ASU) in Egypt. Ebtihal completed her bachelor of Regional and Urban Planning from Cairo University in 2004. Since then, she has been actively engaged in international multidisciplinary environments in both Egypt and Gulf Cooperation Council (G.C.C) where she was involved in projects varying from a national level to municipal, city centers and neighborhoods’ redevelopment. ‘Urban Development and Revitalization of Downtown-Cairo’ in Egypt, the ‘Pearl-Qatar in Doha’ and ‘Qatar National Master Plan’ in the G.C.C are among the major projects she participated in. Her interests in the role of civil society as well as the influences of political and socio-economical factors on urban development were the basis for her masters’ dissertation. She has also been involved in some freelancing projects, such as taking part in ‘Preparing the Guidance Physical Plans for the Egyptian Villages’- (GOPP), copyediting of the Arabic exhibition contents for ‘Space, Time, Dignity, Rights’- (UNRWA) and assisting in the community participation process for upgrading historical areas in old Cairo in ‘Al Athar Lena’ – (DEDI). She joined the IUSD Course Coordination Team at Ain Shams University in October 2013.

Yasar A. Adanali has a BA on social and political sciences from Sabanci University (Istanbul) and a master degree on development and planning: social development practice from Development Planning Unit, University College London, with specific focus on poverty reduction and social inclusion policies and practices at the urban level. His ongoing PhD research is on spaces of democracy and planning of informally developed neighborhoods in Istanbul. In addition to Ä°stanbul, he has worked in the cities of South America, Africa and the Middle East on various urban development related researches and hands-on projects. He teaches a masters’ course on participatory planning practice at TU Darmstadt. In 2011 he has been awarded the Urban Planning Journalism Award by the Turkish Chamber of Urban Planners. Yasar is guest lecturer within the IUSD at University of Stuttgart.

Since obtaining her BSc(Hons) in Architecture at the University of East London in 2002, Julia’s work experience with award-winning practices such as WWMArchitects (London) and ‘die Baupiloten’ (Berlin) has ranged from public space design to the scale of strategic urban framework plans and has included clients such as the London Development Agency (LDA), Hackney Council (London), Nature Park Vitosha (Bulgaria), and Amnesty International. Julia has also been teaching design-build workshop formats at several Universities in Britain and Bulgaria and worked with NGOs Shoreditch Trust (UK), THF (TAR, China) and Ziva Zemia (Bulgaria) on issues of resident-led urban regeneration and local construction skills transfer. In 2013, she completed the MSc IUSD at the University of Stuttgart with a thesis on neighbourhood-based urban upgrading and mobilization processes in Cairo’s informal settlements. Her current research interests evolve around marginalized urban spaces, their inhabitants, and the potential they harbour for the construction, sustenance and defence of the urban commons.  A member of several exhibition and publication teams, Julia has recently made editorial contributions to the exhibitions “Beyond Tourism-Zanzibar” (with Weissenhof-Galerie Stuttgart 2013); “Space Time Dignity Rights-Improving Palestinian Refugee Camps” (with UNRWA and GIZ 2012) and to the 2014/2 issue of “Trialog - Journal for Planning and Building in the Third World”.

After receiving her B.Sc. in Architectural Engineering, Youhansen Eid received her M. Arch. (1986), and her Ph.D. in Urban Planning from the University of Southern California (1992). Since then, she has worked at the Faculty of Engineering ASU. She held the positions of head of the department of Urban Planning (2007-2009) and Vice-Dean at the Faculty of Engineering (2009-2011). Prof. Eid conducted a private architectural and planning practice and held planning consulting positions in some agencies in Egypt including GAEB and GOPP. Her research interests include the impact of socio-political and technological changes on urban form, strategic planning and sustainability. Currently she is Professor of Urban Planning at Ain Shams University and Visiting Professor at the British University Egypt. She was Head of Admission for the IUSD programme and involved in teaching and supervision of master theses at Ain Shams University.

Ingo Helmedag studied architecture at Hanover University and at Graz University of Technology. After graduating from Hanover University he worked as an architect in a number of projects. Starting in 1993, he has taught as an assistant professor for Building Construction and Design at Dresden University of Technology. For the Faculty of Architecture, he established the European Erasmus Program and furthered worldwide University exchange. In 1998, he was a visiting professor at the UBC, Vancouver. His focus and research interest is on building technique and sustainable design. After joining DAAD in 2008, Ingo Helmedag became professor for Building Techniques and Design at the German Jordanian University (GJU) in Amman, where he remained until his transfer to Cairo’s Ain Shams University (IUSD Master Program) in September 2012.

Gerd Lüers is a senior advisor, trainer and coach in the field of organisation development with focal areas in international development cooperation and institutional capacity building. With an educational background of a political scientist he has worked in the field of German and European ODA since 1992, both as an officer responsible of project design and implementation as well as an advisor and evaluator of Technical Assistance projects worldwide. Based on this experience he began to be interested in the design and implementation of successful institutional change processes and found a promising approach in systemic organisation development. After completing a two year education in this field he, since 2010, is increasingly active in advising public and private organisations in achieving effective change which is fully build on the organisation’s own resources and motivation. With his own professional record as a long- and short term expert in many countries of the Near and Middle East and South Asia Gerd Lüers is furthermore working as a trainer and coach in the field of intercultural sensitization and conflict management. Since the start of IUSD Gerd is intensively involved with the program holding workshops on "Team Building", "Conflict Management", and "Project management" at the University of Stuttgart.

Daniel Schoenle studied architecture and urban planning at Universitaet Stuttgart, Germany. He graduated in 2002 with a thesis on urban development in Paris (Prof. Wolfgang Schwinge, Institut Grundlagen moderner Architektur und Entwerfen). During his studies, he worked for ecosystems in India, ORplan in Stuttgart and Manderscheid Architekten in Rottenburg, Germany. Two years after graduating he was self-employed and freelanced for Pantle Architekten in Ludwigsburg. From 2004 to 2007, he worked for bueroschneidermeyer in Stuttgart and was mainly responsible for urban and landscape planning projects. Already since 2003, he has successfully taken part in competitions together with various collaborators. He spent the summer of 2007 in Peking and, together with Universal Architecture Studio (today: TAO), worked out development concepts for Chinese cities. Since then, he engages in interdisciplinary cooperation with various national and international offices and partners. Since 2008, he is listed as an Independent Architect and Urban Planner and owns a practice in Stuttgart. In addition to practical planning, Daniel Schoenle engages in research and teaching at various universities. He lectured at Universitaet Stuttgart, at Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design, and at Biberach University of Applied Sciences (Prof. Ute Meyer). From March 2010 to August 2011, he was assistant professor at the Institute of Urban Planning at Universitaet Stuttgart, subdivision local and regional planning, Prof. Johann Jessen. Daniel is teaching in the IUSD module "Integrated Research and Design" at the University of Stuttgart.

Mona Helmy is an architect, urbanist, and educator. She received her Doctoral degree in Architecture and City Planning from University of Stuttgart. She holds a Master's degree in Urban Design and a Bachelor of Architecture from Ain Shams University “ASU”, Cairo, Egypt. She is an Assistant professor of Architecture and Urbanism at Dar Al-Hekma University (DAHU), Jeddah, KSA. She was the Founding Chair of the Architecture Department at DAHU. She has taught numerous courses, conducted several design studios and collaborative workshops on a wide variety of topics. Her taught courses range from sustainable urbanism, city branding, affordable housing and green architecture in the built environment. Since 2010, she has been a research fellow at the Städtebau-Institut “SI” of the University of Stuttgart. Her current research studies focus on “Creative Public Space” and “City Imaging and Branding”. Since 2014, Mona is teaching an elective Module “City Branding” at the IUSD, University of Stuttgart. As a consultant and advisor in urban design, city branding, and Contemporary Arab Gulf urbanism, she has contributed to a number of significant planning projects and specialized planning and design studies. She is a member of a number of scientific committees in international conferences, symposia, and refereed.

Shafak El Wakil received her B.Sc. and MSc in 1971 and 1975 respectively from Ain Shams University. She obtained her PhD from Stuttgart University in 1980. Prof. El Wakil has been academically active since 1971, ending with being the head of the urban planning department (2001-2007). She currently holds the position of Emeritus professor in the department. Professor El wakil has many fields of interest including, strategic urban and regional planning, climatology and environment as well as architecture. Her interests are reflected in her professional career through the national projects she conducted and headed in her office such as the new city of Assiut and the New city of Toshka. She is also an active consultant to the Ministry of Housing and was the former adviser of the Minister of Environment in the early 2000s, where she represented the Ministry in several International events in North Africa and Europe. She has been awarded the Ain Shams University award for arts and literature for the year 2012. She has supervised and guided many MSc and PhD dissertations. In 2012/2013 and she held the course of upgrading informal settlements within the IUSD Master Program in Cairo.

Dominique Gauzin-Müller is a French architect, author and journalist living in Stuttgart since 1986 together with her German husband and their two children. She collaborates as author and translator with a few editors and works regularly with many European reviews. She is redactor in chief of EcologiK, a French magazine about sustainable architecture and urbanism. She already wrote seven books, mostly published by Editions du Moniteur, Paris, and translated in several languages: 1990 "La construction en bois", 1999 "Construire avec le bois, 2001 "L'architecture écologique"(in English “Sustainable architecture and urbanism” by Birkhäuser), 2003 "25 maisons en bois" (in English “Wood Houses” by Birkhäuser), 2005 "25 maisons écologiques" (in English “Sustainable living” by Birkhäuser), 2009 “L’architecture écologique du Vorarlberg”. Dominique Gauzin-Müller shares her passion for sustainability in architecture and urbanism through conferences and workshops all over the world. She teaches at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture in Strasbourg and at the University of Stuttgart. Since 2011 Dominique is teaching in the Core Module “Sustainable Architecture” of the IUSD at the University of Stuttgart.

Victoria von Gaudecker has been studying architecture at the Bauhaus University in Weimar, the Politecnico in Milano, Italy and the Virginia Tech University in Alexandria, USA. In 1997 she graduated at the Bauhaus University Weimar, in the very same year Victoria founded her own architectural firm. From 2000 to 2005 she was working as project manager for the atelier of Adolf Krischanitz in Vienna, Austria. During her engagement she was responsible for various projects in urban planning and architecture. Together with Katharina Leuschner Victoria founded the Munich-based architectural office Leuschner von Gaudecker Architekten in 2005. The work of the office is characterized by a very specific approach in search of precise volumes, moods and atmospheres, which led to the nomination for the young talents award of the City of Munich in 2014. Victoria has been teaching at the institute for public building and design of Prof. Arno Lederer at the University of Stuttgart from 2005 to 2014. In the past years, her teaching focus was on design-built projects in South Africa and Peru engaging with vernacular architecture and pursuing a social and ecological approach. Since 2014 Victoria is teaching in the Core Module “Sustainable Architecture” of the IUSD at the University of Stuttgart.

Ferdinand Ludwig is a pioneering architect in the field of “Living Plant Constructions” (Baubotanik). In the recent years he designed and realized highly regarded projects that combine growth processes of living plants with an engineering approach. In his PhD-studies, he develops multiple horticultural construction techniques and analysed botanical rules of growth to deduce construction rules for living plant constructions. In 2007 he was one of the co-founders of the “Research Group Baubotanik” at the Institute of Architectural Theory at the University of Stuttgart (www.baubotanik.org/en). Since that time he organized different workshops and hold many lectures on Living Plant Constructions at the University of Stuttgart and worldwide. Since 2011 Ferdinand is teaching in the Elective “Designing with growth” of the IUSD at the University of Stuttgart.

Study of Architecture in Stuttgart and University of California, Berkeley (1971Master) Social Science, Stuttgart, 1969/70; Systems Research, Heidelberg, 1972-81 (Environmental Planning); Doctor 1977; 1982  IGP, Stuttgart University. Habilitation,1988.  A.pl.Professor for Design Methods and – Theories, 1995.Interim Director of IGP 1990-92; Interim Professorship for Design Theory at the Faculty for Industrial Design, Essen, 1993; Own Architecture Office 1989-98; Institute for Housing and Design at Stuttgart as Professor for Design Methods, 1998 – present. Guest Professor at University for Industrial Design, Schwäbisch Gmünd, 1999/2000 and at Chung Yuan University in Taiwan, 2003. Since 2006 until now Guest Professor at Tongji University, Shanghai. Research and teaching mainly in the fields of Theories and Methods of Design and Planning, Strategies of Urban Planning, power in architecture and planning, knowledge of architects and planners, the role of politics in planning, theory and methods and tools of argumentation in design and planning. Various publications in the named areas. Since 2012 Prof. Reuter is teaching in the IUSD Core Qualification Module “Master Thesis Exposé” at the University of Stuttgart.

He is an urban planner, designer and architect. After obtaining his B.Sc. 1999, and his M.Sc. degree 2006 in Architecture from Cairo University with a research on culture and architectural programming in the context of urban development. He holds a PhD in Architecture-International urbanism from the Berlin Technical University - Habitat Unit, Germany (DAAD scholarship 2009-2014). His PhD research title is: “Culture and informal urban development: A case study of Cairo’s informal settlements”. With a wide experience in Integrated Urban Development in the global south cities, his research interest focuses on: studying the people-urban space relations, Culture understanding in urban development context, appropriate urban planning instruments and participative processes, analysis of informal processes within Informal settlements and strategies for informal settlements upgrading. He has been invited as a guest lecturer in several master programs (e.g. Urban management, urban design-TU Berlin). In addition, he participated as an expert in several international workshops and seminars in different cities in Germany, Egypt, India, and Tanzania. Currently he works as a research associate at the Habitat Unit, Berlin Technical university, in partnership with IUSD-Cairo, Ain Shams University on the research project: Development Priorities in Informal Areas: ?Planning, Realization and Local Perceptions  (DEVEPER). He is currently invited by the IUSD- Cairo to co-lecture at the ICS (integrated case study) module, WS014, working on an informal area in Cairo. He is also involved in advising the students at TU Berlin Urban development master program at Campus EL-Gouna in a semester project that deals with “informal settlement” in Hurghada city.

Architect Wolfgang Mayer was educated at Innsbruck University and Stuttgart University (Dipl.Ing. 1974) He worked as a scientific member of the German Institute of Archaeology, Egypt (1975 – 1981), responsible of several excavations and for the reconstruction of the Satet Temples at Aswan, Elephantine. At that time he was a member of the UNESCO team for the restoration of medieval Cairo. 1981 - 1991 he worked as field Conservator at the Department of Conservation, Baden-Württemberg, responsible of the history of construction and art. He continued as senior Conservator and head of the department for the protection of historic monuments and historic town planning at the City of Stuttgart. All that time he was lecturing at Stuttgart University Conservation and Preservation of Monuments and Architectural Design in Historical Areas. In 1998 - 2005 he was lecturing at Cairo University as Visiting Professor and worked as a consultant, Project coordinator and researcher for the German Archaeological Institute, the GIZ and the Aga Khan Foundation, Al Azhar project. In 2005 he took over the Cairo office of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation, Egypt, working on the field of participatory urban planning, environment, gender and human rights. Many programs were in cooperation with Goethe Institute, DAAD, Cairo University and GIZ. Since 2012 he is working as lecturer in the international Master Program “Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design IUSD” at Stuttgart University and as a freelancing consultant.

May Al-Ibrashy is a licensed architectural engineer with close to 30 years of field experience in conservation and heritage management in Historic Cairo. She holds a BSc in Architectural Engineering from Ain Shams University, an MA in Art, Architecture and Archaeology and a PhD in Archaeology from the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London. She is currently founder and chair of Megawra-Built Environment Collective, a twin institution consisting of Egyptian NGO and consultancy working on issues of the built environment. She coordinates Athar Lina, an initiative run by Megawra-BEC in partnership with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Athar Lina conceives of the heritage as a driver for community development and as such works on heritage conservation and rehabilitation, heritage industries and education and urban revitalization in al-Khalifa. Al-Ibrashy is also adjunct lecturer of architecture at the American University in Cairo and at Cairo University.

Kareem Ibrahim is an Egyptian architect and urban researcher who graduated from Cairo University in 1995. In 1997, he worked on UNDP’s Historic Cairo Rehabilitation Project. He then worked for Aga Khan Cultural Services-Egypt as the Built Environment Coordinator (1997-2010) of the Darb al‑Ahmar Project, one of Cairo’s most ambitious urban revitalization programs. Between 2010 and 2017, he worked as Senior Development Manager for Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate - one of Cairo's largest real estate development projects.

​He also worked as a senior expert with a range of international development agencies, including UNESCO, UNHCR, UN Women, AFD, EIB, GIZ, World Bank, USAID, and the British Museum to develop and implement various projects in areas of urban conservation and revitalization, participatory urban development, upgrading of informal areas, gender-sensitive urban design, placemaking, and development of urban policies.

​In 2018, he received the Egyptian State Award for architecture (design and building for local communities in informal areas.) He was also selected as a member of the Master Jury of the 2019 cycle of the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

Additionally, he is one of the four founding partners and CEO of Takween Integrated Community Development, a Company now celebrating over 10 years in business.

Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, Vice Dean for PostGraduate Studies and Scientific Research, Faculty of Engineering Science, Misr International University (MIU) and adjunct Faculty; Departments of Arts, Graphic Design and Architectural Engineering and School of Science and Engineering, American University in Cairo (AUC). Part-timer, Post Graduate Studies, Department of Architecture, Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT). Member, International Ranking Committee, Scientific Research Academy, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Member; Global Centre of Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability (GCSMUS) and SEED Project Towards Equitable Learning Curricula in Schools of Urban Planning and Design, DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). Co-director; Architecture and Children Work Programme, International Union of Architects (UIA). Director; House of Egyptian Architecture, Cultural Development Fund, ministry of Culture. Supervised and examined over 50 Masters and Ph.D. theses locally and internationally. Published more than 40 refereed international scientific researches. Contributed in, collectively and individually 10 published international books and book chapters, in addition to numerous articles in renowned local and international magazines. Member; Architecture Committee- Supreme Council for Culture, Ministry of Culture, Egyptian Society for Culture Development, Society of Egyptian Architects and International Association for Aesthetics (IAA). Founder; Built Environment Education Lab (BEE.Egypt) “Architecture and Children-Egypt”; Introduces architecture, heritage, and sustainability to children and teens through participatory design workshops, walkthroughs, trips and bootcamps in Egypt and worldwide. Joined and presented in more than 30 exhibitions, symposia and colloquia around the world. Former expert, Real City Lab Project, Faculty of Fine Arts - Technical University of Berlin (TUB). Former member, Technical Committee for Developing Educational Curricula and Programs, Supreme Council for Universities. Former editor, author, and translator of local and international architectural magazines. Jury in local and international architectural awards and competitions.

Mohammad H. Refaat graduated from the faculty of Urban & Regional planning Cairo University (Hons 1989). He was appointed as a teaching assistant and later was awarded a Chevenning scholarship to obtain his PhD in Landscape Architecture from Edinburgh University, UK (1995) with a thesis on " The Egyptian Landscape and Tourism a Study of the Egyptian Red Sea Coast Landscape Planning Process".

 From 1995 till 2014 he acted as an assistant and associate professor at Cairo University teaching and conducting the Landscape Planning, Landscape Architecture, Urban Landscape and Sustainable Landscape ecology courses on both levels under and post graduate. At present, he holds  the chair of a Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Faculty of Urban & Regional Planning, Cairo University, as well as Head of Urban Landscape Design Department, as well as the Director of The Center of URBAF (Center for African Urban Development . His research interests include landscape planning, landscape design, sustainable tourism, urban parks and eco-parks, waterfronts cultural landscapes. He has published several papers in the International Journal of Development and Sustainability, the International Journal of education & Research, Journal of Urban Research. In addition to academia, he is the founder of the Landscape architecture and planning firm NATURE since 2005. He designed and supervised several landscape planning & design projects in Egypt and the Middle East,(in cooperation with several international firms such as HOK, WAG, 360 and Edge), some of these projects are the city of Khartoum Sudan, Water front landscape, the Olympic City in Basra, Iraq, the water front development of Aseer, KSA, Abha, Tabouk, Najran, KSA Airports, Salalah at Oman, halab, Syria.  Domestically, he designed several tourist resorts along the Red Sea coast as well as some public parks, clubs, residential compounds, streetscapes in Cairo. Also, he has worked as a consultant for the World Bank (Cairo, Egypt) in the Red Sea Sustainable Tourism Projects, and the Tourism development Authority (TDA), the Global Environmental Fund (GEF), and The Ministry of Environmental Affairs (EEAA).He is also, an athlete a retired national handball player, and currently a Board member at the Federation and participated as an LOC of the World Cup Egypt 2021.