7th Future Landscape and Playspaces KSA

Dr. Abeer Alotaibi

Director - CIFAL Saudi Arabia

Hatem Ibrahim

Irrigation Manager - Green Riyadh

Charalampos Chaitas

Executive Director Arts & Culture Strategy - Qiddiya Investment Company

Fahad Al Rushaid

Landscape Design Team - NEOM

Salem Ibrahim Al Saudi

Landscape Manager - Misk City

Salah Younis

Director of Projects - Nabatat Company

Dr. Lobna A. Mostafa

Senior Specialist, Community Development & Placemaking - ICON Spaces

Dr. Lobna is an architect, urbanist, and expert in sustainable urbanism and community engagement. She is an Architecture and Urban Design professor with a Ph.D. in “Governance of Urban Development with Stakeholder Involvement.” She has conducted research and published scientific articles on the environment- behavior studies, place branding, and quality of life. She also published her first book, “A Model for Governance for Urban Development with Community Engagement”, in 2017. A member of international and national professional bodies: the UIA working group of “Community Architecture and Human Rights,” the Board of Directors of the Saudi Urban Society, Omran, in Riyadh, the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA), the Asian Society for Behavioral Studies (AMRA), the Saudi Planners Association, and the Egyptian Architects Society (EAS).

Lobna is a co-founder and board member of the Amaken Placemaking Org., an NGO for Placemaking in the Arab States. It aims to support efforts to engage local communities in shaping their public spaces and enhancing the quality of life in their cities. She is also a regional leader at the International Network of PlacemakingX. She participated in developing the National Strategy for Urban Transformation. She led, organized, and implemented many placemaking community workshops and training in different Arab cities. She is a member of the Journal of Public Spaces advisory board.

She is an editor of Placemaking Guides and toolkits to engage the community and children in co-designing public spaces. And an advisory board member of the Journal of Public Spaces. She is also a member of the National Strategy for Urban Transformation advisory committee.

Hossam Shareif

Consultant for the Architecture Program - Prince Sultan University

Abdulwahed Nasser

Chief Operating Officer - Saudi Landscape Co.

Zilqurnain Abbasi

Sales & Marketing Manager - Alyaf Industrial Company

Zilqurnain Abbasi has over 11 years’ hands on experience in the design and manufacture of geosynthetics along with design and application of geosynthetic solutions for bespoke civil and environmental engineering applications. Currently, he is working as a Product Development Manager at Alyaf Industrial Co. Ltd. a geosynthetic solutions provider in KSA. He holds a BS Degree in Engineering with an emphasis in polymers & textiles.

His areas of significant experience and expertise includes experience and knowledge in geosynthetic industry, test methods and investigates and critical evaluation of existing technologies. Identifies and evaluates new technologies to improve system integrity and achieve greater efficiency in the field activities. Prepares cost-benefit analysis on the impact of geosynthetic technology usage. Managing complex technical projects focused on utilization off geosynthetic solutions for achieving value engineering and cost efficiency.

Michael Patte

Associate Director - Design - ICON Spaces

Rana Hassan

Senior Landscape Architect - Omrania

Ophelia Zhu

Managing Director - PolySoft Surfaces

Ophelia Zhu is the Managing Director of PolySoft Surfaces, world-leading manufacturer and distributor of soft-surfacing systems, with the Head Office based in Sydney Australia and a regional office in Dubai. To date, PolySoft has completed more than 1,000 projects in more than 40 countries, with many in the GCC region.

Beginning her career as a CPA, and an academic, it was her curiosity and passion for developing climate-wise materials that got her involved in PolySoft more than 15 years ago.

Her enthusiasm and dedication to innovation has led to Polysoft being recognised as a high quality, worldwide brand.

Ulrich Riederer

Partner - Bodeker Landscape Architects

Ulrich Riederer is the Lead Landscape Architect at Bödeker Partners with 30 years of experience. He finished his Study of Landscape Architecture from Hochschule Berlin (FH).

Ulrich’s areas of expertise include conceptual landscape design, technical landscape design and team coordination.

Hany Mutawea

Landscape Architect | Urban Designer - AECOM

Andreas V. I. Paaske

General Manager - PlayPower Middle East

Joao Branco

Senior Architect - OASE Middle East

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/