PARTICIPANTS
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JERRY VELASQUEZ
Head of Advocacy and Outreach for the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)
Jerry Velasquez is Chief of the Advocacy and Communications Section and Head of the Making Cities Resilient Campaign of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). Before moving to this function in Geneva in August 2013, he was for six years the UNISDR Regional Coordinator for Asia and the Pacific. He previously worked for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya with the Division for the Global Environment Facility (DGEF) and the Division for Environmental Laws and Conventions (DELC), where he focussed on the promotion of cooperation among Multilateral Environmental Conventions. Prior to this he was the Coordinator of the Global Environment Information Centre (GEIC) and an Academic Officer at the United Nations University (UNU), as well as a Research Fellow at the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD)
His published work includes edited books, UN reports, journal articles, interactive software, and policy briefs on Multilateral Environmental Conventions, environmental governance and disaster vulnerability and risk. His latest publication is titled "Reducing Vulnerability and Exposure to Disasters – the Asia Pacific Disaster Report 2012” published in October 2012.
JON COAFFEE
Chair in Urban Geography at the University of Warwick
Professor Jon Coaffee holds a Chair in Urban Geography at the University of Warwick, UK. His research focuses upon the interplay of physical and socio-political aspects of urban resilience and he has published widely, especially on the impact of terrorism and other security concerns on the functioning of cities. Most notably he has published Terrorism Risk and the City (2003), The Everyday Resilience of the City (2008), Terrorism Risk and the Global City: Towards Urban Resilience (2009) and Sustaining and Securing the Olympic City (2011). His work has been supported by a significant number of EU and UK Research Council grants. Jon is director of the Resilient Cities Laboratory (ResCity Lab), a lead partner in the Warwick Institute for Sustainable Cities (WISC) and a visiting professor at New York University’s Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP). He authors the blog urbanresileince.net
MICHAEL TURNER
UNESCO Chair in Urban Design and Conservation Studies
at the Bezalel Academy
Professor Michael Turner trained at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCLondon. He has worked in the public sector and academia in Israel and holds the UNESCO Chair in Urban Design and Conservation Studies at the Bezalel Academy, where he is coordinator of Research and Development. He is a recognized authority on urban design especially for historic cities. Within UNESCO, he has advised on properties around the world and participated in expert meetings on authenticity, Category 2 Centres and World Heritage for Peace. He was elected in 2005 to the World Heritage Committee and in 2007 a term as vice-President. In November 2009, he chaired the 2nd UNESCO workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction to Cultural Heritage. He has accompanied the debate on Historic Urban Landscapes since its inception and is currently special advisor to the Assistant Director-General for Culture representing UNESCO and the World Heritage Centre on urbanism, architecture and conservation.
KSENIA CHMUTINA
Research Associate,
School of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University
Dr Ksenia Chmutina is a Research Associate based within the School of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University since 2011. Ksenia has a background in sustainability and her research includes synergies of resilience and sustainability in the built environment and resilience of small developing island states. Other research interests are related to the stakeholders’ engagement in disaster risk reduction activities, policy environment for the DRR, as well as energy efficiency, decentralised energy and energy policy.
DANIEL FELSENSTIEN
Professor in the Department of Geography at the Hebrew University
Daniel Felsenstein is a professor in the Department of Geography, Director of the Institute of Urban and Regional Studies and Academic Director of the Center for Computational Geography. His main areas of interest are in economic geography, regional science and spatial econometrics. He specializes in local and regional economic development and urban/regional impact analyses. His current research focuses on explaining the dynamics of inter-regional income disparities, developing and testing a 'job-chains' model for evaluating local economic development initiatives, and the development and application of land-use simulation models. This and related work has appeared in five authored or co-edited books and nearly 60 articles in international peer-reviewed journals. In terms of public and professional service.
Felsenstein is chairman of the Israeli Regional Science Association, member of the editorial board of Geografiska Annaler B, serves on the European Regional Science Association Council and the IGU Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces and is a member of the Israeli National Council of Land Appraisers and Surveyors
TAMAR GANOR
GIS Specialist
Tamar Ganor has an MA degree in Geography specializing in Environmental Planning and Policy and also an MA degree in Information Sciences and Librarianship. She practiced GIS analysis in the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and taught GIS in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is currently head of the reference department in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the GIS coordinator for Bezalel in DESURBS.
YONA WEITZ
Anthropologist, Lecturer at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
Dr Yona Weitz is a Lecturer at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, teaching in the undergraduate History and Theory department and the M.Des Industrial Design programme. Together with Elad Persov she developed teaching and researching user based experience modules for design and design management. In addition she has supervised several researches in the field.She is an Anthropologist with extensive field experience specializing in issues of identity, memory and place as socio-political fields of action, as well as in human based research for design and design management and for urban spatial planning. She completed her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The dissertation was the first anthropological research to explore the soci-history and politics of memory of the Armenian genocide in the Armenian community in the Old City of Jerusalem (between 1922-2011). A research fellow in the Bezalel Mdes team for the European Union consortium "Desurbs: Desiging Safer Urban Spaces, part of the Seventh Framework Programme".
DANIEL GLAZMAN
Product Designer,
M.Des Student for Design Management
Daniel Glazman is a product designer and 2nd year M.Des student of design management.
He has previously worked at Keter Plastic, a large plastic manufacturer and is currently working in a startup developing information security software.
Proficient in user centered design, user experience design, product development, 3d CAD softwares and graphic interfaces.
RACHEL SINGER
DESURBS Dissemination Coordinator
Rachel Singer has completed an MA in the Conservation of Material Heritage from Haifa University, and a BA in Geography from the Hebrew University. She lives in Jerusalem and is currently working towards a graduate degree in Urban Design at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. Rachel has previously worked on research relating to planning and policy in 20th century Jerusalem and contemporary issues in the fields of transportation and environment. Currently, she is completing an internship as part of her conservation studies that includes a specialization in documentation at the Israel Antiquities Authority as well as theoretical research on Historic Urban Landscapes. Rachel is also a participant in the EU Seventh Framework project Designing Safer Urban Spaces.
HANNA SPAANDER
Product Designer,
M.Des Student for Design Management
Hanna Spaander has completed a B.Des in Industrial design with a strong emphasis on inclusive design. She works currently for The Keter Group plastic manufacturing company as a product designer and project manager and is completing her studies as an M.Des student of Bezalel's Design Management program. As a participant in the Desurbs project she developed together with her other team members a mobile application connecting citizens and the authorities. Her current work focuses on understanding the needs of the elderly in the urban environment; desiring to bring real insight into how the city might serve the elderly better.
ROHIT JIGYASU
Conservation Architect and risk management consultant
Rohit Jigyasu is a conservation architect and risk management consultant from India, currently working as UNESCO Chair professor at the Research Center for Disaster Mitigation of Urban Cultural Heritage at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan and Senior Advisor to the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS). He is member of the Executive Committee of ICOMOS and president of ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Risk Preparedness (ICORP). Rohit has been teaching as the visiting faculty at several national and international academic institutions in India and abroad. Rohit has also been consultant to several national and international organizations like Archaeological Survey of India, National Institute of Disaster Management, UNESCO, ICCROM and the Getty Conservation Institute for conducting research and training on Cultural Heritage Risk Management. He has contributed to several international publications and is the author of the World Heritage Resource Manual on “Managing Disaster Risks for World Heritage” published by UNESCO, ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN and recently published 'Training Guide on Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage in Urban Areas'.
LEE BOSHER
Senior Lecturer in the Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC) at Loughborough University
Dr Lee Bosher is a Senior Lecturer in the Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC) at Loughborough University, England. He has a background in disaster risk management and his research and teaching includes disaster risk reduction and the multi-disciplinary integration of proactive hazard mitigation strategies into the decision-making processes of key stakeholders, particularly stakeholders from the construction industry. Other research and teaching interests are related to international development, sustainable vulnerability reduction, and the technical, social and institutional roles in improving the resilience of society and critical infrastructure to natural hazards and human-induced threats. Lee is coordinator of the International Council for Building (CIB)’s Working Commission W120 on ‘Disasters and the Built Environment’ and he is currently involved in research projects that are investigating how urban resilience can be increased in the UK, Haiti, India, Nepal and across Europe. Lee’s books include ‘Hazards and the Built Environment’ (2008) and ‘Social and Institutional Elements of Disaster Vulnerability’ (2007).
DALIT SHACH PINSLEY
Marie-Curie Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Graduate School of Urban Design, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Faculty of Architecture & Town Planning, Technion IIT, Haifa, Israel
Dr Shach-Pinsly is an architect and urban designer who received her B.Arch in architecture, M.Sc. in Architecture - Urban Design and Ph.D at the Faculty of Architecture & Town Planning, Technion – IIT. She joined the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington as a post-doctoral fellow sponsored by the competitive Marie Curie Outgoing Fellowship of the European Union Community, FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-1-IOF-219940 (2008-2011). Her research deals with measuring and evaluating diverse qualitative aspects of the urban environment, such as privacy, visibility, security and safety. She has published her work in leading international journals, and presented in many international conferences. Dr. Shach-Pinsly is currently a researcher and a lecturer at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and a member of FP7 - DESURBS - Designing Safer Urban Spaces project, SEC-2010.2.3-1, and a researcher and lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture & Town Planning Technion–IIT. She also has over 10 years of practical experience in architectural design, urban master plans, urban design and city planning.
CLAUDIO MODENA
Full Professor of Structural Engineering
University of Padova
Claudio MODENA, Italian, MA, magna cum laude, in civil engineering in 1970 at the University of Padova, where he is Full Professor of Structural Engineering (www.dicea.unipd.it), teaching courses on analysis and design of new and existing structures, paying particular attention to the effects of seismic actions on a single structure and on urban centres .He is actively involved in several national and international initiatives in the field of education (e.g. EM Master Course on Structural Analysis of Monuments and Historic Constructions - www.msc-sahc.org), research (e.g. the recent EU funded NIKER - www.niker.eu), and advise to national and international agencies (UNI,CEN, ISO, UNESCO, ECTP-FACH, local authorities for the reconstruction plans of urban centres after the Abruzzo Earthquake). He is honorary member and past co-chairman of ISCARSAH - ICOMOS.He is author of over 500 publications, many regarding seismic risk analyses and mitigation plans of existing structures, archaeological sites and urban centres.
NOAM SHOVAL
Associate Professor in the Department
of Geography at the Hebrew University
Noam Shoval is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the Hebrew University.
He completed his Ph.D. at The Hebrew University (2000) under the supervision of the late Prof. Arie Shachar and conducted post-doctoral research at the Department of Geography, King's College, University of London (2000–2001). He was recently (2007–2008) an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow at the Department of Geography of the University of Heidelberg (Germany).
His main research interests are tourism and culture as tools for urban regeneration, models of hotel location, and tourism management policies in heritage cities. In recent years, he has begun to explore and write about the implementation of advanced tracking technologies in various areas of spatial research such as tourism urban studies and medicine.
ELAD PERSOV
Head of the Design Management Program at Bezalel's MDes program
Elad Persov - A Design Manager, graduate of Pratt Institute, New York. Head of the Design Management Program at Bezalel's MDes program. A PhD candidate at the Porter School of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University, and a research member at DESURBS.
Elad worked as a designer and later as a business consultant in a multidisciplinary management firm. In 2005 he developed the Design Management Program at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. He currently teaches three courses and is the thesis advisor of the design management program. He is a Member of Israel's National Design committee and a member of Bezalel's Senate.As a research member at DESURBS, Elad is responsible for the development of new security products that will improve urban resilience.
ERAN LEDERMAN
Senior Lecturer, Industrial Design Program, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
Mr. Eran Lederman spent many months exploring disaster-threshold areas in America, Asia and Africa, studying modes of human behavior where basic needs and commodities are scarce or even absent. He is currently a senior lecturer at the Bezalel Academy of arts and Design. Eran founded, and is currently an active member of the Beacon Laboratory for Design for Disasters, developed under the auspices of the Bezalel Research and Innovation Program directed by Professor M. Turner. Eran Lederman studied and trained as an industrial designer, over the past 15 years he has collaborated with leading companies specializing in areas of medical devices and salvage services, and also developed his own design studio, designing survival products for disaster environments.
JONATHAN CLARKE
Resilient Cities Laboratory
Warwick University
Jonathan Clarke is an experienced urban designer, planner and chartered landscape architect, specialising in regeneration, masterplanning, environmental impact assessment and public realm design. He is currently contributing to the DESURBS and HARMONISE projects which together form a basis for his doctoral research which considers the contribution urban design might make to enhanced urban resilience. He is a professional practice examiner for the Landscape Institute and an expert panel member for MADE, the West Midlands centre for architecture and place making.
YAEL COHEN
DESURBS Dissemination Coordinator
Yael Cohen is a fourth year Architecture Student at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. For the past year she has served as a Project Coordinator for the DesUrbs project and has been instrumental in the establishment of the new Bezalel Research and Innovation Authority. Yael is also an active member of the Bezalel student council.
FRANCISCO ZARATE
Professor in the Department of Strength of Materials and Structural Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Dr. Francisco Zárate is a researcher at the International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering and professor in the Department of Strength of Materials and Structural Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (BarcelonaTech) since 1996. He is an expert on the Finite Element Method and the Discrete Element Method for nonlinear structural and mechanic analysis. Actually he is vice-president of the Mexican Association for Numerical Methods in Engineering. Other research interests are related to stochastic analysis and new formulations for plate and shells analysis.