The Center For Urban & Regional Studies 40th Anniversary Conference

technion-haifa-technology

Oscar Edmundo Diaz and Robert Upton Are Expected to Share Urban Planning Pearls With Israel [image via Technion-Israel Institute of Technology]

Before globalization,  ideas and technology ambled across the oceans and progress piddled along.  Now cooperation happens in seconds.  Microseconds even.  And though not all ideas are equally useful,  there’s no question that when great minds meet there ensues the following net result: opportunity.  Whether sharing technology with other nations or floating to draw awareness to environmental issues, sharing ideas allows us to circumvent mistakes made before us.  Tomorrow, when Oscar Edmundo Diaz and Robert Upton join some of Israel’s best Urban Planners at the Center for Urban and Regional Studies’ 40th anniversary conference, Israel will have the opportunity to incorporate lessons learned in Colombia and the United Kingdom.

The conference at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa begins at 9.30am and finishes after the evening’s last cocktail.  Oscar Diaz, the Senior Advisor to former City Mayor of Bogota and Senior Program Director at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, will give his keynote presentation in the morning.

Titled “Planning the Sustainable City – lessons from Bogota,” Diaz’s  presentation will give locals insight into the process behind that city’s effort to become sustainable.  After a tour of the Technion’s renowned visitor center and a kosher Druze lunch, Mr. Diaz and I will meet to discuss which of those lessons are especially pertinent to Israel.

In the afternoon, after several, parallel presentations from our own intelligentsia, Mr. Robert Upton will take the stage.  The former Secretary General of the Royal Town Planning Institute and current Deputy Chair and Commissioner of the UK Infrastructure Planning Commission, his presentation will address challenges that are specific to the planning profession.  We too will meet.

If the combined heat from so much brain power doesn’t cause an explosion, we will bring you more detailed news from some of the most effective urban planners in the world.   Stay tuned.

More Urban News:

Jordanian Sustainable Building Conference Encourages Everyone to Think Green

Calling all Young Architects and Grad Students to Join ECOWEEK 2010

Construction Underway on Rawabi, First Planned Palestinian City

Tafline Laylin
Tafline Laylinhttp://www.greenprophet.com
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
1 COMMENT

Comments are closed.

TRENDING

Luxury tower in Jerusalem ruins its sacred heritage and eco-architects are worried

Critics of a new set of luxury towers including Israeli-Greek architect Elias Mesinas, warn that the scale of the towers, loss of public green space, and creeping luxury-led gentrification risk undermining Jerusalem’s historic skyline, community fabric, and long-standing planning principles — raising a fundamental question: not whether Jerusalem should densify, but how it can do so responsibly while preserving what makes the city unique.

Ancient mud buildings in the Muslim world are spectacular and sustainable

Other notable mud structures in the wider Muslim world include the Bob Dioulasso Grand Mosque in Burkina Faso, and the Khiva Wall in Uzbekistan, which is built around a collection of Islamic schools and mosques. The Siwa Oasis in Egypt (which we visited and posted about here) and the Eastern Castle in Syria have also employed mud bricks in their construction, and research shows that the famous walls of Jericho were built using sun-dried mud bricks.

Iran’s water mafia and thirst for war leaves the country on brink of being dry

Iran’s Lake Urmia, once the Middle East’s largest saltwater lake, has shrunk by 90 percent due to mismanagement, dams, and drought. As Tehran pours billions into foreign conflicts, water activists face repression at home. The crisis mirrors Syria’s drought-driven unrest, showing how water scarcity can destabilize entire regions.

Rewilding the Suburb: Lagoon Valley’s Profound Plan for Conservation Community in California–– An Interview with Developer Curt Johansen

Lagoon Valley developers have set aside a remarkable 85% of its total land for open space, trails, and protected habitats—a rare move in an era of unchecked development. This isn’t just a nod to green space; it’s a full embrace of a conservation community model, where nature isn’t a backdrop but a partner.

How to grow an olive tree in a container

Don't have a garden? You can still own a fruiting olive tree, grown in a container. A sunny balcony and the right climate are the essential things; that, and time.

Should You Invest in the Private Market?

startustartup Unlike public stock exchanges, which offer daily trading, strict...

How to build a 100-year-company

Kongō Gumi is a Japanese construction company, purportedly founded in 578 A.D., making it the world's oldest documented company. What can we learn about building sustainable businesses from them?

From Pilot Plant to Global Stage: How Aduro Clean Technologies’ 2026 Expansion Signals a Turning Point for Chemical Recycling Investors Like Yazan Al Homsi

The company's Next Generation Process (NGP) Pilot Plant in London, Ontario, has officially moved into initial operating campaigns, generating the kind of structured, repeatable data that separates laboratory promise from commercial viability.

How AI Helps SaaS Companies Reduce Repetitive Customer Support Work

SaaS products are designed for large numbers of users with different levels of experience, and also in renewable energy.

Pulling Water from the Air

Faced with water shortage in Amman, Laurie digs up...

Turning Your Energy Consultancy into an LLC: 4 Legal Steps for Founders in Texas

If you are starting a renewable energy business in Texas, learn how to start an LLC by the books.

Tracking the Impacts of a Hydroelectric Dam Along the Tigris River

For the next two months, I'll be taking a break from my usual Green Prophet posts to report on a transnational environmental issue: the Ilısu Dam currently under construction in Turkey, and the ways it will transform life along the Tigris River.

6 Payment Processors With the Fastest Onboarding for SMBs

Get your SMB up and running fast with these 6 payment processors. Compare the quickest onboarding options to start accepting customer payments without delay.

Related Articles

Popular Categories