The City is NOT a Tree: The Urban Ecologies of Divided Cities

The City is [Not] a Tree: The Urban Ecologies of Divided Cities Conference is proud to announce the 6th keynote speaker, Prof. Magda Mostafa.

Prof. Magda researches broadly in the field of marginalized populations, with work spanning urban informality and inclusion of Autism and Neurodiversity.

Through her Cairo-based practice, Progressive Architects, she specializes in autism inclusive design and is the author of the Autism ASPECTSS™ design guidelines, the world’s first research-based design framework for autism worldwide, which has been presented at the United Nations as a framework for international autism design policy.

Prof. Magda has recently joined the New York-based think-tank and inclusive practice MIX Design as Autism Design lead, where she brings the lens of autism and neurodiversity to their intersectional practices.

Moreover, her other field of research looks at another form of marginalization through the study of informal settlements, and in 2015 she published the Juxtopolis© Pedagogy, a studio-based research/design methodology.

For more about UEDC Keynote speakers: https://www.ierek.com/events/uedc

The City is [Not] a Tree: The Urban Ecologies of Divided Cities Conference is proud to announce the 5th Keynote Speaker, Mr. Ahmed Essop Vawda.

Ahmed Vawda is a Human settlement policy specialist who has worked on the post-apartheid reconstruction of the democratic state project since 1994 at the nexus of land, housing, human settlement, and community development.

In addition, Mr. Vawda was ‘deployed’ to moving the sunset clause administration for land towards its stated program objectives of restitution, tenure, and land reform in 1994. He was appointed, by the government of local unity in cape town in 1997, to head up the transformatory branch of community development to enable more equitable access to community services for all. Relocated to undertake the second generation of policy iterations for the department of housing in 2002 with periods of recall over the next 18 years, and appointed to facilitate the human settlements performance enhancements per the national development plan in 2010.

For more about UEDC keynote speakers: https://www.ierek.com/events/uedc

Let’s welcome our 4th Keynote Speaker in “The City is [Not] a Tree: The Urban Ecologies of Divided Cities” Conference, Prof. Ricardo Sanin-Restrepo

Prof. Ricardo is the proponent of the "Theory of Encryption of Power" which is mainly concerned with the ontology of radical democracy and the dialectical foundations of difference through an intense engagement with studies of coloniality and the reshaping of classical conceptual devices such as "the people" and "sovereignty".

Moreover, Prof. Ricardo was a visiting professor at Instituto Tecnológico Autonómo de Mexico (ITAM) and has taught special courses at Universidad Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM) PUC Rio de Janeiro, Universidad Central de Quito (Ecuador), Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad de Mexico (UACM), Universidad San Luis de Potosí (Mexico) PUC Minas Gerais, Universidade Federal de Ceará (both in Brazil).

In addition, he has also written many specialized articles on constitutional law, cinema, art, and politics. He has recently published two novels in Spanish (El Cuerno de Gabriel 2020, and La Revolución de las Orugas 2022).

For more about UEDC Keynote Speakers: https://www.ierek.com/events/uedc
For registration/ submission: https://bit.ly/dividedcities

IEREK is excited to announce that the 1st Edition of “The City is [Not] a Tree: The Urban Ecologies of Divided Cities” 2022 Conference, that will be held as hybrid event in collaboration with Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), in Pretoria, South Africa, will be on the grounds of The Capital Menlyn Maine Hotel.

Join us in Pretoria, South Africa to share knowledge and experience with researchers and experts from all over the globe.

For more about the UEDC Venue: https://www.ierek.com/events/uedc
For The Capital Menlyn Maine Hotel location: https://bit.ly/3sLXfX9

𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐊 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡. 𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐊𝐞𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 [𝐍𝐨𝐭] 𝐚 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬.” 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐲𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐬𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 (𝐓𝐔𝐓) 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚, 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟕𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐.

Althea Peacock is a founding partner and director of Johannesburg-based practice Lemon Pebble Architects and Urban Designers. She graduated from the School of Architecture at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Althea has been a resident and professional architect practicing in the chimeric Johannesburg landscape for 20 years. In addition to that, she has been a guest critic and examiner at various universities for several years.

For more about the UEDC Conference Keynote speakers: https://www.ierek.com/events/uedc
For registration/ submission: https://www.ierek.com/events/uedc

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 [𝐍𝐨𝐭] 𝐚 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 (𝐔𝐄𝐃𝐂) 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐞𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫, 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟. 𝐆𝐞𝐜𝐢 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐫𝐢-𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚.

Prof. Geci is an urban scholar-practitioner based in Johannesburg, working in the intersection between people, place, and technological change. She previously worked with South Africa’s Ministry of Finance (National Treasury), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Advanced Policy Institute.

In addition, she is a Visiting Associate Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where she is hosting the African Civic Tech Innovation Network and setting up the new Tayarisha: African Center of Excellence in Digital Governance.

Recently, she has served on the South African Ministerial Task Team on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the South African Council of Planners (SACPLAN), and the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) Board. She is the current Vice President of the AfricaLICS Board (the community of innovation scholars in Africa).

For more about UEDC keynote speakers: https://www.ierek.com/events/uedc

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝!

Upon the request of many authors, the UEDC submission deadline has been extended to be on the 15th of April 2022.

Join us and submit your extended abstract to get the chance to enhance both your professional and personal development. Discuss different topics, share experience and research results with researchers in the same field, and expand your opportunities to start new collaborations in future projects.

In addition, all extended abstracts will get published in the conference proceedings in the -indexed ASTI book series by .

For registration/ submission: https://www.ierek.com/events/uedc
For the conference topics: https://www.ierek.com/events/uedc

Interested in submitting an extended abstract for “The City is [Not] a Tree: The Urban Ecologies of Divided Cities” Conference 2022?

Authors who have missed the abstract submission deadline, can still contribute by submitting their extended abstract before our next deadline, 1 April 2022.

All accepted extended abstracts will be published in the ASTI book series by , which is fully indexed in .

Our 1st international hybrid conference held in collaboration with the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) is open to all researchers concerned with and studying and working towards building solutions to heal .

For registration/ submission: https://bit.ly/dividedcities
For the conference topics: https://bit.ly/uedcconferencetopics

The City is [Not] a Tree: The Urban Ecologies of Divided Cities International Conference (UEDC) is proud to announce our first keynote speaker: Dr Michael Mehaffy.

The Executive Director of both the Sustasis Foundation (USA) and the International Making Cities Livable (IMCL) conference series, Dr Mehaffy is a researcher, educator, lecturer, author and consultant who has played a key role in a number of leading international urban development, research and education projects.

A consultant to the United Nations for the Habitat III conference and its outcome document, the New Urban Agenda, he was also the first Director of Education for The Prince’s Foundation in London, the Prince of Wales’ educational charity. The education program he developed there later became a Masters and Ph.D. degree program in Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Oxford.

For more about the UEDC Conference, please visit: https://www.ierek.com/events/uedc

“Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible"

On World Water Day 2022, we acknowledge and honour the freshwater resource of groundwater that accounts for almost half of all drinking water, globally. Development, population growth and increased urbanisation all contribute to increased pressure on this critical resource. Recognising its value we need to work together to sustainably manage our groundwater supplies.

"Groundwater may be out of sight, but it must not be out of mind."

📸: UN.

“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” (Desmond Tutu – South African Theologian)

Today South Africa celebrates Human Rights day, a celebration that coincides with the 25th anniversary of the adoption of its Constitution. A constitution that enshrines the rights of all its citizens and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom, including freedom of movement and the freedom to reside anywhere in the country.

Happy Human Rights day!