Congress Team

Eric HUYBRECHTS, Congress Director

Eric Huybrechts is a senior Architect and Urban/Regional Planner, co-chair of Habitat Professional Forum of UN-Habitat, Secretary General of the Metropolitan and Territorial Planning Agencies global network (MTPA-gn), ex-Board member of ISOCARP, member of ICOMOS (CIVVIH expert), and Officer of the Royal Order of Sahametrey (Cambodia). He is Canadian, French and Belgian.

He is the Head of the International affairs of the Institut Paris Region (www.institutparisregion.fr), one of the largest spatial planning institutes in the World. He has developed a considerable experience in the field of Urban and regional planning as an expert and team leader at all scales from public space, and historical urban center, to megacity, region and country in more than 20 countries. He has an academic experience as a scientific researcher in France and Middle East countries and as a lecturer in several universities in France and abroad (Paris universities, MIT…) mainly on Spatial planning in the Global South.

Pietro Elisei, President

Town and regional planner, senior researcher, and policymaker. He collaborated, as consultant, with ministries, cities and towns all over Europe, holding important positions in international organizations dedicated to urban planning (PLANUM SG, ISOCARP VP).

International expert in urban regeneration policies, integrated planning for small-medium sized cities and topics related to smart cities and strategic planning. A collaborator with EU universities and research centers, he works as international expert with international institutions (European Commission: URBACT and UIA Secretariats, UN-Habitat, UNECE) for important urban and territorial planning research/planning tasks. Dr. Elisei also routinely holds keynote speeches in international conferences and publishes a number of scientific articles on topics related to urban planning. Founder and Director of URBASOFIA (www.urbasofia.eu).

Rolf Schuett, Program Chair, Board Member YPP and Members

Rolf Schuett was born in Bolivia. After finishing high-school in Hamburg he studied architecture and urban planning in Konstanz. He holds a masters degree in heritage studies from the Cottbus University of Technology. Rolf has worked in Bolivia, UK, Poland and Germany. He is a member of Isocarp since 2008 and has participated in several UPATs and YPP activities in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Rolf is also vice chair of the International Association of World Heritage Professionals, based in Bamberg, Germany.
His expertise includes architectural design (air transport, oil industry, commercial, culture, residential), urban conservation, community development, resilience planning for informal settlements, urban revitalisation, GIS and digitalization. His current projects include the design of sustainable local development schemes for the Stuttgart metropolitan region, development of strategies for healthy neighbourhoods and international research projects linked to heritage conservation.

Ali A. Alraouf, Deputy

Ali A. Alraouf is an architect, urban designer and planner interested in research and practice related to comprehensive sustainable design and urban planning. He was a Visiting Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley-USA. Alraouf has held permanent and visiting teaching and research positions at regional and international universities. Alraouf is a registered architect and urban planner in Egypt, Bahrain and Qatar. He is an associate member of the American Institute of Architects, Middle East and Gulf Chapter. Alraouf published more than 105 journal refereed papers, critical reviews, essays, in addition to books and book chapters. Alraouf’s current research interests are: Knowledge-based Urban Development, Post-Carbon Contemporary Gulf Cities, Museums in the Gulf, Urban vitalisation of historical districts, Knowledge and Creative cities. He serves on editorial boards and acts as a reviewer for international journals and conferences. He provides consultancy in numerous projects regionally and internationally and acts as a consultant for international organisations including UN-Habitat, UNESCO, ESCOWA, ICOMOS among others. He serves on editorial boards and acts as a reviewer for international journals and conferences.
He delivered lectures and presentations in over 25 countries and has been invited to present his research work at international institutions such as University of Oregon, Illinois Institute of Technology, Drury University, Cambridge University, University of Seoul, Malaysia International University, University of Belgrade, and American Universities in Beirut, Sharjah, Kuwait and Cairo. Alraouf is the recipient of number of awards including the innovation award in environmental and sustainable planning from Ministry of scientific research in Egypt 2000, Modern Science and Arts University (MSA) Teaching Excellence Award 2004, Best Research Paper in Sharjah International Conference for Urban Planning 2008 and Research Publication Achievement Award from University of Bahrain 2009. Alraouf was selected as a member of 2012 Excel campaign at Qatar University and the distinguished speaker of the Arab Future Cities Summit 2016.
His book “Knowledge-based Urban Development in the Middle East was awarded by ISOCARP in 2018. Alraouf’s research paper was also awarded as the best research paper by a scholar at the UC- Berkeley biannual conference in 2018. Alraouf currently acts as Head of capacity building, training, research and development unit at Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) in Qatar. He is also a visiting professor at HBK University in Qatar-Education City, and the leader of Green Urbanism and Planning Group at Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC).

Wafa Al-Daily, Deputy

Dr. Wafa Al-Daily is a senior urban planner, a researcher, a lecturer, and an international development expert with a demonstrated working history for about two decades in academia, government agencies, NGOs, CBOs, local communities, and the private sector in the USA and the MENA region. She is experienced in urbanization, metropolitan planning, management and governance, urban recovery, smart/sustainable development, e/governance, DRRM, and informal settlements. She also has extensive management experience in international education and program administration and partnership development, global initiatives, capacity building, grants writing and implementation, and strategic planning. She is passionate about inclusive planning and has dedicated part of her professional career journey to supporting underserved and marginalized populations. Her experience spans a variety of groups, including women, youth, immigrants, people with disabilities, and indigenous peoples in both the USA and the MENA region.
Dr. Al-Daily is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of EHAAR International, LLC. (a consultancy firm with a social and humanitarian mission that focuses on urban development and urban recovery issues). She is the Lead of the International Metropolitan Fellowship Arabia Chapter and a member of the Board of Directors of the International Metropolitan Fellowship. She is an affiliated member, fellow and researcher of a number of centers and institutes, including the Center for Cooperative Problem Solving and Institute for Policy and Governance at Virginia Tech University in the USA, International Metropolitan Fellowship in Spain, American Planning Association in the USA, International Society of City and Regional Planners in the Netherlands, Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Germany, Gulf International Forum in the USA, and NAFSA Academy for International Education) in the USA. She has worked in a consulting capacity with a number of organizations, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), URBAConsulting/World Bank Group (WBG), Social Fund for Development (SFD), and Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF).
Dr. Al-Daily was a recipient of prestigious awards and fellowships including the American Association of University Women International Fellowship and Who’s Who Among Students in the American Universities and Colleges. She was nominated for the President’s Award for Excellence and the Alumni Award for International Outreach at Virginia Tech University in 2020.
Dr. Al-Daily is a certified practitioner of Kirton Adoption-Innovation (KAI) Inventory Problem Solving and Cognitive Style, and a facilitator of intergroup dialogue and human relations. She earned a Ph.D. in Planning, Governance and Globalization from Virginia Tech (USA), a Master of City and Regional Studies from Rutgers University (USA), a Non-degree Diploma in Urban Planning and Community Development from Rutgers University (USA), and a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering from Sana’a University (Yemen).

Aleksandra Stupar, General Rapporteur

Dr. Aleksandra Stupar is full professor at the University of Belgrade – Faculty of Architecture, where she graduated and obtained her magister and PhD degree. The head of the Department of Urbanism (2017-2024). She has participated in numerous research projects and workshops, published articles and chapters in national and international journals and monographs focusing on the problems of contemporary cities. She is the author of two awarded books – ‘Grad globalizacije – izazovi, transformacije, simboli’ (‘The City of Globalisation – Challenges, Transformations, Symbols’, 2009) and ‘Grad – forme i procesi’ (‘The City – Forms and Processes’, 2016/2019/2024).
Her professional experience (research, education, practice) is related to the areas of urban studies, urban planning and urban history. Due to her focus on the themes of urban transition and urban innovations, especially their spatial, environmental and social implications, she conducted her work in a number of multidisciplinary teams gathering experts from various complementary fields (cultural studies, history, STS studies, sociology, anthropology, future studies etc.). Through the organisation and moderation of sessions, workshops and roundtables Dr. Stupar has addressed the occurring urban phenomena, the challenges of urban continuity and the emerging realities which influence the sustainability and resilience of our habitats.
She has been a visiting researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Science, Technology and Society (IAS-STS) in Graz (2007, 2011), the University of Tampere – School of Humanities and Social Sciences (2010-2013), as well as a guest lecturer at the Sapienza Università di Roma – Facoltà di architettura Valle Giulia (2006,2008-9), Urban Design Group, London (2014), University of Helsinki – Faculty of Social Sciences (2019) and Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul (2021).
Dr. Stupar has been a member of ISOCARP since 2003, served as the BM of the National Delegation of Serbia (2006-2015) and a member of Scientific Committee (2013-2016). She is also a member of EAUH and was a national representative in AESOP (2018-22). She received the 2007 Honorary Mention of the Gerd Albers Award, and the 2008 Gerd Albers Award for her publications.

Rajendra Kumar, General Rapporteur

Rajendra Kumar is architect, urbanist, author based in New Delhi, India and Director of School of Architecture and Design, Lovely Professional University, India. He is awarded as ‘Most Admired Education Influencers in India 2022’ and ‘Global Educational Influencer 2020’, ‘Indian Young Achievers Award 2009. He graduated from Chandigarh College of Architecture, India and Post-graduation from Politecnico Di Milano, Italy. He was listed as 12 notable alumni of Politectnico di Milano in 2022. He is Local Ambassador of Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), UK.
He is member of International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP), Netherlands, Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), USA. Received fellowship by Congress for New Urbanism, USA. He is actively involved in academia and research. Advisory member of various think tanks of national and international importance, invited members for various projects with global leaders including Prime Ministers, Governors, Ambassadors, Mayors, Policy makers, United Nation, WHO, UN Habitat etc. He has been Jury member of many prestigious awards including ‘World Architecture Festival’, advisor to Pritzker etc. During G20 Summit in India, he served as task force member for ‘Y20 (Young 20) and invited expert member in ‘Urban20’ engagement groups of G20 Summit’.
He is equipped with mixed experiences of varied scale projects, ranging from urban scale to buildings and interiors. Appeared in TV Channels, Radio, Print and Online Media in India and abroad. 100+ publications and invited lectures, in national and international conferences. He lectured on many national and international forums on various issues related to cities, social issues, sustainable environment etc. at national and international forums in India, Spain, USA, UK, Poland, Portugal, Hong Kong, South Africa, Slovenia, Italy, Germany, Thailand, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, including Columbia University, New York, Cambridge University, AA London, UK, FUAP Porto, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Gdansk University, Poland, and many more.

Darinka Golubovic, Board Member and Treasurer

Darinka Golubovic Matic is a full professor in the Faculty of Construction Management (Architecture and Urbanism; Civil Engeenering) at the University of Union Nikola Tesla in Belgrade (Serbia). She is a consultant, researcher and academic with experience in the field of civil engineering, urban and regional planning and environmental assessments in different European countries. She has been a project manager and team member of different technical and advisory development projects. She is the author or co-author of more than 10 papers in international journals and has more than 20 conference contributions. Since 2003 she is a member of ISOCARP and The Serbian Chamber of Engineers. Her research interest is focusing on land use management, environmental assessment, civil engineering, transportation, urban mobility and GIS methods.

Sabina Reichert, Board Member Communications

Executive Committee and Board director for Communications of the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP), deputy director of URBASOFIA and former president of the Romanian Professional Planners Association. As an urban and regional planner, she is a consultant and portfolio manager experienced in strategic planning, participatory processes, planning for nature-based solutions, decarbonization and new forms of urban governance. With a PhD in instruments for integrated and sustainable planning in multi-level metropolitan contexts, her focus is on bridging development and policy gaps, more recently pertaining to support for the twin transition and net-zero land take objectives. She has also been involved in writing, implementing, and supporting city access to international research & innovation and cooperation projects, mostly under flagship European Commission programs. As a planner, she has worked on several national and regional studies, integrated urban development strategies for middle-sized cities and metropolitan areas in the EU, Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans, and sectoral strategies.