Within the context of two days, the 4th Annual Middle East Smart Landscape Summit, held under the patronage of Dubai Municipality, explored issues and raised critical questions pertaining to sustainable urban landscape development in the presence of over 400 senior professionals from across the GCC.
The culminating event was held 25th-26th April 2016 at Sofitel Dubai The Palm Resort & Spa.
The summit was inaugurated by H.E. Essa Al Maidoor, Deputy Director-General of the Dubai Municipality along with H.E Engineer Mariam Mohammed Saeed Hareb, Assistant Undersecretary, Ministry of Climate Change & Environment followed by a welcome address to the attendees in the presence of high officials from the government and VIPs from Embassies.
The opening presentation by Fatma Al Sulaimani, Landscape Designer, Dubai Municipality on the new paradigm in landscape architecture for the region of Dubai emphasised on the need for sustainability.
Across two days, landscape architecture as a theme was also analysed by international experts including Leo Alvarez of Perkins+Will; Paul Reynolds of Atkins and Mott MacDonald’s Charles Peeler.
Over 25 prestigious international industry leaders, among them Jason Turner, Manager – Landscape Architect and Urban Design, GHD; Geoffrey Sanderson, Principal Landscape Architect, AECOM and Paolo Testolini, Head of Urban Design, Woods Bagot participated in the summit to discuss topics that focused on the value of landscape and the need for interaction with nature; how-to guide on urban public environments, biodiversity & people and lessons learned on Latin-American cities.
During the summit, the theme of landscape designing was explored in detail with topics titled PLAY 4ALL concept for Outdoor Playground Design; High Rise Gardens; Designing Urban Open Spaces; Planting Design for the Smart City in the 21st Century; and Designing Public Open Space in the Global Context respectively by speakers Elena Lazareva, CEO, Ithara Group; Stephan Frantzen, Group Director, P&T Architects and Engineers; Peyman Soudi, Design Manager (Landscape), Parsons; Eamonn Byrne, Principal Landscape Architect, EBLA; and Taku Suzuki, Landscape Architect, Nikken Sekkei.
Sector specialists Masato Kametani, Lead Landscape Architect, Parsons; Saleh AlMakhdoum, Head of Parks Unit, Dubai Municipality; Soufyane Miloudi, Vice President & Managing Director, Aubrilam Group; Steven Velegrinis, Director of Urban Design, Perkins+Will and Martin Valentine, Lighting Expert, Abu Dhabi City Municipality participated in a panel discussion on ‘Smart & Sustainable Outdoor Landscape Lighting Systems’ that emphasised upon understanding the concepts behind sustainable landscape lighting and further explored innovative technologies to ensure that the urban landscape areas are well-lit without high energy costs.
The day 2 panel discussion on Planning and Implementation of Efficient and Successful Irrigation Systems was moderated by Rain Bird Corporation’s Dave Shane and accompanying him were panelists Ameer Ahmad Manyar of Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; GHD’s Jason Turner; Varghese Thomas, of Engineer’s Office and Walter Bone, of Khatib & Alami who touched upon the applications for subsurface drip in turf areas, the importance of pressure regulation and irrigation scheduling based on weather conditions.
Mr. Brad Hariharan, Regional Director, Expotrade Middle East, organisers of the summit said, “We are delighted that our fourth edition of the summit was a resounding success with over 450 delegates in attendance. With a number of regional and international experts sharing insights on the theme of sustainable landscaping solutions, the summit has proved to be an incredible platform for collaboration and knowledge-sharing. We are thankful to the support of Dubai Municipality, our sponsors and partners for making the summit a phenomenal success.”
Over 25 leading solutions providers including Ithara Group, Polyclean Turf Division, Profile Products, Marmara International Landscaping, The Glow.Pro Company, Rain Bird, WT Burden and Zeoplant, to name a few, showcased their innovative solutions at the summit’s exhibitor lounge. The summit proved to be an excellent networking platform and was well appreciated by sponsors and delegates alike.
Michael Polat, Director, The Glow.Pro Company, said, “We are very pleased that we participated in the summit this year and we look forward to partnering next year as well. The quality of participants was excellent.”
Jojo Johny, Division Manager, Consent, said, “On the whole, the Middle East Smart Landscape Summit 2016 was a very well-coordinated event. It gave us an opportunity to interact on a one-on-one basis with several key personalities from the landscaping industry an also with different municipalities. The various topics covered in the conference was very informative.”
Commenting on the success, Ali Al Habshi, Chief Engineer, Abu Dhabi City Municipality, said, “The conference was extremely successful and I was happy to attend it. The summit was well organised with a number of experts speaking on various interesting topics.”
About Expotrade
Expotrade is a global conference and event organiser with its head office based in Melbourne, Australia and a regional office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Expotrade has delivered some of the largest, most successful B2B industry conferences and events. For almost 15 years, our unique blend of knowledge, experience and flexibility has accomplished an array of consistently top quality events. Today, Expotrade events enjoy such a distinctive edge, they are amongst the best patronised in the calendar.
For more information, visit www.expotradeglobal.com
Contact information
Lakshmi Ramarajan
Expotrade Middle East FZ-LLC
Tel: +9714-4542135
Email: marketing@expotrade-me.com
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