EcHoPolis Conference

Maria Gravari-Barbas  (FR)

Maria Gravari-Barbas is the Director of the Institute for Research and High Studies on Tourism (Institut de Recherches et d’Etudes Supérieures du Tourisme, IREST) of Paris 1 – Sorbonne University. She has a degree in Architecture and Urban Design (University of Athens, 1985), and a PhD in Geography and Planning (Paris 4 – Sorbonne University, 1991). She was Fellow at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA (1990).

She is the director of the EIREST, a multidisciplinary research laboratory focusing on tourism, in relation to cultural heritage and development.

Spiro N. Pollalis, PhD, MBA

http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/people/faculty/pollalis/

Prof. Pollalis, Professor of Design, Technology and Management at the Harvard Design School since 1986, is an expert on planning and management of sustainable large scale projects. At Harvard University, he is the Principal Investigator of the projects (a) “Sustainable Urbanism on the Coast of the Arab Gulf,” and (b) the “Zofnass Program for the Sustainability of Infrastructure.” He is the co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Singapore-ETH Centre for Global Environmental Sustainability. He has taught as a visiting professor at the ETH-Zurich, Switzerland; TU-Delft, Holland; University of Stuttgart, Germany; and the University of Patras, Greece; and has offered joint courses with the Harvard Business School on planning and development.

In his private practice, Prof. Pollalis is the chief planner for the new DHA City Karachi for 600,000 people, which is under construction, the concept planner of the information infrastructure in the new administrative city in Korea, and the developer’s advisor for the new Saudi economic city in the East Province. Two of his signature bridges have been constructed: in Columbus Ohio, and in Athens, Greece, and played a central role in the design and construction of the iconic Zakim bridge, the new symbol of Boston.

Prof. Pollalis received his first degree from the University in Athens (EMP, 1977) and his Master’s and PhD from MIT (1979, 1982). His MBA in high technology is from Northeastern University (1985). He has an honorary Master’s degree in Architecture from Harvard (1994).

Prof. Pollalis is a member of the Board of the Organization of Athens, substitute to the Chairman of the Board of the National Library and had been the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Hellinikon SA from June 2011 to April 2013.

Pascal VALENTIN (FR)

Titulaire d’une maîtrise de droit privé et ancien élève de l'Ecole supérieure des transports (groupe Enoes), Pascal Valentin a achevé sa formation par un Diplôme d’Etudes Supérieures Spécialisées (DESS) en Transports, communication et logistique des échanges internationaux.

Après s’être consacré, pendant une dizaine d'années, au transport fluvial (Voies navigables de France), il a travaillé trois ans au contentieux de l'urbanisme au ministère de l'équipement puis cinq ans en tant que chef du bureau de la prévention et des études à la Direction de la sécurité et de la circulation routières (en charge notamment des partenariats avec les entreprises et associations).

Affecté au ministère de l’écologie, du développement durable et de l’énergie (MEDDE) il est nommé Chef de la Mission bruit en 2004 et a vu son domaine d’activités étendu aux « agents physiques » (ondes électromagnétiques, nuisances lumineuses…) en 2008.

Dr.A. William SMITH, Department of New Media. University of Lethbridge, Canada

 William Smith has undergraduate degrees in Chemistry, Movement, Mathematics, and Music Theory. His doctorate is in art and theatre. He works in various media, and will have an exhibition of gallery-sized images November 16, 2013 entitled aSmithWhispers. He was the first professor hired and tasked to initiate the New Media Program at the University of Lethbridge in 1999, where he specializes in aesthetic movement motion-capture animation. Over the last decade he created over 30 realtime audio synthesis scores using analyzed data of remote sensed [satellite] images of urban and rural areas. 

During his keynote address at 1700 on 1 October 2013, Smith will premiere an 8.5 minute orchestral composition transfigured from a soundfile of Halifax, and share excerpts of soundfiles—of following a street in Columbus, Ohio; of a sports arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota; of the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa, Ontario; of the coulees near Lethbridge, Alberta; of Halifax, Nova Scotia; and discuss other related aspects of creating sonic environments from satellite images of urban areas and their surroundings.

David  Pace

David Pace graduated in Architecture in 1971 from the Malta University,and has been in private practice since then, with an emphasis on arbitration and dispute resolution. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) of London.

He has served as President of Malta’s professional institute, the Kamra tal-Periti (KTP) and has represented it in international fora, including UIA, ACE, and UMAR serving also as Secretary-General of the latter organisation. He presently runs a programme on Children and the Built Environment for the KTP.
He has also served as a jury member on various international and local design competitions, including the International Competition for Urban planning and Architectonic Ideas competition for the Karolina District of Ostrava, Czech Republic; the UIA International Competition for the design of a shelter for the Neolithic Temples in Hagar Qim Malta; the Scientific Committee for the preparation of the International Competition for the Restoration and Rehabilitation of the Fenestrelle Fort in Turin, Italy; the Heritage Malta Design competition for a visitors’ centre at Ggantija Temples site in Gozo. and the International Students Ideas Competition – Antalya Chamber of Architects Turkey.
In August 2012 he was appointed Commissioner for Environment and Planning within the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s Office.

Isabelle Richard

Isabelle Richard est docteur en psychologie sociale et environnementale. Elle est actuellement post-doctorante au laboratoire CNRS LAVUE (Laboratoire, Architecture, Ville, Urbanisme, Environnement) au sein duquel elle travaille sur des thématiques en lien avec la qualité environnementale dans les quartiers.

Ses travaux de recherche sont principalement orientés autour de quatre grands axes à savoir : (1) les risques environnementaux, leur perception et l’adaptation comportementale des populations concernées qui en résulte (ex : EDACOPRI (2012), Financement Plan-Loire/Feder), (2) les impacts du changement climatique sur les perceptions et pratiques humaines (notamment au Groenland, ANR CE&PS GREEN GRENLAND), (3) l’aspect sensible de la qualité environnementale dans son acception la plus large (étude de la perception, du ressenti, de la représentation sociale des ambiances sonores, climatiques, visuelles, etc., ANR EUREQUA) et (4) la mobilité durable en prenant en compte les facteurs psychosociaux en jeu dans le changement modal (ex : thèse de doctorat sur le covoiturage). En tant que psychologue environnementaliste elle analyse les inter-relations homme-environnement à l’aide de méthodologies diverses à la fois qualitatives et quantitatives visant d’une part à mettre en lumière le caractère multifactoriel de la perception et du ressenti de l’homme en contexte, et d’autre part d’en analyser les décalages et problématiques afin de tendre vers une amélioration du cadre de vie des individus. 

Benoit Gauvreau, Researcher in environmental acoustics

PhD in Environmental Acoustics (1999)

Current status: "Chargé de Recherche 1ère classe" (permanent status for researchers from both french ministry of environment and french ministry of research)

Institute: Ifsttar (ex-LCPC/INRETS): French institute of science and technology for transport, development and networks, center of Nantes

Research unity: "Laboratoire d’Acoustique Environnementale" (LAE)