Jury for "Design for Sustainable Cities" competition

‘Design for Sustainable Cities’ is an international student competition held by BE OPEN and Cumulus Association in support of the United Nations’ SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. The objective of ‘Design for Sustainable Cities’ is to recognize, showcase and promote the best design ideas and projects developed by the younger creative generation that embody and are able to tackle the tasks set by United Nations’ SDG Programme.

“Urbanization is one of the most important issues when it comes to sustainable development,” said Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of United Nation-Habitat. “We must make sure we do it right if we are to achieve the SDGs and move towards a world where we see an end to poverty, the protection of our planet and everyone enjoying peace and prosperity.”

The competition is open to students and graduates of all art, design, architecture and media disciplines of universities and colleges worldwide. Their top ideas, be it in an individual or a team submission can win the prizes ranging from €5,000 to €2,000 from BE OPEN, and enter the list of 50 honorary mentions to be featured in the competition’s online gallery.

The honorary list and the winning submissions will be selected by an international jury panel that features designers, architects, academics and experts in the relevant fields whose work has a particular focus on researching non-conventional design approaches to the problems of humanity.

On behalf of BE OPEN, Founder Elena Baturina welcomes the jury members: “We are thrilled to have assembled such an extraordinary and diverse panel, and are deeply grateful for the time and expertise the jury are willing to share with our contestants and the wide public in the course of the competition. There is an exciting period ahead of us once the submission window is closed, full of hard work and amazing discoveries. I can’t wait to see the top selection of the submissions our jury will decide upon”.

BE OPEN and Cumulus are proud and happy to announce the jury members in the Design for Sustainable City competition:

• Luisa Collina, Chair of the Jury. PhD, Full Professor of Design, Dean of the School of Design at Politecnico di Milano and Rector’s delegate for external relations of the University. Previously President of Cumulus, a member of the Scientific and Artistic Advisory Board (SAAB) of the School of Arts, Design and Architecture of Aalto University (Helsinki), Luisa coordinated several projects for the 150th anniversary of Politecnico di Milano and for the Universal Expo 2015, and was a member of the Scientific Committee for the XXI Triennale Internazionale held in Milan in 2016.
• José Allard, PhD, is a practicing Chilean designer and an associate professor and researcher at Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile, where he served as the Director of the School of Design for six years (2013–2019).
• Francisca Astaburuaga is an architect and urban designer Architect UC at MSc in City Design at London School of Economics; Director of the Centre of Innovation in Cities at Universidad del Desarrollo, chair of “Cities and Infrastructure” committee at the Council of Infrastructure Policies of Chile.
• Karl Stocker, Ph.D., Head of the Institute of Design & Communication at the FH Joanneum, University of Applied Sciences in Graz, Austria. Karl is the author and publisher of numerous publications; his most recent project is Designing Sustainable Cities. Manageable Approaches to Make Urban Spaces Better.
• Teresa Franqueira, Associate Professor at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. Teresa is Director and Scientific Coordinator of the Design Factory Aveiro at the Creative Science Park Aveiro Region. Her research focuses on themes related to product-service design, design thinking, social innovation, circular economy and alternative scenarios towards more sustainable economic and social models.
• Regitze Marianne Hess, Architect MAA, Professor of Practice in Urbanism based in Copenhagen. Regitze is an educator, writer, editor, and facilitator of knowledge exchange for various international fora on matters pertaining to cities and the built environment, urban governance, architecture and urban design, including serving in the advancement of the Design Declaration and implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Praveen Nahar is the Director of National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad. With over 23 years of experience in design teaching, consultancy, and research, Nahar has for many years been on the institute’s Senate and Policy Planning Committee.
• Vrouyr Joubanian is a designer and design researcher, Head of Experimentation at the UNDP Lebanon’s Accelerator Lab. Vrouyr works closely with stakeholders to develop and experiment with new products and processes that are context specific and socially conscious.
• Zhiyong Fu, Associate Professor of Information Art and Design Department, Academy of Arts and Design; Associate Dean of China-Italy Design Innovation Hub, Tsinghua University, China. Focuses his research on smart city, public service, urban regeneration and community construction.
• Robin Turner is a Johannesburg-based graphic and multimedia designer with a passion for digital solutions. Robin has been sharing his design knowledge with students at the Greenside Design Center since 1996, where he currently heads this private university’s Graphic and Multimedia Design department. Robin specialises in physical computing, which is an area of interactive design that explores that potential of human/computer interactions without conventional digital inputs.
• Thais Russomano, Prof. MD MSc PhD. Doctor Thais Russomano has a Master’s Degree in Aerospace Medicine; and a PhD in Space Physiology. She heads two space-related private companies, has 30 years of experience teaching and researching in the fields of Aerospace Medicine, Space Physiology, Aerospace Biomedicine, Aerospace Biomedical Engineering and TeleHealth. Thais is an Elected Academician of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine (IAASM), and the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).
• Michaël Demeyere, PhD, is head of the Design Team in the New Business Development department at AGC Glass Europe, a manufacturer of flat glass for the building and automotive industries. His work is focused on human-centric design, he is a member of a global project within AGC called “Smart and Sustainable Cities”.