Prof. Piotr Lorens - PhD, DSc.
Urban planner. Lecturer in urban design and development and - since 2007 - Head of the Department of Urban Design and Regional Planning at the Faculty of Architecture, Gdansk University of Technology. His university activities also include coordination of the research and EU Social Fund projects. Based on these projects he was responsible for organization and coordination of the post-graduate studies and international conferences related to the issues of urban regeneration and management. Besides his academic career he is also actively involved in the activities of the International Society of City and Regional Planners (within 2011-2017 was holding the position of Vice President responsible for the Young Planning Professionals program) as well as of the Society of Polish Town Planners – TUP (at present – Chairman of the Advisory Board of the society, within years 2015-2018 – President of the Society).
Piotr Lorens graduated as architect from the Gdansk University of Technology, and also completed the post-graduate studies (as Fulbright Fellow) at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since then he is active as guest lecturer at numerous universities, mostly around Europe but also in Asia and Africa. He was also teaching as guest professor at two Russian universities. At the same time he is conducting his professional career with the focus on planning and management of the urban regeneration projects in Poland. Among others, he was involved in development of urban regeneration plans for numerous municipalities in Poland and also for many years was involved in planning for regeneration of the Young City in Gdansk - the large-scale urban project located on the site of former Gdansk shipyard.
His professional interests include urban planning and regeneration processes, with special focus on waterfront areas and public spaces.
Prof. Maurizio Carta - PhD,
Maurizio Carta is architect, PhD and full professor of urbanism and regional planning at the Department of Architecture of the University of Palermo. He’s the Dean of the Polytechnic School of the University of Palermo. He is senior expert in strategic planning, urban design and local development, drawing up several urban, landscape and strategic plans in Italy. In 2015 the International Biennial of Architecture in Buenos Aires, he was awarded the prize for “academic investigation”. He is visiting professor or keynote speaker in several universities and institutions.
He is author of several publications, among the most recent: Reimagining Urbanism (Listlab, 2014), Re-cyclical Urbanism (with B. Lino and D. Ronsivalle, Listlab, 2016), The Fluid City Paradigm (with D. Ronsivalle, Springer, 2016), Augmented City (Listlab, 2017) Dynamics of Periphery (with J. Schroeder, Jovis, 2018).
Prof. Francesco Alberti - PhD
Dr Francesco Alberti is Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Design at the Department of Architecture of the University of Florence, where he is currently the coordinator of the Laboratory of Landscape and Urban Design for the master's degree course in Urban and Regional Planning and in charge with the teachings of Urban Design for the Laboratory “Architecture and City” for the master's degree course in Architecture, Smart City Planning for the postgraduate programme “ABITA” (Bioecological Architecture and Technological Innovation for the Environment) and and Mobility Planning for the postgraduate programme in Landscape Architecture. In the same department, he is the scientific coordinator of the research unit "SUP&R" (Sustainable Urban Projects & Research) and of the related university spin-off "Urban LIFE” (Urban Liveability & Innovation for Everyone).
As a member of the Italian National Institute of Urban Planning (INU - Istituto Nazionale di Urbanistica) he joined the National Commetees “Networks, Infrastructure and Innovation Policies” (2014-2016) and “Urban Accessibility for Everyone” (2016-). Since 2106 he is the President of the Regional division of INU in Tuscany.
His scientific interests in the fields of spatial planning and urban design refer to an approach aimed at giving cultural coherence and operational continuity among research, education and public policies concerning city and territory, with a special focus on two main areas:
- the relationship between urban planning, design and management in the perspective of sustainability and urban resilience;
- the interpretation of mobility systems as "public spaces", playing a major role in structuring contemporary cities.
On these topics he has written many essays, articles and books, joined national and international conferences, lectured in postgraduate programmes and master courses for professionals and public administrators, provided expert help in participatory processes, coordinated seminars and conducted researches on behalf of public institutions and private enterprises.