Mott MacDonald sustainable cities champion to speak at World Class Cities conference
Mott MacDonald’s sustainable cities champion Dr Anne Kerr will be speaking at the World Class Cities conference, scheduled to take place on 12-13 October 2011 at the Legacy Ottoman Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey.
The two day conference will bring together key stakeholders working to improve the built urban environment through better design, engineering construction, management and maintenance, with the aim of improving the liveability of cities and ensure long-term sustainable development and growth.
Dr Kerr will be making a presentation in a panel session titled New and future cities: How will they solve major urban challenges and what impact could they have on global urban design? The session, which takes place on the second day of the conference, will look at future major projects and consider whether they have achievable aims and objectives. In addition the panel will discuss whether new cities in certain regions are unavoidable due to rapid population increases, and how these cities will appeal to people as liveable and sustainable communities.
Commenting on her participation at the event, Dr Kerr said: “The consideration of liveability and sustainability in cities is an interesting subject. My presentation centres on the holistic design principle of developing the energy, water and waste frameworks for cities to optimise the use and reuse of materials which work in a collective manner to reduce carbon emissions. Therefore communities cannot be judged as sustainable in the short term as it takes a generation or two to assess whether sustainability has been successfully achieved. However with careful consideration of targets the goals of liveability and sustainability can be demonstrated at selected times to allow appropriate benchmarking of the community against predefined sustainability goals and objectives.”
As well as speaking to attendees, Dr Kerr will be promoting Mott MacDonald’s approach to the planning, design and implementation of liveable communities at the event. She will also discuss the consultancy’s consideration of urban agriculture, such as the incredible edible initiative¹ and urban farming on the ground and rooftops.
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Notes for editors
1) The Incredible Edible initiative was launched by Mott MacDonald consultant Paul Clarke in Todmorden, Lancashire. Incredible Edible is about growing food on under-used public land. It puts urban spaces to productive use, generates food and income, builds community cohesion and cultivates new skills. For more information visit www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk
Media Enquiries:
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Lee Lodge
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lee.lodge@mottmac.com
About Mott MacDonald
Mott MacDonald is a global management, engineering and development consultancy with more than 14,000 staff, £1 billion revenue and work in 140 countries for the public and private sectors. The employee-owned company is ranked 13th in the 2011 Sunday Times 25 Best Big Companies to Work For survey and was awarded Engineering Consultant of the Year at the 2011 Building Awards. Mott MacDonald’s core business sectors cover buildings, transport, energy, water, environment, health, education, industry, oil and gas, communications and international development.
More information can be found at http://www.mottmac.com/
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