Eric Frijters, founder/principal at FABRIC and Professor (Lector) Future Urban Regions (FUR) at the Dutch Academies of Architecture. Eric has over 10 years of experience in designing and executing projects in architecture, urbanism and consulting in regional strategies in the Netherlands and abroad. He has a background in architecture at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam and graduated Cum Laude at the Eindhoven University of Technology. His research is being published in several books and various journals and Eric received recognition for his work with several prizes (Prix de Rome, Iakov Chernikhov International Architecture Prize), that stands in the field of practice and experimentation with innovative architecture, education and research in architecture and urbanism. As of June 2013 Eric leads the research group Future Urban Regions focusing on healthy urbanization, design thinking methodology and testing results for productive strategies on urban metabolism in studios at the Dutch Academies of Architecture.

Valbona Koçi is an architect – urban designer; graduated from the Faculty of Architecture in METU, Turkey, with Master of City Planning in Urban Design and Bachelor of Architecture degrees. Currently, she is part of the PhD programme in Architecture and Urbanism, in G. d’Annunzio University, Pe-Chieti, Italy. The research topic is “Water Sensitive Urbanism: An investigation into interplays between Water, Landscape, Infrastructure and Urbanism; The case of Albania in the Mediterranean Basin”. Valbona is working for GIZ on the ‘Integrated Sustainable Development of the Southern Coastal Region-Creating prospects, protecting heritage and nature, a project which is supporting the rural development in the area. She has been teaching in the Architecture Department of EPOKA University, since 6 years now. Some academic research is presented in conferences and published in articles /proceedings. Her professional experience includes also working in the Municipality of Tirana from 2003-2007, and then as a collaborator of 51N4E architecture /urbanism, a Brussels based office, focusing mainly on ‘Skenderbej Square Revitalization Project, “Korca City Center Master-plan” etc. The primary research interests of Valbona are: Landscape Urbanism, Water Sensitive Urban Design, Spatial Transformations and Sustainable Planning. Albania constitutes the laboratory of her research.

Jan Maas (1978) obtained in 2003 a Bachelor Degree with special Honours in Landscape Architecture and Environment Management at the International Agricultural College, Netherlands. Working for Strootman Landschapsarchitecten he worked on a variety projects in landscape design and public space. In 2009 he obtained a Master degree in landscape architecture at the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam. His graduating project, ‘Urban Wrinkle’, was awarded with the StedenbouwNU award, a national price for the best graduating project of all Dutch Master tracks in Landscape architecture and Urban Design. Before founding BOOM landscape in 2013, Maas was landscape architect and member of the board of directors of Bureau B+B. Jan Maas has worked on a variety of projects and prize winning competitions. Maas teaches at the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam and the University of Technology in Delft. He has been a guest lecturer at the University of Resistencia Argentina and was member of the board of examiners at the Academy of Architecture in Tilburg and Rotterdam. In 2009 Jan Maas was consulted by the Advisory Council of the ministry of spatial planning. In 2010 he was a member of an advisory council of the Dutch government to review the Act of Competent Authority (of Architects)

Ms. Sadie Morgan is a Founding Director of dRMM Architects and currently President of the Architectural Association. As a practitioner she is passionate about the creative use of materials and colour. Over a career spanning more than 18 years she has been involved in the design and delivery of many of their key projects. She is regularly asked to speak both in the UK and internationally on the work of dRMM and the research of the practice into sustainable timber buildings. Sadie has sat on design competition juries including the Building Awards, The British Construction Industry Awards, and The World Architecture Festival Awards. Her advisory roles have included Southwark Hub for the London Festival of Architecture, the Central London Partnership 2012 legacy strategic taskforce and most recently the RIBA Awards Group. She is an external examiner at Westminster and Kent Universities and a trustee of the Creative Education Trust. Sadie was honorary treasurer of the Architectural Association (AA) between 2009 and 2013. As of June 1st 2013 she became President of the AA. Sadie is also a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. In January 2014, Sadie was shortlisted for the AJ Woman Architect of the Year Award.

Department of the Polytechnic University of Tirana with excellent results, receiving the title: Electronic Engineer. In 1989 he graduated from “Raqi Qirinxhi” high school in Korca with a Golden Medal. Mr. Peleshi has had a significant career in the private sector in the city of Korca and from 2001- 2004 he ran with great success the Industrial and Trade Chamber of Commerce of Korca. The political career of Mr. Peleshi starts in October of 2004 when he was elected to be Prefect of the District of Korca, he was also elected as the Mayor of the City of Korca later on. Mr. Peleshi is a member with full rights to the Committee of Monitoring of the Local and Regional Congress of Authorities at the European Council.

Freek Persyn is an architect and partner at the Brussels-based international design practice 51N4E. Through the production of space, 51N4E he envisions and directs the transformation of society. 51N4E designs development processes on a multitude of scales, from strategy to implementation. 51N4E uses design as an instrument for collaboration, making it possible to create collective knowledge and better results. 51N4E operates today in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Turkey and Albania. As partner at 51N4E, Freek Persyn equally focuses on teaching, lecturing and debating, to strengthen 51N4E’s knowledge base and to create new learning opportunities

Andreas Ruby is an architecture critic, curator, moderator, teacher and publisher. He has taught architectural theory and design at interntional universities such as Cornell University, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture Paris Malaquais, the Metropolis Program Barcelona and Umea School of Architecture among others. Aside from regularly contributing to selected international architecture magazines, he has published nearly 20 books on contemporary architecture. In 2008 he co-founded the award-_winning architecture publishing house RUBY PRESS which has a catalog of 20 titles to date. He has organized several international symposiums and exhibitions on architecture and design, such as the “Min to Max“ symposium on a_ordable housing hosted in 2009 in Berlin, the traveling exhibition “Druot, Lacaton & Vassal – Tour Bois le Prêtre“ launched in 2012, and most recently the Montenegro Pavilion at the 14th Venice Architecture Biennial in 2014. Last but not least he is one of the most prolific moderators in the contemporary architecture discourse, with a record of more than 150 moderated panel discussions featuring 200 architects from 30 countries.

Günther Vogt, born 1957, landscape architect. Studied at the Interkantonales Technikum Rapperswil, Switzerland. From 1995 joint owner of Kienast Vogt Partner. Since 2000 owner of Vogt Landscape Architects, Zurich, Munich (2002–2010), London (2008), and Berlin (2010). Since 2005 Professor for Landscape Architecture at the ETH, Zurich. 2007–2011 head of the Netzwerk Stadt und Landschaft (NSL) at ETH Zurich. Since 2010 owner of case studio VOGT. Over the past ten years, Günther Vogt of Vogt Landscape Architects, Zürich, has designed a wide variety of public and private outdoor spaces in Switzerland and Europe. These include the grounds of the Allianz Arena in Munich, the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and Tate Modern in London; and the FIFA headquarters and Masoala Rain Forest Hall in Zürich.