Head of the Architectural Engineering Department – Faculty of Engineering and Technology – Future University in Egypt
الزملاء الأعزاء
مصر هي أكبر دولة فى الشرق الاوسط من حيث اهميتها الإقليمية فى العديد من النواحي الجغرافية و الثقافية و التاريخية و الاقتصادية و السياسية. و لقد شهدت مصر منذ ما يزيد عن 50 عاما العديد من محاولات التنمية و التخطيط الاقليميين للخروج من وادي النيل نحو الصحراء، بالاضافة الى اهمية البعد الاقليمي و الذى دائما ما كان له الاثر فى التأثير على الشخصية المصرية من جميع النواحي.
بالتالي مع وجود هذه الخلفية المهمة، فإن مؤسسة الدراسات الاقليمية (العلمية) قد بدأت أول تمثيل لها فى شمال أفريقيا و الشرق الاوسط من مصر. حيث تعتبر هذه خطوة هامة نحو تبادل الخبرات المشترك فى مجالات الدراسات و العلوم الاقليمية فى مصر و منطقتها الاقليمية مع باقي العالم. فاذا كنتم من المهتمين بمعرفة المزيد عن الانشطة العلمية التي سوف تعقد او تنظم في مصر، فيمكنم بكل تأكيد الاتصال بي.
Dear Colleagues
Egypt is the largest country in the Middle East, with strong regional geographic, cultural, economic and political importance. Regional development and planning started in Egypt more than 50 years ago, with several attempts for getting out of the Nile Valley towards the Desert. Throughout its history, the regional dimension was always present within the major milestones that shaped the Egyptian character.
With such a background, Egypt is hosting the first representation for the Regional Studies Association in North Africa and the Middle East. This is considered an important step towards a mutual exchange of experience of the different regional studies aspects in Egypt and the region with the rest of the world. If you are interested to know more about the scientific activities and get involved in networking activities, please contact me.
Forthcoming Event
The 3rd workshop on Post-conflict Reconstruction: approaches and challenges in the MENA region.
Cairo, Egypt
Saturday 11th July 2026
The workshop aims to provide foundational knowledge and a comprehensive methodology to help planners and architects navigate post-conflict reconstruction in the MENA region. It will guide participants through critical recovery phases, including damage assessment, rubble management, project funding, and community reconciliation. Furthermore, it seeks to establish a dedicated professional community to drive a significant paradigm shift in how post-conflict projects are approached moving forward.
Speakers:
Prof. Dr Yehya Serag, RSA Territorial Ambassador, Future University in Egypt (FUE) / Engineering Consultant Office for Planning and Architecture (ECOPA), Egypt
Post-Conflict Reconstruction Methodologies and Urban Planning in the MENA Region
Dr. Ashraf ElHassi, Engineering union, Libya
Post conflict reconstruction challenges in Benghazi.
Ms Franziska Laue, Germany
Historical Insights on Post Conflict Reconstruction
Eng. Ahmed El Fadaly, Imhotep, Egypt
Remote sensing as a tool for damage assessment
Eng. Mohamed Abu Samra, Amaken Place-Making, Egypt
Place-making for building communities
Dr Ahmed El Borsh, Heritage Authority, Palestine
Heritage conservation in post conflict Gaza
Eng. David George, Egypt
The Use of VR in Reconstruction
Eng. Mayada Sharbass, ECOPA, Egypt
The use of AI in urban design.
Other speakers still to confirm from Germany, Denmark and Syria.
Recent Workshop
In September, and with the support of the RSA, the first Post-Conflict Reconstruction workshop organized by APOCOR was successfully held in Cairo in September 2019 with participants coming from seven different countries.
The workshop focused on sharing knowledge and drafting proposals for postconflict reconstruction in three affected cities from Iraq, Libya and Syria
Outline of the topics and activities:
- Introduction to the aims of the workshop, how will this help in the post-conflict period to come.
- What is an Urbicide? The deliberate destruction of cities.
- Previous cases of post-conflict reconstruction strategies: Germany, Lebanon, Former Yugoslavia, and Egypt.
- Adopting a Post-conflict reconstruction strategy based on 5 main steps in the affected areas.
- Application to a damaged city, for example Homs in Syria or Mossel in Iraq.
- Proposal Development.
Please contact Yehya for further information about the event.
Recent Conferences
I recently attended two conferences in the United Kingdom as the result of a generous travel grant of the RSA. The first conference took place in the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland on 5-7 September 2018. The Conference title was “Urbanism @ borders”. I participated in the conference with a research paper based on a project I was involved in. The paper dealt with the different approaches to develop a remote peripheral border region at the South East of Egypt. The name of my research is “Towards an appropriate regional development approach for developing the Halayb – Shalateen border region in the South East of Egypt”. The research is expected to be published as a book chapter in a forthcoming book to be edited by the conference organizers. This conference was a good opportunity to join the ‘Circle of Scholars’ focusing on border urbanism and I was able to provide colleagues with information about the RSA.
The second conference was hosted by the university of Leeds, England from 11-12 September 2018. I had the honor of being the international co-organizer with my colleague Dr. Gehan Selim of the University of Leeds. The conference tackled the impacts of politics on urbanism, and how cities are reshaped because of that. In addition to the organization of the event, giving a welcome note, and chairing a session I organized a joint workshop my German colleague Professor Carsten Villguth entitled “The Politics of Urbanism: East -West Perspectives” . The event succeeded in bringing together more than 80 scholars and researchers in the related fields. There is a strong possibility of taking the outcome of this event further in the form of a special edition of Journal. I was also able to promote the RSA at this conference and to let my colleagues know about the conferences, journals and funding available.
If you would like further information about these conferences please feel free to get in touch with me.