Walk the City 2023 Conference

Among the speakers, we are pleased to welcome:

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  Mike Lydon

  Internationally renowned urban planner, designer and advocate of living cities. Director of Street Plans (USA) and founder of the Open Streets Project.

  Mike has long influenced thinking about public space and is one of the most influential urban planners internationally. He is co-author of Tactical Urbanism: Short-term Action for Long-term Change, which has been recognized as one of the best urban planning books of the last decade. Mike lectures and conducts workshops and training on smart growth, tactical urbanism, public space and active transportation.

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  Alice Ferguson

  Co-founder and Director of Playing Out in Bristol.

  Alice has long been involved in the environmental and voluntary sector. Since becoming a parent, she has been actively engaged in community life and efforts to create a more pleasant place to live. Her focus is on children’s mobility and creating the conditions for their independence. The main vision and focus of her work is simply opening up the streets, called “PlayStreets”, for play and free time. She likes to talk about open streets with anyone who will listen and share this idea further. Following her example, thousands of people in the UK have already become actively involved in creating their own Playstreets and open neighbourhoods.

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  Matúš Vallo

  Architect and urban activist, since 2018 Mayor of Bratislava with a new vision for the development of the Slovak capital.

  Matúš Vallo studied high school in Rome, architecture in Bratislava and is a Fulbright scholar at Columbia University in New York. He also gained work experience in an architectural studio in London. He is a co-founder of Vallo Sadovsky Architects. One of his main goals is to make Bratislava a strong, confident and transparent city. He places great emphasis on quality public space, combating the climate crisis, strengthening public transport, social issues and helping disadvantaged groups. Matúš was behind the “Urban Interventions” initiative, which has prepared over 900 projects to improve public space in 20 Slovak and Czech cities since 2008. He founded the civic association “We are the city” and since 2016 he has led the preparation of the document Plan Bratislava – A Guide to a Better City.

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  Demetrio Scopelliti

  Architect and coordinator of the Open squares, Open streets and Milano 2030 City Plan projects.

  Demetrio heads the urban planning and public space section of the Agency for Mobility, Environment and Territory of the City of Milan (AMAT). He loves cities and considers urban design a great tool for innovation and change. Under his leadership, dozens of Italian squares and streets have already been opened up to people and public life.

• 

  Simon Battisti

  Architect and urban planner, director of Qendra Marrëdhënie (Relationship Center), Tirana. Advocate of school streets, active mobility for children and community life.

  Simon studied architecture and design at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His work focuses on creating healthy conditions for children in cities. QM has worked with the city of Tirana since 2018 to mainstream early childhood health into the city’s street design and maintenance practices, as well as leading a city-wide school streets implementation program. In addition to their work in Tirana QM is currently piloting a school streets program in Prishtina, Kosovo, and contributing to child-friendly streets work in Bratislava, Slovakia.

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  Pavel Pacal

  Mayor of Trebic, representative of the Vysočina Region

  Pavel Pacal has been the head of the town of Třebíč since 2018 and defended his position as mayor in the 2022 elections. Since 2016, he has also worked as a representative of the Vysočina Region. With his courageous and inspiring approach, he has initiated a major transformation of the public space in the centre of Trebic with the aim of creating a more friendly place for everyday life.

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  Petr Návrat

  Urban planner with a focus on participatory processes, head of the ONplan Consultation Company

  Petr Návrat has long been active in the field of strategic planning and urban development. His work focuses on public involvement in decision-making processes. He gained his experience during his studies of urban planning at University College London and also during several years of working abroad. At the Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague, he worked in the field of urban planning. He founded the Office of Participation and designed the Manual of Participation in City Planning for the city, which helps public administration representatives in setting up participatory processes.

• and more…