Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC) recently hosted the second Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC) in Qatar under the umbrella of the World Urban Campaign, an initiative of the UN-Habitat.
The open-platform campus, held under the theme ‘The Future of Doha, Gearing for a Resilient City’, facilitated discussions on topics and trends that have the potential to impact and shape the future of the city of Doha under the themes of ‘The Neighbourhood We Need’ and ‘The Resilient City.’
QGBC is a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.
UTC 2018 in Doha was a continuation of a successful campus held in May 2017 and is the result of effective collaboration with QGBC’s strategic partners, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) and Qatar University College of Engineering’s Department of Architecture.
The event showcased proposed urban solutions through roadmaps, action plans, responsibilities, commitments and priority actions.
“Following the success of UTC 2017, we were proud to host UTC 2018 in its second edition,” said Meshal al-Shamari, director, QGBC. “Together, we set out to explore the most innovative ideas, technologies, and initiatives being used by cities today as they strive to create more liveable and sustainable environments. The event was a platform for the stakeholders to co-ordinate their commitments, roles and responsibilities to delivering the Qatar National Development Framework.”
Dr Ameera al-Hassan, assistant head of office, UN-Habitat Kuwait GCC Office and sustainable development consultant, said: “The new urban agenda covers all aspects of the urban planning of a city. It also emphasises the essential collaboration between governments and all aspects of the society to recognise the challenges that face the world. We appreciate QGBC’s role in supporting and hosting UTC for the second time in Doha.”
“We are honoured to participate in the second UTC because it aims to achieve Qatar National Vision 2030 and supports the objectives of the National Health Strategy 2018- 2022.”
Dr Alanoud al-Thani, manager, Health Promotion and Non-Communicable Diseases, Ministry of Public Health, added: “Our ambition from today’s participation is to reach the level of a resilient city and a sustainable environment for our community, which directly leads towards supporting health and enhances its abilities and facilities.”
Jaber al-Qatiri, head of General Planning, MME, said: “Today, we came to this event because we support QGBC as an institution that focuses on the future of Doha, different Qatari cities and is also concerned with notions that matter to us, such as sustainable development, green cities and resilient cities.”
In January 2018, the MME had officially launched the Qatar National Development Framework as the spatial translation of Qatar National Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy of Qatar, with QGBC hosting it as part of its support for the National Vision.
