HON. DR. IAN BORG
Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects
Dr Ian Borg was appointed Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects in June 2017. His current role encompasses a wide portfolio ranging from major infrastructural projects, to the construction and maintenance of the country’s infrastructure, the transport scenario, and planning and property. During the previous legislature, as the youngest member of the Cabinet, Dr Ian Borg also served as Parliamentary Secretary for the EU Presidency 2017 and EU Funds. During this time, he was responsible for the national preparations for the successful 2017 Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU, together with the strengthening of the EU Funds absorption process towards a more efficient and transparent practice. Dr Borg graduated as a Doctor of Laws from the University of Malta in 2012, after successfully reading a Doctoral degree in Laws, a Diploma in Public Notarial Practice and a Bachelor’s Degree in Law.
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Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects
HON. CHRIS AGIUS
Honourable Chris Agius MP is a member of the cabinet of the government of the Maltese Prime Minister
He was born in Cospicua on the 17th November 1961. Chris Agius attended Cospicua Primary School, moving on to De La Salle College in the same locality.
In April 2014 he joined the cabinet as Parliamentary Secretary for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sports. In June 2017 he re-joined the Cabinet as Parliamentary Secretary for Planning and the Property Market.
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Honourable Chris Agius MP is a member of the cabinet of the government of the Maltese Prime Minister
HON. DR. MARTHESE PORTELLI
Shadow Minister for Planning, Capital Projects, and Property Market
Marthese is a member of Parliament who was first elected in April 2013 and re-elected in June 2018 from the 9th and the 13th district. During this tenure she was tasked with various responsibilities - Shadow Minister for Energy, Environment and Transport; Opposition Spokesperson for EU Affairs; and Opposition Representative on 5 parliamentary committees -Environment & Development Planning; Foreign & EU Affairs Committee; Social Affairs Committee; Privileges Committee; Diabetes Working Group.
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Shadow Minister for Planning, Capital Projects, and Property Market
MAXWELL HUTCHINSON
Architect, Broadcaster and former President of the Royal Institute of British Architects
MAXWELL HUTCHINSON was President of the Royal Institute of British Architects from 1989 to 1991. He is a practicing architect and regular radio and television broadcaster. He has a weekly feature on the Robert Elms Show on BBC Radio London covering architecture, lifestyle and London life.
He has presented a number of distinguished architectural programmes for BBC, Channel 4 and The Discovery Channel. He is currently working with Inside Out on BBC 1 and continues to contribute to Sky Television and NBC News.
Maxwell has been running his own successful architectural practice in Central London for over 40 years. His better-known buildings include Skylines at Canary Wharf, JS Pathology’s Headquarters at Camden Lock and Aztec Row in Islington. In between his busy broadcasting schedule, he is developing a number of historical projects for both television and publishing. He continues to host corporate events and provides various talks for historical societies. He has also chaired three series of lectures at The Royal Academy of London, “The Architects Who Made London with Maxwell Hutchinson”.
His book ‘The Prince of Wales Right or Wrong – An Architect Replies’ was a best-seller (Faber & Faber).
Apart from his work, Maxwell enjoys composing music. He has composed three stage musicals and written a requiem mass. He also enjoys playing the piano and the guitar and he is a Distinctive Deacon in the Church of England.
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Architect, Broadcaster and former President of the Royal Institute of British Architects
RICHARD ENGLAND
Maltese Architect, Writer, Artist, Academic and Honorary Member of World Architecture Community
RICHARD ENGLAND was born in Malta in 1937 and graduated in Architecture from the University of Malta. He continued his studies in Italy at the Milan Polytechnic while working as a student-architect in the studio of the Italian architect-designer Gio Ponti. England is also a poet, sculptor, photographer and artist and the author of several books on art and architecture.
Monographs have been published on his work in England and Italy by Charles Knevitt, Edwin Heathcote, Chris Abel, Dennis Sharp and Maurizio Vitta, and writers on his work include Renzo Piano, Daniel Libeskind, Juhani Pallasmaa, Paolo Portoghesi and Mario Botta. England holds professorships at various universities in the U.S.A, U.K. and Europe and he is an Honorary Hon Member American Institute of Architects , Vice-President of the International Academy of Architecture, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an Officer of The Order of Merit of the Government of Malta. He is also the recipient of a number of Honoris Causa doctorates from various universities and his buildings and designs have earned him numerous International prizes and awards, including the C.I.C.A. silver medal, the 2000 Belgrade Architectural Triennale Gold Medal and the 2006 International Academy of Architecture Grand Prix. He was also the recipient of the 2012 International Academy of Architecture Annual Award. In 2018 he received the Malta Kamra Tal-Periti Life Time Achievement Galizia prize while in 2019 he was the winner of the Commonwealth Association of Architects Robert Matthew Award.
Among his best known works in Malta are the Church of St Joseph at Manikata, the Central Bank of Malta Annexe, the Millennium Chapel, the rehabilitation of the St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta and the Dar il-Hanin Samaritan Conference Centre and the meditation garden in Santa Venera. He has published extensively and his books include themes on architecture, poetry, mythology and religion.
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Maltese Architect, Writer, Artist, Academic and Honorary Member of World Architecture Community
JOHANN BUTTIGIEG
Executive Chairman Planning Authority
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Executive Chairman Planning Authority
VINCENT CASSAR
Chairman Planning Authority Board
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Chairman Planning Authority Board
CHRIS BRIFFA
Architect , Chris Briffa Architects
CHRIS BRIFFA completed his architecture degree at The University of Malta in 1999. And furthered his studies at Virginia Tech (USA), and Politechnico di Milano (Italy). He worked with a number of furniture suppliers and designers in northern Italy before establishing his studio in 2004. His work has become synonymous with skilful design which moves away from stylistic mannerisms and is more concerned with proportion, materials and detail. In a few years, his relatively extensive project types have shown an innate capability of solving puzzles; of putting details together, making them flow from line to pattern; from plain to textured surface. Recent projects include the restoration of buildings reinterpreted to serve new purposes, such as a formerly nondescript public convenience which was turned into a haven of reds, greys and reflective surfaces which doubles up as an art exhibition space. Or a stark black box which was inserted into a would-be tunnel in the capital’s fortifications and transformed into a hip wine bar. Or better still, a family-owned palazzo in the capital converted into a luxury guesthouse with a unique roof-top experience.
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Architect , Chris Briffa Architects
SAM TURNER
Architect, Webb Yates Engineers Ltd t/a Interrobang The Hoover Building London, BREEAM Award 2019
SAM TURNER studied at both London Metropolitan and Kingston University where he was awarded the Vu Quang Hoang Tu Prize for Promise. He joined the Interrobang team in 2016, previously working at Mae Architects on projects including a landmark retirement home opposite Channel 4’s HQ in Westminster; and the Aylesbury Estate, one of the largest estate regeneration schemes in Europe. Since joining Interrobang, Sam has delivered several transdisciplinary projects including the refurbishment of the Grade II* listed Hoover Building. He has recently completed the UK’s first digital air traffic control tower for London City Airport, and is part of the multidisciplinary team working on the transformation of the International Departure Lounge at London Gatwick’s North Terminal. Sam brings a playful but practical approach to design, building relationships with craftspeople and stakeholders to deliver beautiful and enduring architecture. He is personally testing innovative ways of living in London by renovating and residing on a canal boat and exploring human connections as a regional producer of The Moth storytelling shows.
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Architect, Webb Yates Engineers Ltd t/a Interrobang The Hoover Building London, BREEAM Award 2019
JONATHAN MIZZI
Architect , Director, Mizzi Studio (London & Valletta)
Maltese-British designer, qualified as an architect at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL where he was awarded a Commendation for his work in Neo Futuristic design in Architecture. During his education he also attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles and Escape Studios in London studying Digital Set Design, Visual Effects and Animation. His love for science fiction and high-tech architecture led him to working as a concept designer at Foster and Partners before going on to further explore media and architecture with renowned interac¬tive design studios, Jason Bruges Studio and Cinimod Studio. Amongst numerous awards for Mizzi Studio's projects, Jonathan Mizzi was named FX International Design Awards Breakthrough Talent in 2017. Jonathan founded Mizzi Studio in 2011 fusing design, architecture, and art in to one holistic workspace.
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Architect , Director, Mizzi Studio (London & Valletta)
MATT LALLY
Associate Director, Integrated City Planning, Arup
A highly experienced urban designer and town planner, Matt has worked internationally on a wide-ranging portfolio of major planning and development projects in both public and private sectors throughout the UK, Europe, Australasia, Middle East, Asia and Africa. He has lived and worked in London, Sydney, Singapore and Doha. Experience encompasses sub-regional strategies, new settlements, major urban regeneration, Transit Oriented Development, housing renewal, urban extensions, mega sport events, resorts, specialist employment precincts and associated infrastructure planning and design.
Matt has been responsible for the preparation of several Government best practice research and guidance publications in the UK and Australia related to different facets of urban planning, design, housing and masterplanning, including the internationally influential Urban Design Compendium. He has been a visiting tutor in urban design at University of Technology Sydney, University College London (Bartlett) and Belgrade University.
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Associate Director, Integrated City Planning, Arup
LODEWIJK ABSPOEL
Senior Policy Officer, EU Integrated Maritime Policy and the North Sea The MSP Challenge: Game Technology for Maritime Spatial Planning Policy
He advocates the need to work on a common language in MSP, and considers that the wide variety of human activities at sea, against the backdrop of the invaluable ecosystem and in a cross border setting, challenges all involved to make cross cutting efforts in understanding of information shared. He initiated and worked on the development of the MSP challenge games (www.mspchallenge.info), aimed at professionals, students and stakeholders. He considers that bringing together the oceans’ and coastal community, the scientific world, concerned civil servants and politicians within the digital aquarium should help us in sustainably managing and developing our common heritage the ocean is. “Ecologically sound is also business sound: the marine world, to my believe, shows us the way to a sustainable future. All we need to do is listen, talk, look and learn”.
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Senior Policy Officer, EU Integrated Maritime Policy and the North Sea The MSP Challenge: Game Technology for Maritime Spatial Planning Policy
DAVID MOLONEY
Director, Innovation & Transformation PwC UK
He helps companies benefit from innovation and disruptive technologies including artificial intelligence and blockchain. He helps start-ups and scale-ups to improve traction with corporate clients, by clarifying opportunities, improving market positioning, and mentoring founders and CEOs. He has worked in technology throughout his whole career, always matching technical capability to business need. As a cyber security research director, he led or contributed to research on security architecture, the insider threat, risk appetite, hacktivism and application security among other topics. As a forensic technologist he led teams who captured and processed large volumes of electronic data in support of critical events such as litigation, regulatory inquiries, investigations and insolvencies. He has advanced training in structured innovation and has also worked in product marketing.
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Director, Innovation & Transformation PwC UK
STEFAN WEBB
Director of Digitisation of Planning and Standards at Connected Places Catapult Architect
Stefan has designed and delivered the Future of Planning programme, which included working with Greater Manchester to create a new way to understand infrastructure capacity and its relationship with new development. He has developed the case for data devolution to Bristol, as well as leading the review of the Smart Dubai strategy. Stefan has degrees in Sociology, Politics and Government, and Urban Regeneration. Before joining the Future Cities Catapult he worked for different local authorities, including the Greater London Authority where he worked on spatial policy and strategy for the Thames Gateway and Olympic Legacy development.
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Director of Digitisation of Planning and Standards at Connected Places Catapult Architect
MATTHEW MERCIECA
Founder, Senior Architect and CEO of Firm MJMDA
Matthew has also furthered his studies by attending a Masters level course in New Entertainment Design at the Politechnico di Milano in 2006. As founder and senior architect and CEO of MJMDA since 2003, Matthew has been commissioned and has completed numerous residential, commercial, food and beverage and hospitality projects with a unified design approach: one that sees a continuous thread from project inception to completion. His vision is to integrate design and deliver results that are user ready, functional and enjoyable, very much as one would a well-designed and thought out product. Several of his works have been reviewed in local and international publications, referenced in academic papers and dissertations as well as in cultural publications. His works have won awards by Din L’ArtHelwa and he was awarded Best Architecture Entrepreneur of the Year for 2016 and also Quality Architecture Award of KTP’s Premju Galizia 2019.
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Founder, Senior Architect and CEO of Firm MJMDA
SIMONE VELLA LENICKER
President, Kamra tal-Periti
She is currently Design Director at AP Valletta, and is responsible for various aspects of the firm's services, including planning consultancy, property valuations and feasibility studies, property market research, and practice management. She is currently the President of the Kamra tal-Periti (Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers), and has been active in the Chamber since 2004, holding various posts including those of Vice President, Honorary Secretary and Editor of the quarterly journal "the Architect". Simone is a member of the Building Regulation Board, the Users' Committee of the Planning Authority, the Building Industry Consultative Council Advisory Board, and the Church Commission for Justice and Peace.
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President, Kamra tal-Periti
LIOR STEINBERG
Urban planner, Co-founder Humankind
A multidisciplinary collective accelerating the transition towards urban happiness for all. He helps cities to look beyond functionality and to plan urban spaces that make people smile. All the projects Lior participates in have one thing in common: they create people-oriented cities. Being a Jane Jacobs’ enthusiast and a fan of great public spaces, he is keen on making cities better with an emphasis on local, innovative interventions and on including residents in urban planning.
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Urban planner, Co-founder Humankind
CALDON MERCIECA
Manager, Valletta Design Cluster, Valletta Cultural Agency
He was a key contributor to Malta’s work for the 2018 European Capital of Culture. He is also one of the drafters of Malta’s National Culture Policy. He has a Masters Degree in Philosophy from the University of Malta, where he ran a course on Critical Perspectives on Theatre and Performance within the Theatre Studies Department between 2008 and 2013. Since 2010, Caldon has been a member of the Creative Economy Working Group, a joint project between the Ministry for Culture and the Ministry for the Economy. This has now led to a creative economy strategy for Malta, with a focus on education, financing mechanisms, internationalisation, and governance for the cultural and creative sector.
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Manager, Valletta Design Cluster, Valletta Cultural Agency
PETRA BIBERBACH
Chief Executive of PAS
With a career spanning public, private and third sector, Petra brings a wealth of expertise to the post in the fields of planning, sustainable development, renewable energy, community engagement and research.
Petra is currently the Vice Chair of LINK Group and chairs the Property Development Group. Petra served as a member on the Independent Review of the Scottish Planning System and recently completed two terms as a board member of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority and was Convenor of the Planning Committee. In 1998 she founded and became the first chair of the Campaign for Borders Rail (CBR) which campaigned successfully for the reopening of the Borders Railway.
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Chief Executive of PAS
BERNADINE SATARIANO
University of Malta, The Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society
She has an Undergraduate and Master degree in Geography from the University of Malta and a PhD in Health Geography from Durham University. Her main area of interest explores how important place (natural and built) is for human health and wellbeing. Her empirical interests include: social determinants of health, health inequalities, children’s geographies, therapeutic landscapes and socio-cultural environments. She presented some of her works at several international universities and her work has been published in books by Springer and Routledge and in periodicals such as Health & Place and Social Science & Medicine.
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University of Malta, The Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society
SAVIOUR FORMOSA
Head of Department Department of Criminology ,University of Malta
PhD. in spatio-temporal environmental criminology, having acquired a MSc in GIS and a BA(Hons) in Sociology and a Diploma in Applied Social Sciences. He holds the post of Associate Professor within the Faculty for Social Welling, Department of Criminology at the University of Malta. His main area of research is spatio-temporal analysis of social and physical relationships using spatial information systems. His expertise lies in the implementation of cross-thematic approaches and uses to the data cycle and management with emphasis in the thematic and spatial data structures, visualisation, modelling, web-mapping, analysis and dataflow management and reporting. Prof. Formosa has extensive knowledge of statistical analysis covering textual, tabular and spatial statistics Prof. Formosa has published extensively in criminology, spatial information systems, the integration of social, physical and criminology disciplines through the employment of high-end technology. He is currently involved in the creation of virtual worlds as an investigative tool for social interactionism as a potential future scenario construct analysis.
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Head of Department Department of Criminology ,University of Malta
TOBY BLUNT
Deputy Head of Studio, Senior Partner, Foster + Partners
He studied at the University of Portsmouth School of Architecture, obtaining an honours degree in 1990 and a diploma in 1992. He subsequently studied for professional practice at the Architectural Association London in 1997. Toby joined the practice in 1995. He has recently been involved in pioneering high-rise towers and masterplans. His current projects include the new headquarters for BBC Wales in Cardiff and the surrounding buildings. He was partner in charge for the newly completed Bund Financial Center, a new mixed-use complex on The Bund Shanghai. Toby has lived extensively abroad whilst working on several projects – in Berlin for the development of the Reichstag, Singapore, as project architect leading the delivery of the Expo Station and Kuala Lumpur, working as project architect on site for the Universiti Teknologi Petronas. On his return to London he led the design of the Index, a mixed use 80-storey tower in Dubai. His earliest work at the practice was the Canary Wharf Underground Station, part of London Underground's Jubilee Line Extension, since then he has been involved in a number of the practices work in the Middle East, Far East,
China and India and has helped to develop new markets in Asia including Vietnam and Thailand.
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Deputy Head of Studio, Senior Partner, Foster + Partners
