Page 12 - Norman Foster Foundation Re-materializing Housing Workshop

2021 Re-materializing Housing Workshop
Contents Report
Academic Body Members
Laila Iskandar
Former Minister of Urban Renewal and Informal Settlements, Cairo, Egypt
Laila Iskandar has served as the minister of state for Urban Renewal and Informal Settlements as well as the minister of state for Environmental Affairs in the two cabinets that followed the 30 June Revolution in Egypt. Prior to holding public office, Iskandar was a leading member of civil society for her work on informal urban settlements. Throughout her career, she worked with the garbage collectors of Cairo for over thirty-five years with a focus on the informal waste sector, recycling SME’s and value chain analyses. As a chairperson of CID Consulting, she has received global recognition for her work, including the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award at the 2006 World Economic Forum for her sustainable recycling school in partnership with UNESCO. Her international assignments have included serving as UNESCO Resource Person for the Arab region as part of the United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD) and serving as Canadian CIDA’s Education Advisor in Egypt.
Johan Karlsson
Managing Director, Better Shelter, Stockholm, Sweden
Johan Karlsson is the managing director of Better Shelter, a social enterprise founded by the IKEA Foundation that provides innovative housing solutions for people displaced by armed conflicts and natural disasters. Better Shelter, in partnership with UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies, has developed a sustainable shelter prototype which, today, houses families, clinics and classrooms across the world. Prior to his product development role at Better Shelter, Karlsson founded and directed the design firm Chen Karlsson, whose innovative designs continue to be sold worldwide. Better Shelter has received various accolades in the field of design for its prototype shelter concepts that are durable, easy to install and cost-effective. Karlsson has an executive MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics and a master’s desgree in industrial design from Konstfack, the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm.
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