The course will be delivered in English and will be open to students, professionals and researchers with an academic background on any field related to the topic of the course (architecture, landscape architecture, geography, history, ethnography, anthropology, arts, design, linguistics, etc).
The selection process will aim at selecting a highly international and interdisciplinary group of 18-24 UPV or Erasmus students. To boost the open and international profile of the course, AKTC might kindly help to partially cover the travel expenses of six additional students coming from the Maghreb, Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Syria and other priority areas designated by AKTC.
Applicants will need to send a motivation letter, portfolio (including a summary of academic and/or design works related with the topic of the course) and short CV.
The applications will be evaluated by the UPV with the support of AKTC according to the following criteria:
- Quality and experience of the applicants within their field of expertise
- Capacity of the applicant to contribute to the international and interdisciplinary profile of the course.
The team of teachers includes experts from complementary fields of knowledge fitting the crosscutting character of the course:
Arancha Muñoz Criado: International consultant, architect and urban planner, master’s in landscape architecture (Harvard, 1992), with more than 25 years of experience in delivering green infrastructure, strategic planning, landscape design projects and regional planning policy. She has served in public office as Director General of Landscape and Environmental Planning and Secretary for Urban Planning, Landscape and Environment of the Autonomous Region of Valencia, Spain. As a private practitioner Arancha was responsible for the design of major river corridors, coastal plans, metropolitan and urban parks, masterplans, municipal plans for sustainable urban growth, conservation of cultural landscapes, sustainable tourism and for regional and urban open space systems. Arancha has recently led the Masterplan for the rehabilitation of Wadi Al Aqeeq in Medinah, Saudi Arabia (with Buro Happold), the Strategy and Guidelines for Qatar´s Public Realm (with AECOM), and the development of a Green Infrastructure Framework for the USA (ESRI).
Juanjo Galan Vivas: Associate Professor at the Department of Urban Planning of the UPV. Landscape architect (Edinburgh, 1998) and agronomic engineer (UPV). His research focuses on Landscape Planning and Design, Spatial Planning, Sustainable Development and, in a broader sense, on the intersection between social and ecological systems. Director of the Strategic Territorial Plan of the Sierra Calderona and Principal Investigator of the AELCLIC project (Adaptation of European Landscapes to Climate Change). Author of several articles and scientific publications on sustainable landscapes and cities. As a designer he has authored or collaborated in different projects and plans in cultural landscapes located in the Valencian Region and the Middle East.
Shiraz Allibhai: Deputy Director of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. In this capacity, he coordinates the activities of the Trust across all its programmes and with other Aga Khan Development Network institutions and agencies. Shiraz’s mandate includes overseeing Trust publications, exhibitions, communications, and directing special projects such as the online resource, Archnet. Since 2023, he has also been Director of the Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme. Shiraz was trained as an architect at the University of Texas and at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. Shiraz has been with the Trust since 1997, first as a senior documentation officer with the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, then as director of the Aga Khan Humanities Project.
Yolanda Hernández Navarro: Assistant Professor at the Department of Architectural Composition of the UPV. She is an architect and an expert in the Huerta de Valencia with a special focus on the study and renovation of architectural heritage. In 2024 she coordinated an international and intensive course about the Huerta de Valencia Cultural Landscape organized by the UPV and the Oxford Brookes University.
Pasquale de Dato: External teacher at the Department of Architectural Composition at the UPV. He does research in sustainable architecture, heritage conservation, vernacular heritage and historic industrial architecture.
Antonio Gallud Martinez: Associate Professor at the Department of Architectural Projects of the UPV. Architect (UPV). He combines his academic work with a highly recognised professional practice focused on the design of gardens and the restoration of vernacular buildings. In the year 2001 he received the Award to the best Landscape work from the Chamber of Architects of the Valencian Community for the design and construction of the Garden of the Hesperides in Valencia.
Adolfo Vigil de Insausti: Associate Professor at the Department of Urban Planning of the UPV. Architect (UPV). In his Doctoral Thesis he developed a design methodology for urban rivers, with special focus in the river Turia and the city of Valencia. He combines his teaching activity with an extensive professional practice dedicated to the design of parks, gardens and public space.
Elisabet Quintana Segui: Assistant Professor at the Department of Urban Planning of the UPV. Architect (UPV) and Landscape architect (UPC). In her Doctoral Thesis she researched the gardens of the House-Museum Benlliure from a climate change perspective. She combines her teaching activity with an intensive professional practice dedicated to the design of parks, gardens and public space.