Dr. Sherif Fakhry Mohamed, president of the Egyptian Russian University, announced that, within the framework of the university’s keenness on positive community participation to improve the quality of life for citizens, keeping pace with rapid developments in all fields including urban development compatible with concepts of sustainability, the Department of Architectural Engineering at the University organized a symposium entitled “Climate and Sustainable Urbanization”. Noting that the symposium was fully supported by Dr. Mohamed Kamal Mustafa, Chairman of the University’s Board of Directors.

   Dr. Sherif Fakhry assured the necessity to differentiate between environmental architecture, green architecture and sustainable architecture,  as the latter represents a  broader concept which is concerned with preserving the environment and developing the economy and social development at the same time, to achieve the current urban needs without depriving the coming generations of fulfilling their urban needs in the future. His excellency also mentioned that there is a need to take advantage of the Egyptian classification system for sustainable buildings which is called “Green Pyramid” and develop it to be in line with the needs of urban development in Egypt instead of applying the requirements of foreign classification systems in this field.

   In the same context, Dr. Alaa Mohamed El- Batsh, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the Egyptian Russian University added that the university has an effective role in urban and environmental development, and that officials and specialists in the field of “Urbanization and Sustainable Development” must move at a faster pace to find non- traditional solutions to overcome the repercussions of climate change and this could be performed by planning cities and designing environmentally friendly buildings. He also pointed out that in order to contribute to the protection of the planet, the outputs of scientific research must be used, and attention should be paid to “sustainable architecture and sustainable urbanization”, providing clean energy, reducing pollution, and dealing with resources efficiently and effectively, in order to achieve the maximum possible return.

   For her part, Dr. Faten Labib Mohamed, Head of the Architectural Engineering Department at the Egyptian Russian University, said that the symposium comes within the framework of the university’s endeavor to strengthen its academic role within the framework of its mission to confront climate change and its negative repercussions on the environment and development efforts. Nothing that the entire organization of the symposium was under the supervision of Dr. Ashraf Ahmed Ali El- Mahdawy, professor of Architectural Technology at the Faculty of Engineering in El- Materya, Helwan University, who is delegated to teach at the Egyptian Russian University and in participation with the department’s teaching assistant staff and a distinguished group of students, with the full support of the university administration.

   It is worth mentioning that among the speakers at the “Climate and Sustainable Urbanization” Symposium were the professors:

– Dr. Mahmoud Ahmed Eissa, professor of Architecture, Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Egyptian Russian University. He spoke about climate and urban issues and how to reach an environmentally friendly building by analyzing international and local projects and referring to the development of the urban heritage of the local built environment.

– Dr. Hossam Bakr Khalil, professor of Architecture at the Department of Architectural Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering at the British University in Egypt, who spoke about the vacuum structure theory as a tool to enhance the sustainability of cities.

– Dr. Ahmed Atef Fajal, professor of Architecture, Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Administration at the Canadian Higher Institute, who talked about the role of the architect from education to professional practice within the requirements of sustainability.

– Dr. Ahmed Hosni Radwan, professor of Architectural and Urban Design at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University and Vice Dean of Postgraduate Studies and research who spoke about self- driving vehicles and the sustainability of cities from an environmental and urban perspective.

– Dr. Ahmed Samir Zaki, lecturer of environmental design at the Department of Architectural Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering at the Egyptian Russian University who talked about solutions to climate change at the global and local levels.

   The activities of the symposium were concluded by a visit to the exhibition of the achievements of the students of the Department of Architectural Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering.