October 9, 2020
MEET OUR KEYNOTE SPEAKERS MAIMUNAH MOHD SHARIF & ADA COLAU BALLANO
Today we would like to introduce you to two more of our outstanding Keynote Speakers.
Maimunah Mohd Sharif is the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
Prior to this appointment, Maimunah Mohd Sharif was the Mayor of the City Council of Penang Island, Malaysia. In 2011, she was the first woman to be appointed President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai. As mayor of a local authority, she led the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai to achieve its vision of a “cleaner, greener, safer and healthier place to work, live, invest and play.” Maimunah Mohd Sharif began her career as a Town Planner at the Municipal Council of Penang Island in 1985. In 2003, she was promoted to Director of Planning and Development, a position she held until November 2009.
Maimunah Mohd Sharif states that “the global built environment will play a decisive role when it comes to meeting the UN SDGs by 2030. Both the existing buildings and infrastructure, but also the built environment yet to be constructed have a huge potential impact on the UN agenda’s five Ps: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnerships. Thus, all stakeholders in the building and construction value chain, as well as civil society must urgently identify where they can make a difference and to integrate these specific action areas into their respective work. We have less than 4000 days to meet the UN SDGs and so the time to act is now.”
Join us to listen to Maimunah Mohd Sharif’s speech “The role of the built environment in meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals” on 2nd November.
Ada Colau Ballano, Mayor of Barcelona: “I am delighted to be able to contribute to the crucial debate on the future role of cities in the implementation of the UN SDGs both as Mayor of Barcelona and also as the Special Envoy for Cities and the United Nations at the conference BEYOND 2020″.
Ada Colau Ballano is the first woman mayor in Barcelona’s history. A large part of her life has been dedicated to social and human-rights activism. In 2009 she helped to launch the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH), and in 2014 she founded Guanyem Barcelona (subsequently Barcelona en Comú), a political citizen platform that won the municipal elections in 2015. In 2019 she was re-elected Mayor of Barcelona.
Ada Colau has changed the priorities of the public policies at the City Council placing at the top of the list those that focus on the fight against inequalities, the right to decent housing, the launch of a more sustainable city model and the strengthening of citizen participation. She has also opted for regulating the impact of tourism to promote a diversified, inclusive and green economy and to boost public services. Feminism, the promotion of diversity and solidarity also occupy a central place in municipal policies.
Her government’s policies have received several awards and distinctions, notably the Overall Tourism prize for best sustainable management of this global phenomenon (2018).
At BEYOND 2020 Ada Colau will share her insights and recommendations on “Cities’ Role in addressing key global challenges and leading the UN SDG implementation work”. Join us on 2nd November if you’d like to hear more!
We look forward to meeting you at BEYOND 2020 online conference.
/BEYOND 2020 Organising Committee
