Ariel Handel is an interdisciplinary researcher. Teaches political theory and urbanism at Bezalel, Ben Gurion University and Tel Aviv University. He is the director of the Lexicon for Political Theory project and co-editor of Mafteakh-Muftah: Lexical Review of Political Thought. Ariel has published numerous journal papers and book chapters on issues of space, politics, power and violence. He is the editor-in-chief of The Political Lexicon of the Social Protest (Hakibutz Hameuchad, 2012), and co-editor of Normalizing Occupation: The Politics of Everyday Life in the West Bank Settlements (Indiana University Press, 2017).

Prof. Els Verbakel is a founding partner of Derman Verbakel Architecture and Head of the School of Architecture at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem. She was a faculty member at the Technion in Haifa, Columbia University, NYC, Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and Princeton University, New Jersey. Els has earned her PhD in Architecture from Princeton University, a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University, and a Graduate Degree in Civil Engineering and Architecture from the University of Leuven, Belgium. She served as the editor of two books: “In Search of the Public. Notes on the Contemporary American City” and “Constellations: Constructing Urban Design Practices” as well as the Architectural Design (AD) Magazine on the theme “Cities of Dispersal.”

Michael Turner, born in the UK, is a practicing architect, professor, and UNESCO Chairholder in Urban Design and Conservation Studies.  He has been involved with urban and environmental issues in Israel since establishing the first Municipal Unit in 1974 in Jerusalem.

Turner has been involved with master plans for the Old City of Jerusalem and Bnei Berak and conservation designs for sites as Apollonia, Montfort and Shuni.  His recent European research activities include the management of pre-historic sites; the Divided Cities of Jerusalem and Berlin and a tri-national Partnership for Peace offering mechanisms for shared heritage and sustainable peace. Other projects have included Designing Safer Urban Spaces, managing the Bologna Protocol in Israel and currently part of a Marie-Curie doctoral consortium on Heritage. He was an initiator of the National Archive for Art, Architecture and Design and continues to be involved.

Serving on many international professional-academic bodies he has contributed many articles and presentations to academic fora and professional meetings all over the world. He chaired the Israel World Heritage Committee from its inception in 1999 till 2011, and with two decades of contribution to UNESCO, he was elected to the World Heritage Committee in 2005 and during 2007-2008 served as its vice-President.  He has accompanied the debate on Historic Urban Landscapes and is special advisor to the World Heritage Centre Director providing international assistance in the fields of urban design and conservation.