The Future Use of Common Land: A Multidisciplinary Panel Discussion

Common Land noun (ˈkɒmən lænd) : Common land is land or resource belonging to or affecting the whole of a community

The rapid pace of urbanization has led to the loss of natural habitats, green spaces, and common lands in cities. This has had a profound impact on the environment, wildlife, and well-being of communities. However, a growing movement towards urban re-wilding and the creative re-use of common land offers a new vision for the future of our cities. For example, the use of infill sites in Cuba created a network of gardens growing food for the surrounding communities.

In this discussion, we will explore the future use of common land from an architecture, community, land development, and re-wilding perspective examining the opportunities and challenges in creating sustainable, inclusive and equitable access to green spaces.

Be sure to submit your idea for the future use of common land during checkout, which will be presented and discussed with the panel making this an interactive event between experts and you.

**Your ticket includes one free drink ticket. Refreshments will be made available for purchase for the duration of the event.**

Tim Bell, Director of Bell PhillipsIn 2004 Tim founded Bell Phillips Architects with Hari Phillips after winning a competition to regenerate the 230-home Brooks Road Estate in Plaistow, East London. Tim has an in-depth knowledge of housing design and urban regeneration, as well as significant experience in office and education buildings, from concept stage through to an in-depth knowledge of construction detailing.

He is particularly interested in making a major contribution to a low carbon future and developing environmentally responsible strategies in the firm’s work. He is a member of the Faculty of Architecture for the British School at Rome, and sits on the Quality Review Panels for Barking and Dagenham and Essex. Tim speaks fluent French and Italian and is a keen cyclist.

Judith Lösing, Director of East
Judith Lösing is an architect, joiner and gardener. She is a director at East and the first research fellow at the Architecture Foundation on the social and cultural role of trees in London, where she is putting together ‘Tree Talks’, a series of events in the Barbican around Green Spaces in the capital, as well as a publication on the London Arboretum.

On Fridays she volunteers for the Orchard Project and the Hackney School of Food. Judith’s work at East has won awards at RIBA London, Building Design, New London Architecture, and as Public Realm Architects of the Year. She is a member of design advice panels in Hackney, Islington, Croydon, Harrow and Hounslow.

Ewan Oliver, Public Realm Development Manager at LendleaseEwan is a chartered landscape architect with over 25 years’ industry experience. Beginning his career as a landscape contractor before completing his professional training as a landscape architect, he has worked in both the public and private sectors and on projects of every scale including large infrastructure and urban regeneration schemes such as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. He believes passionately in the restorative powers of nature to heal our minds and repair our cities, making them more resilient for the future.

In his current role as a public realm development manager for global property investor and developer, Lendlease, Ewan oversees the delivery of landscape masterplans from design and planning through to delivery of public realm on urban regeneration projects including the £2.3bn Elephant Park mixed-use development in London.

Ewan also leads public realm at International Quarter London, a £3bn mixed-use development in East London. Ewan is on the Pro Landscaper judging panel and is a regular speaker at the FutureScape landscape industry conference.

Over the years Ewan has been a speaker at key industry events hosted by numerous bodies including CIEEM, the Landscape Institute, Kew Gardens and Natural England.

Neba Sere, Senior Project Officer at Greater London AuthorityNeba Sere is a Spatial Practitioner and Lecturer at the Bartlett School for Architecture, UCL running a design studio with Pedro Gil about social justice through design and the Latin-American and Afro-Diasporic influences in Architecture, explored through indigenous construction techniques. She is a graduate of RWTH Aachen University & Central Saint Martins, one of the co-directors of Black Females in Architecture and co-lead of decosm collective working to decolonise city-making.

She was previously a Senior Project Officer within the GLA’s Regeneration team, worked at Penoyre & Prasad Architects managing stakeholder engagement on large scale civic master plans such as the Institute of Education, and led on design & construction projects with young people at Build Up Foundation.She was also formally one of six young trustees of the Architecture Foundation.

Her interest lies in understanding the process of decolonising the architecture profession and thus the built environment, specifically looking at how citizen-led initiatives can have a long term impact on the spaces we inhabit, and involving young communities in the regeneration process of their city through advocacy and outreach.

The event will be chaired by Ashmi Thapar, Senior Architect at Bell Phillips

Ashmi is an architect driving sustainable development with a social purpose; her expertise lies in innovative housing in sensitive contexts, from small infill schemes to large-scale estate regeneration. She recently developed a masterplan for 900 Passivhaus homes, parks and community facilities, championing green initiatives and meaningful engagement by working closely with residents.

Ashmi is a Brent Quality Review Panel member, co-leads the Bell Phillips Architects sustainability team and is a visiting critic at several universities. She also curates design seminars, building visits and technical CPDs, as well as public events through RIBA East London. Ashmi performs regularly with the choir Musarc.

Host or Publisher Bell Phillips