Beirut Symposium

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The ritual of “Calling Home” is deeply part of our lived experience as Lebanese war refugees and expats: the idea of calling your homeland and expecting a crisis, a disaster, but whatever it may be nobody expected the shock of August 4’s explosion—and for over a year now we have been trying to understand it, heal it as it opened up all the other wounds we tried to heal for our lifetime, the intergenerational wounds of our parents’ lifetime, their stolen childhood by war and military occupation, and their parents’ survival under colonial occupation.

Adib Dada

Adib Dada is the founder of theOtherDada [tOD] Regenerative Consultancy & Architecture firm, which mission is to activate projects across architecture, living systems, and art. Based on Biomimicry thinking, tOD’s work promotes a symbiotic relationship between nature and the built environment by exploring new ways of creating generous and regenerative buildings; in essence working with nature to develop resilient and generous cities. Adib earned a BA in Architecture at the American University of Beirut - Lebanon, a Master’s Degree in the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU – USA, completed the Biomimicry graduate certificate from the Biomimicry Institute and Arizona State University and a certificate in Ecosystem Restoration Design. Adib has been recognized in Apollo Magazine’s 40 Under 40 as a Patron of the Arts in the Middle East, and was listed as one of GOOD Magazine’s GOOD 100 for his project Beirut RiverLESS, which aims to regenerate the deteriorated Beirut River. Adib is a Fellow of the Middle East Leadership Initiative, a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and a Bio-Leadership Fellow, a community helping transform human systems and the paradigm of leadership by working with nature. Adib is firmly committed to the UN Decade of Action, engaged on rewilding the city and reclaiming public space by planting native Miyawaki forests in urban landfills through his new initiative: theOtherForest, a nature-based tool for ecological and social regeneration.

Charles Al-Hayek

Historian and Slow Factory research fellow documenting (lost) SWANA Indigeneity through historical research of land, fashion and language.

Sara Al-Yafi

Public policy consultant and overall incredible political analyst and writer will join us to give us an understanding of the political landscape, the upcoming elections and the role of the diaspora in rebuilding Lebanon

@sarayafi