Designing a psychologically healthy outdoor environment

The outdoor environment has an essential role in promoting a psychologically healthy lifestyle.

Designing and executing outdoor spaces that promote an active lifestyle, inclusivity, aesthetics & sustainability is one of our primary duties as architects and designers.

Every design target of these probably requires an entire course. But for some quick hints:

Inclusivity: Ensuring that the #design accommodates all ages, genders, and abilities, especially considering the requirements of people with special needs (Beautifully called in #UAE #peopleofdetermination).

Active lifestyle & aesthetics: The design should promote activities like #cycling, #jogging, and exercising towards #walkability & #bikeability of cities, where cities should be designed for humans, not cars. The designers should develop their skills to design aesthetically, incorporating natural elements like plants, water features, etc., with other design elements.

Sustainability: Simply applying the “Reduce-Reuse-Recycle” concept. Not just in encouraging the users of the space to apply it. But to consider it in every single aspect of the design, specifically in the used material. There are tons of recycled outdoor materials which could be specified and incorporated into the designs.

#Urban #Psychology #UrbanPsychology #Design #Urbanplanning #Sustanability #Cities #Architecture #Landscape  

Palestine and Israel once and for all

Written by: Mohammad Hasan Algarhy

May 29, 2021.                    

Fact #1:

We have approximately 8.7 million carrying Israeli passports: some 6.5M Jews & 2M Arab Muslims. We have around 5.2 million Palestinians in the West Bank & Gaza. We have more than 3M Palestinian refugees outside the Palestinian territories. These statistics do not include individuals of Palestinian origins or Jews who do not carry an Israeli passport.

Fact #2:

It is a sort of madness to think that one group can kick out or get rid of the other group. Especially since both groups have historical ties to the land regardless of who came first.

Fact #3:

None of the 14M individuals living inside the Israeli & Palestinian territories can freely travel, invest, or trade with most Arab & North African countries (some 400M). The 5.2M Palestinians suffer from apartheid and lack basic human rights. In Gaza, they live in an open-air prison.

Fact #4:

For decades the two-state solution has not brought peace. It has been used by American & Arab politicians basically to maintain the status quo and delay the explosion of the situation. Israel is ignoring it, building illegal settlements and occupying Palestinian lands.

The two-state solution does not resolve the root causes of the conflict.

We know this is not sustainable.

We know we cannot let extremists from both sides lead the scene and fuel the conflict.

We know that a “religion-based state” is apartheid-generating.

The solution is simply one secular/civil state that acknowledges Palestine. With equal rights for Israelis & Palestinians, Jews, Christians, Muslims, and other beliefs and ideologies.

This should be a grassroots solution. And it starts by ending the hate speech.

Both Israelis & Palestinians should have the courage to acknowledge the facts and the reality.

Politicians should stop using extremists and the far right to achieve political wins. This game is leading the situation to a disaster.

The name of the state could be Palestine (as many Orthodox Jews are demanding, and based on the historical name), Israel-Palestine, or Palestine-Israel. This could be decided through public voting or something.

This is not science fiction. Technically, we have 2M Arab Muslims living in peace in the Israeli territories. We have millions of other Palestinians who are willing to live peacefully in a state that acknowledges them, and their identity and gives them equal rights.

The conflict is not ideological; many lessons from history confirm this. The Israelis & Palestinians would benefit a lot from such a solution. In addition, of course, to equal rights:

·         They will both feel acknowledged in a land they have historical ties to.

·         Many lives would be saved, and many threats would go away.

·         They will travel, invest, and trade freely with the Arab & North African countries. This opens markets worth billions of dollars.

·         Jews from all around the world will feel more comfortable and safe living in this state.

·         Individuals of Palestinian origins will feel more comfortable and safe living in this state.

·         Muslims from around the world will have access to one of their holy sites.

·         Jews & Christians from all around the world will have access as well to their holy sites.

Peace requires Courage, Compromise, and Compassion. 

Flag design copyright © Mohammad Hasan Algarhy

#Ramadan : a progressive approach to Lean

Every Ramadan we share new ideas and interpretations of the values of the inspiring month, fasting and charity. Using the power of Ramadan to help others, strengthen our family and social ties, group learning, group worship, mass charity and caring….etc.

I have added previously that it is one of the greatest acts of showing solidarity with nature and giving earth a break, where around a billion human beings stop consuming water, food and many resources for an average of 10 hours daily for a full month. Subsequently there should be a massive reduction in the carbon dioxide emissions given the extremely low carbon footprint resulting from such practices.

This year I have had a new thought after reading for some time in lean manufacturing, lean management and lean lifestyle, the approach which massively improved and continues improving the performance of lots of companies, factories and even governmental entities.

Ramadan is actually a very progressive approach to “Lean” it teaches us how to see waste, identify it and practice an ongoing process of personal and collective continuous improvements to yourself and the community. And here I do urge Muslims to avoid practices like extreme food waste or over consumption and commit to the core values of the inspiring month seeking a “Zero waste Ramadan”.

#Ramadan_Mubarak #Ramadan_Kareem  

#‎NousSommesUnis‬ ‪#‎WeAreUnited‬

As a general rule of thumb, acts of terrorism (whether executed by persons, armed groups or even governments whether “democratically” elected or no) are solely representing the sick mentality of those specific persons or groups and could not be blamed -through stereotyping and generalizing- on a full race or ideology.  

The international reaction to those acts should be unified in the right directions through clear understanding of the definitions, roots and motives for such acts. Where up till now there is a clear misunderstanding and misleading interpretations for such acts.

The Paris unfortunate attacks represent a new paradigm shift in the technique of such attacks. Unpredictable, hard to control and barbaric techniques.

Violence only triggers more violence, a whole race for an eye not only leaves the whole world blind ,but soaked in a bloodbath in a self-destructive mood as well.

The only way humanity could survive that ,is “International Social Justice” ,fair distribution of wealth & resources in addition to human intellectual development internationally.

Our diversity should be acknowledged and celebrated instead of abused and manipulated.

If extremists from the U.S. ,Europe and Right-wing followers continue to call for “a whole race for an eye” war calls without acknowledging their human duty in supporting intellectually and economically other parts of the world like Africa, parts of the Middle & Far East ,the process of stimulating further terrorism with even developed techniques will go on in an endless, unpredictable manner.

The same way those extremists think of other ideologies is mirrored in the way extremists from the Middle East and other parts see them through stereotyping and generalizing as well. As tens of victims fall annually due to acts of terrorism in Europe & The U.S. ,Tens of thousands of innocent Muslim victims fall annually in the occupied land of Palestine due to the Israeli occupation, in some parts of Asia & Africa as well, without getting the same international attention.

It is critical that we understand that we need to resist extremists from both sides ,and educate them as much as we can. Terrorism stimulated by warlords ,money and ignorance could not be faced by more violence and terrorism.

A call for an “International Conference against terrorism” is a must in order to develop a common accurate understanding of the roots and motives and a united action plan based on that.

The environment and social justice

Managing resources in a sustainable approach with people in mind should be based on a thorough understanding of the ecosystems and the impacts of our decisions and actions on those ecosystems, Environment & social justice are two essential pillars of sustainable development. Progressive& innovative methodologies of sustainably developing communities should not be a “to do list” or a manual of guidelines imposed rather than an inclusive process understanding the diversity & variety of ecosystems & communities.

As an example mostly calls from socialists & activists regarding labor rights & minimum rates of wages…etc does not foresee that in a country like Egypt for example –which is applicable for many other MENA countries- even if you gave an employee minimum of 1200 EGP per month after struggling all his/her life to save an acceptable amount of money, He/She will eventually spend most of it on curing a disease caused by pollution and environmental deterioration in the first place. This is an ineffective, disappointing scenario that urges us to revise our approach and understanding the social & economical impacts of environmental deterioration. There are even few studies linking the Arab spring uprisings in MENA with the environmental deterioration, climate change and their impacts on increasing the prices of food & commodities. Among those studies was : The Arab Spring and Climate Change,A Climate and Security Correlations Series,By Caitlin E. Werrell, Francesco Femia, and Anne-Marie Slaughter | February 28, 2013 http://climateandsecurity.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/climatechangearabspring-ccs-cap-stimson.pdf ,which argues in one of its chapters that the Chinese drought, global wheat prices & the revolution in Egypt are related in what could be called as “hazard globalization”, a once in a century winter drought in China reduced global wheat supply and contributed to global wheat shortage and skyrocketing wheat prices in Egypt ,the world largest wheat importer. Protests in Egypt focused on poverty, bread & social justice.

In the poorest village in MENA we can introduce some sustainable ideas that can generate income for the residents like planting roofs, installing PV modules on rooftops and buildings to generate electricity for the village, generating electricity from waste, recycling ….etc. Feasible incentive programs should be studied & developed by governments to apply such ideas & developing communities that can sustain themselves & meet the basic needs. As of 2010, feed-in tariff policies had been enacted in over 50 countries http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed-in_tariff#Description. Trainings & awareness campaigns should be provided; even the income generated from such activities can be used in improving the infrastructure of such villages if applicable. It does not have to always be a mega investor coming to recycle some stuff or to generate electricity from waste without involving or generating any benefit to the local community. Unfortunately CSR & corporate environmental activities in most scenarios are just “Greenwashing” a practice which causes lots of harm to the environment & results in dramatic social injustice a good study about this named “When do companies greenwash” by Christopher Marquis &Michael W. Toffel

 http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/11-115_af40ca36-f8fa-4f42-b211-0ef0ebc64da3.pdf

In order to name a couple of examples for case studies of sustainable development of communities vs. environmental degradation & social injustice. A study in Egypt for the city of Fayoum as the “Fayoum ecotourism development plan 2005-2015” http://www.cissong.org/it/press/news/il-piano-ecoturistico-del-fayoum  involving the whole community with many job opportunities in sustainable activities like the famous handicrafts,birdwatching…etc such plans are usually opposed by “big visions” and mega projects that in most cases have very negative impacts on the environment with no benefit to the local community.

The second example for sustainable development of communities vs. environmental degradation & social injustice is the displacement of millions of Egyptian Nubians from their community to several other places all over Egypt, the problem is not merely in the geographical displacement rather than taking a heritage & culture from its roots with severe negative impacts on the environment and ecosystem. This genuine Egyptian heritage & culture can be sustainably developed through a holistic inclusive plan as in the first example. This can benefit the local community and conserve the environemt.

Air & water pollution in MENA is already generating a long list of diseases with dramatically rising rates; Studies in Egypt show scary statistics stating that annually 17,000 children die of intestinal infection & diarrhea caused by Nile pollution*. climate change is already badly affecting the Nile Delta in northern Egypt & some other parts through MENA.Studies states that if the Mediterranean sea level  increased by 0.5 m this will lead to destroying 1800 square kilometer of fertile agriculture land & displacing 3.8 million residents from Nile delta , if the Mediterranean sea level  increased by 1 m this will lead to destroying 4500 square kilometer of fertile agriculture land & displacing 6.1 million residents from Nile delta http://www.grida.no/publications/vg/climate/page/3088.aspx.Rising food prices is yet another effect noticed by every single individual. And unless we understand the roots of the problem, how to manage the ecosystems and handle this environmental deterioration, those effects & even more will keep alerting us that we need to act. Social justice cannot be achieved without environmental justice.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Egypt

#Sarcasm : Mubarak is back "Ya Menz"

The legacy of the Egyptian Greens

The legacy of the Egyptian Greens

An idea that emerged against the will of Mubarak`s regime who refused to approve it for 3 years since 1987 till 1990 ,an anticipated response from a military/police state that cannot tolerate the idea that adopts “A political solution based on scientific basis” ,the case was taken to the court by the founders of the idea & a big victory was achieved against Mubarak`s regime when the supreme constitutional court approved founding the party with a greatly appreciated statement by those who call themselves the Egyptian Greens ,a statement which points out that this party is a pride for every Egyptian ,a party which advocates the right of future generations on scientific basis challenging the stereotypes of the past & the habits of creating pharaohs/dictatorships. The idea initiated when some Egyptians heard of a story coming from Germany about a group who call themselves the Greens stood against a carcinogenic kids milk cargo which was going to a “3^rd world`s country” and this 3<sup>rd</sup> world`s country was Egypt,Here come the calls specifically from the journalist/writer AbdulSalam Dawood that it is our duty as Egyptians to protect our children, environment & future generations.

Hassan Ragab

Around 1000 membership applications were submitted to the party once it was officially launched ,around 

70-80% were university professors, intellectuals & researches ,which could have been a disadvantage of creating an academic,isolated,theoretical,elite party or it could have been an advantage of effectively figuring out scientific solutions for our problems, causes & plans,The first party`s president was not the person who initially called for founding it (AbdulSalam Dawood) ,He was Hassan Ragab a patriotic scientist, researcher & politician.

The Egyptian Greens then had started to make a noticeable development, worth mentioning that the party is one of the oldest Egyptian parties in terms of the date of foundation (The 7^th party in terms of date of foundation) ,The Greens by that time represented the third path a different approach from the socialist/communist camp & the NDP camp. A scientific approach discussing the right of future generation & adopting social justice in a different approach as well ,The Egyptian Greens were proactive in advocating & promoting for several causes creating national awareness about them as : The world war two`s  landmines in Al-Alalameen-Northern coast ,pollution & the human environmental rights ,sustainability. The party`s platform discussed & highlighted several significant issues including -but not limited to- social justice, environment & resources, sustainable economical approaches…etc,The party demonstrated it`s commitment in acknowledging youth & future generations by accepting members starting from 16 years old in contrary to all the other existing parties.

Campaign advocating the northern coast landmines cause

Several intellectuals & scientists were involved in writing down the party`s platform ,in addition to Hassan Ragab & Abdulsalam Dawood we have to mention Bahaa Bakry a guru who enlightened the green movement in Egypt in different fields & he was the fourth president for the party after Hassan Ragab,Abdulsalam Dawood,Kamal Keera & then Bahaa Bakry something which the Egyptians Greens are proud of as well as it was a unique democratic practice under Mubarak`s regime that a party elects 5 presidents in few years ,as AbdulMoneam Alasaar was chosen as the 5^th president for the Greens.

Bahaa Bakry about the Egyptian Greens

Bahaa Bakry about climate change

The Egyptian Greens campaigned for several protests for various causes, with a rising popularity  which of course pissed off Mubarak`s regime and here started the plan for screwing the Egyptian Greens through expected & common practices by that time ,the breaking point was the clear opposition of the Greens to a project in upper Egypt called Toshka ,the Greens stated that this is an unfeasible project on no scientific basis and it is a political propaganda for achieving personal fake glory after that campaign Mubarak`s regime shut down the party for 3 years from 1995 to 1998 ,during this period most of the Greens activists were gone & Mubarak`s regime mission was successfully accomplished by "militarizing the party" and stamping it as  just another part of the" political décor/cover" for an undemocratic regime & the Greens resistance against this did not find its way back to success.

The regional & international impact was also noticeable through the "Arab Greens" which the Egyptian Greens played a proactive rule in initiating & supporting it, and the global greens which the Egyptian Greens are a member of , and even though entities as the Arab Greens has not succeeded in achieving the expected impact but it remains the seed of an important regional movement which advocates common regional causes. 

A photo for the "Arab Greens" in 2008

The Greens during & after Jan25 revolution

The Greens rejected any sort of political abuse for the revolution based on a genuine belief that this is a revolution from the people with demands of freedom, social justice,basic rights & better life conditions ,Demands which should not be politically abused, After the revolution a young man(Hisham Zayed) who has been a Green & Jan25 activist was delegated as the 6^th Green party president ,And Bahaa Bakry the 4^th president stayed as an executive director preaching the ethics that the Greens should stick to in the new era for the Egyptian Greens till his death in November 2012 (RIP),Again the "expected success" was not achieved by the Greens due to many reasons in addition to internal reasons ,the revolutionaries act of refraining from effective political participations and their concerns about political polarizations which negatively affected their potential impact ,Moreover most of the environmental activists in Egypt preferred to proceed their activities through NGOs & voluntary work without going political,& of course this does not justify the dereliction in conducting the message by those who believe in it.

The Greens have had some significant inputs in several issues during & after Jan25, starting from revolting against Mubarak`s regime, rejecting the constitutional declarations, campaigning for invalidating the votes during the presidential elections, campaigning for voting against the new constitution, campaigning for participating in June30 protests ,in addition to several protests in solidarity with the people against pollution in several governorates (More details here),campaigning against the nuclear energy, campaigning against sexual harassment…etc.

This was a summary for an honorable legacy for an idea which promotes the right of future generations,human dignity,non-violence,social justice,grassroots democracy & ecological wisdom ,and I ask anyone who has more documents,photos & videos about this legacy to share it in order for future generations to know that there was someone who stood for them & advocated their rights, and to go on conveying the message more effectively.

Resources :

More links about the Egyptian Greens campaigns

The Egyptian Greens official website

The Egyptian Greens twitter account