Urban growth, competing land uses, climate change, and geopolitical tensions are placing port cities under growing pressure. In this context, the question of what lies ahead for the port-city relationship, and the territories it shapes, has never been more relevant, especially as the deadline set by the Agenda 2030 horizon approaches. This session will debate competing visions of what the future holds for these territories by 2050.
Secretary General of the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) since 1/08/2013. Before taking up this function, Isabelle has been working as Director of the European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP) and Senior Advisor of ESPO for four years.
She studied Law (University of Namur and KULeuven) and European Law (UCL Louvain). Before joining EFIP, she worked in EU Public Affairs for almost 20 years. After a short period at the European Commission (DG Agriculture), she worked in an EU Public Affairs consultancy. In 1994 she started working in the European Parliament, as a political assistant and between 1999 and 2009 she was the political assistant of Dirk Sterckx, where she was mainly active in transport and port-related fields. She is co-author of the handbook “Zo Werkt Europa” (1st edition 2007, 2nd edition 2010, 3rd edition 2015).
Deborah is a recognized leader in Australia with over 35 years’ international experience in urban design, architecture, planning, and property development in both Government and private organizations, including 25+ years in management, executive, and non-executive board roles.
As a member of The Greater Cities Commission, and its precursor the Great Sydney Commission from 2016 to 2023, she contributed to shape the economic, social, and environmental future of Sydney in direct liaison with the Minister for Planning and direct engagement with communities, stakeholders, Councilors and Mayors of the City as well as senior executives of State Government agencies. Her role was to ensure future planning responds to City-wide challenges and maximizes opportunities.
Deborah has also been involved in numerous competitions and awards processes, as Chair or Jury member. Those involving working harbours include Sydney’s Eastern Darling Harbour International Competition and the Colombo Port City International Competition. In 2018 she received the Australian Institute of Architects NSW, President’s Prize, for outstanding leadership and continuing contribution in improving the design quality of cities and communities
Since 2023, she is a non-executive Board member of the New South Wales Port Authority.
François Desquesnes is Vice-President of the Walloon Government since July 2024 and Minister for Regional Planning, Infrastructure, Mobility and Local Authorities. His political commitment is rooted in a simple conviction: public policy must be transparent, useful and grounded in the everyday reality of citizens’ lives. A lawyer by training, François Desquesnes began his career in the tourism sector. These early experiences reinforced his focus on the role of infrastructure, spatial planning and the quality of the living environment in regional development. Today, François Desquesnes puts his experience to work for the Walloon ports, for which he is responsible; in this capacity, he works to boost their dynamism on a day-to-day basis.
Dr José Manuel Pagés Sánchez has been the Director of the Agenda 2030 by AIVP (International Association Cities and Ports) since 2016. He is an architect by training, with a Master's from Lisbon’s Technical University. His passion for port and urban development led him to pursue a PhD in Hamburg’s Hafencity University, completed in 2019, having received different grants for his research.
