Webinar of the LDE East Africa Network (LEARN)
Somesh Sharma, Specialist in Environment & Sustainable Development Planning at IHS, Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam will be the keynote speaker at our upcoming Cross-City Dialogue on “Catalyzing the Potential of AI in Promoting Urban Resilience in East African Cities”.
Somesh brings deep experience across nature-based solutions, inclusive smart cities, public finance, and urban transport. His work spans teaching, research, policy advising, and developing decision-support tools for sustainable urban planning.
𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 25 September 2025
𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲: 13:00-14:30 Amsterdam Time (14:00–15:30 EAT)
Somesh Sharma
Specialist in Environment and Sustainable Development Planning·Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies
Somesh is a Specialist in Environment and Sustainable Development Planning at IHS, Erasmus University Rotterdam. His research is part of the theme ‘Governance of Artificial Intelligence for safe, inclusive, and sustainable cities.’ In particular, he studies human interactions with anthropomorphic AI systems. The focus of his study is the significance of responsibility in AI adoption. He examines how responsibility shapes whether AI brings benefits or risks for society. He will speak on the 'Responsible Adoption of AI for Resilient Urban Futures'.
GIS Expert and Urban Planner (Certified)
Sammy Muinde is a highly skilled Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialist and a certified Urban Planner, registered with the Physical Planners Registration Board. He is a respected member of the Geospatial Society of Kenya and holds full corporate membership with the Kenya Institute of Planners (KIP). His expertise includes spatial planning dynamics, solution-oriented spatial analysis, and research, enhanced by international consultancy work with esteemed organizations such as UN Habitat (Humanitarian Development and, Data & Analytics Unit), the World Bank (IFC), USAID, and Urban Logic. He develops effective spatial solutions for communities in areas such as physical address sfruicaystem, disaster management, humanitarian support, urban crisis prevention and response, climate response and transformation, land use planning, resource mobilization and management, and circular economy. Sammy will join as a panelist.