Salwa Cherkaoui El Baraka

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT SALWA CHERKAOUI EL BARAKA

Salwa is a Senior International Consultant, Architect, and Urban Planner, currently serving as a Strategic Advisor on Sustainable and Complex Projects. Her work bridges territorial strategy with urban planning and circular design, with a focus on citizen engagement and stakeholder moderation, creating urban environments that authentically respond to local cultures, ecosystems, and community needs.Her international career spans France, the Netherlands, Morocco, South America, and Saudi Arabia, where she has led or contributed to large-scale urban strategies, infrastructure planning, and policy advisory projects. She has collaborated with high-impact clients and firms such as Arcadis, Egis, and NEOM, navigating the complexity of multi-stakeholder systems and fast-changing urban environments.She is also a PhD candidate in Circular and Earth-Based Design at the prestigious Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), home to the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment - ranked as the second best faculty worldwide in its field. Her research explores how excavated soils and overlooked local resources can be transformed into regenerative building materials, advancing the transition toward circular cities.In line with both her academic and industry related work, Salwa has given thought-provoking speeches at conferences across Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa, sharing insights on circular design, urban resilience, and material reinvention. Because she believes that building resilient cities must be embedded in diplomatic and cross-continental agendas, she has also been invited to speak by institutions such as the Embassy of the Netherlands, the Embassy of France, and the Embassy of Morocco, helping to foster dialogue between policy, practice, and planetary responsibility.Multilingual and multidisciplinary, she is known for bringing clarity to complexity: blending strategic foresight, design sensibility, and deep cultural intelligence to support teams, clients, and cities in designing for long-term relevance and collective purpose. She is also an active member of the CBE - Circular Building Economy Hub of TuDelft, and the RRECQ Circular Economy of Quebec.Her motto.is \"Let us leave no one and no place behind!\". So if you’re interested in collaborative innovation, transformative urban solutions, or simply want to connect and exchange ideas, feel free to reach out.