Vinesh Chintaram is a Mauritius based Professional Architect and Urban Planner trained and with work experience in France & Germany respectively. He is an award-winning professional. He received the prestigious BDA Prize (2006, Saxonia, Germany) as outstanding young architect and planner. He was also awarded the Architecture Prize 2006. Vinesh obtained several other recognitions and was published both locally and internationally.Vinesh has more than 15 years active experience across the African continent in the field of strategic programming, planning and sustainable architectural design. He is the principal architect and Chief Executive Officer of VISIO, one of leading architectural practices in Mauritius, Indian Ocean and East Africa. VISIO (previously known as LSA) has over +40 years of activities with more than 1600 completed projects. Global Real Estate Congress awarded VISIO with the Most Promising Brand 2020 in field of Architecture and Planning in East Africa.Besides, Vinesh is recognised as a social entrepreneur (socio-architect) which describes his actions to fight poverty and promote resilience-oriented business activities. He set up the platform "Vision Network Africa" to promote sustainable business development at grass-roots across Africa. He is actively involved as one of the focal points for the AfCFTA in East Africa. He further created the platform "BIZBOO" to boost business activities at intra-African level.Focus Areas: - urban design & planning / urban regeneration & renovation (including rural development strategies)- sustainable & affordable housing (including social housing projects)- heritage conservation & adaptive re-use - academia, policy making, professional practice in the field of architecture & planning- AI, blockchain in strategic development projects in Africa- Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Construction Industry- Intra-Africa business development - African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)Professional positions:- Founder / Partner, CEO, VISIO Architecture- CEO, Vision Network Africa- Director - LS Architects- Managing Director, Vision Network ArchitectsPhilanthropic Activities (most significant): Current positions:- Secretary General, Africa Union of Architects (AUA)- Member, ISOCARP- Lead, Infrastructure & Energy, AU ECOSOCC (Mauritius)- Founder/Chair, KEMUBA (Kenya Mauritius Business Association)