I am Son board a flight to Bologna after a short but productive trip to Dubai, RAK and Muscat.

The first meeting was in Ras Al Khaimah, with a group who had approached us about nature-based solutions across several projects. One of them in particular.

We visited a site with environmental problems and a poor public reputation. The conversation was about what they want the place to become. We are now scoping a programme around that.

Problems of this kind do not fit a scope written before anyone understands them. That is usually how scopes are written, then put out to tender. It is a poor way to arrive at a good outcome. The alternative is to appoint the expertise first and let the scope follow the diagnosis. A mature approach, and not a common one in this market.

We were joined in the meeting by a baby mountain goat. A toy that bleated when squeezed 🙂 Afterwards, a majlis, coffee, fresh Indian almond and dates. We left with local olive oil, Sidr honey and a copy of Marina Tsaliki’s Plants of Ras Al Khaimah. Every emirate should have that book.

Then a catch up with Jeremy Spencer of Spencer Project Management, a friend and peer of many years. His firm delivered Sharjah Safari, among other work. Getting outdoor spaces built in the UAE takes experience and a particular skill set. Nobody who has worked with him will be surprised by how the firm has done.

In Dubai, two conversations about NatureCulture Inside, our indoor nature engagement programme, one of them with a manufacturer of components for the Internet of Things. Inside uses technology to connect people with the real world. It is a well-being programme.

Then Muscat. The flight brought back the years of weekly commutes during the design and construction of Majlis Oman and the Royal Opera House.

Yas Al Delamie walked me around Al Mouj, Oman’s first masterplanned community of its kind. It is around twenty years old now. Several of our projects there are fifteen. Satisfying to feel the difference in comfort along the older streets, where the trees have grown and the canopies now shade the pavements. Muscat in midsummer is a fair test of that. Wild sea turtles in the marina.

Last, a reconnection with Dr Ali El-Keblawy, a friend of long standing, on the use of native species in the Gulf.

Home to Florence now, with a good deal of work waiting, including the fit out of the new studio.