STEPHAN VAN EEDEN graduated in civil engineering from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, whereafter he gained four years of design experience with a consulting firm in Johannesburg. He was also involved with the design of a number of tailings storage facilities, which included feasibility studies and water balance modelling in a number of countries across Africa. He is currently busy with his Master's degree dissertation, which is based on a research project titled "The use of dormant urban mine sites to achieve greener cities".