Will Hurst

Managing Editor, The Architects' Journal

Will Hurst is an award-winning journalist who has spent his career writing about architecture and construction. He has written extensively about the climate crisis and is currently leading the AJ’s anti-demolition campaign RetroFirst, which was shortlisted for Campaign of the Year at the 2021 British Journalism Awards and played a pivotal role in prompting last year’s public inquiry into M&S Oxford Street. Hurst has written for national titles such as the Guardian, Times, Telegraph, and Financial Times. His investigation into London’s Garden Bridge won him a British Journalism Award in 2017 and was shortlisted for that year’s Paul Foot Award.

Twitter: @WHurst1

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-hurst-a0404212/

Claire Spencer

CEO of the Barbican Centre

Claire Spencer joined the Barbican in May 2022 as the first-ever CEO. Claire was previously at the Arts Centre Melbourne where she successfully led a thriving cultural centre, re-positioned the organisation to be a key player in the district’s creative economy and steered it through the Covid-19 pandemic. In the 2020 Australia Day honours list she was conferred a Member of the Order of Australia for her work in the performing arts. Claire has been a champion of women in leadership and a supporter of organisations and projects that provide scholarships and mentoring support to those from marginalised or disadvantaged backgrounds. A Chartered Accountant and Theology graduate, she is married with three children. 

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/claire-spencer-am-3740878

Andy Haigh

Director, Climate Positive Solutions

Andy’s work as Director of Climate Positive Solutions ensures that Grosvenor responds to the latest climate science. He is responsible for developing best practice strategy and technical solutions on projects such as science-based targets, environmental resilience, energy efficiency in buildings and embodied carbon in developments.

Previously Andy was Senior Sustainability Manager, Canary Wharf Contractors where he achieved board approval for their science-based targets.  Before this he held a range of sustainability roles at Sir Robert McAlpine, leading the team between 2017 and 2019, and prior to that worked at Foster + Partners.

Lord Deben

Chairman of the Climate Change Committee

The Rt. Hon John Gummer, Lord Deben, set up and now runs Sancroft, a Corporate Responsibility consultancy working with blue-chip companies around the world on environmental, social and ethical issues. Lord Deben is Chairman of the Committee on Climate Change and Valpak Limited. He was the longest serving Secretary of State for the Environment the UK has ever had (1993-97). His sixteen years of top-level ministerial experience also include Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries & Food, Minister for London, Employment Minister and Paymaster General in HM Treasury. He has consistently championed an identity between environmental concerns and business sense.

(45) John Gummer, Rt Hon The Lord Deben | LinkedIn

Matthew Rockall

Communication Instructor

For the last 18 years, Matthew Rockall has taught business and technical communication at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, one of the largest post-secondary polytechnic institutes in western Canada. Throughout this time, he has been interested in education for sustainable development (ESD) and sought ways to integrate ecological literacy into his courses. With a Masters in Environmental Education and Communication that built on his original undergraduate BA in Geography and his post-diploma certificate in Technical Writing, Matt has long grappled with the challenge presented by educational silos. How do we include industry-specific content into already crowded applied technical programs?

Dr Luisa Bravo

Board Member, Ecocity Builders, Founder, City Space Architecture

Dr Luisa Bravo is a global academic scholar and educator, cultural entrepreneur, and public space activist. She has more than 20-years' experience in the professional field as urban planner and designer with a specific focus on public space. Her expertise is grounded in extensive academic postdoctoral research and teaching in Italy and Europe, the United States, Middle East, Asia and Australia. Luisa is the Founder and President of City Space Architecture, an Italian non-profit organization promoting public space culture globally in cooperation with UN-Habitat. Luisa is also a Board member of Ecocity Builders.  

Scott Carroll

Director, LDA Design

Scott Carroll is a director and studio lead at LDA Design and a highly experienced landscape architect. Made up of designers and planners, LDA create low-carbon places where people belong. Scott brings a knowledge of biophilia to make beautiful, sensory environments that are rich in nature, and provide health and wellbeing benefits. He is working with Great Ormond Street Hospital to establish a new standard for the UK’s city hospital streets by transforming the polluted street adjacent to the hospital into a safer, healthier, child-friendly place with improved air quality, better supporting patients, staff, visitors, and the community.

Lucy Jenkins

Chartered Landscape Architect MA MLA CMLI, Associate, WSP Landscape & Urban Design

Lucy is a chartered landscape architect, with specific expertise in nature-led design, ecosystem services, infrastructure, landscape regeneration and habitat-based planting. With 25 years in practice, her experience includes public realm, parks, healthcare, housing, education, arts and playspace projects.

Qualified in ecology, her holistic design approach makes space for nature, integrating biodiversity into spatial designs, connecting people with their surroundings, placing emphasis upon natural resources - water, soils, plants, light and seasonality. With strong analysis and strategic design skills, Lucy has expertise in complex sites of historical, ecological and community importance. She is a passionate advocate for inclusive engagement and co-design.

Heba Khalil

Professor of Sustainable Urbanism

Heba Khalil, professor of sustainable urbanism & the senior coordinator of the Architectural Engineering and Technology Program at Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University focusing on community development, informal areas, urban metabolism, urban climate, integrated urban systems, gender equity, land governance & healthy cities with more than 50 publications & several international research partnerships. She has more than 20 years of experience working as an architect, urban planner & housing & capacity building expert with a passion for inclusive & sustainable development. Khalil holds a PhD in architectural engineering from Cairo University and has been granted the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship in urban studies at MIT.

Dinah Bornat

Director, ZCD Architects, Past Mayor’s Design Advocate & Child Friendly Cities Specialist

Dinah Bornat is a co-founder of ZCD Architects, an award-winning practice based in East London. She is an expert in child friendly cities and works across policy and design from small scale to master plan projects, bringing this together with high quality community engagement, to create better places for everybody.  

Christian Dimbleby

Architype Associate; Architect and Chartered Engineer

Christian Dimbleby is a renowned industry leader and passionate about low-carbon design. He has over 17 years’ experience in retrofitting buildings to meet zero-carbon targets, combining deep technical knowledge with expert design. Christian is a qualified architect and engineer and has worked at Architype since 2004, leading the delivery of many exemplary projects, including The Enterprise Centre at the UEA, featured in the World Economic Forum’s list of the world’s most sustainable buildings and Harris Academy Sutton, the UK's first Passivhaus secondary school. An authority at guiding estate owners towards the optimum steps to meet zero carbon design.

www.linkedin.com/in/christiandimbleby/

Mellis Haward

Co-Director of Archio Architects

Mellis is a co-Director of Archio Architects, and one of the UK’s leading voices on co-design and affordable housing.

Archio are architects that create buildings, places and strategies for local authority regeneration companies, housing associations, select private developers, cohousing and community-led groups. 

For Archio regeneration is most effective when design teams, councils and local communities co-produce visionary approaches that enrich lives. Their focus is to work with purpose-led clients who have a long-term interest in the vitality of the communities they operate in, including on large-scale community-led social housing retrofit strategies.

Lucy Bullivant

Founder and Director, Lucy Bullivant & Associates, and Chair, Lambeth Design Review Panel

Lucy Bullivant is a place strategist, curator and award-winning author dedicated to just transitions enabled through bespoke and engaged adaptive planning. ‘Retrofit 23: Towards Deep Retrofit of Homes at Scale’, the exhibition she curated for the Building Centre, London, is on show until 29 Sept. In 2010 she was elected an Honorary Fellow by RIBA for her contribution to sustainable architectural culture globally. Lucy has delivered place strategies for local authorities in the UK and Norway, and her published books include Masterplanning Futures (Routledge). She has a PhD in adaptive planning (School of Art, Architecture and Design, London Metropolitan University).

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Shravan Joshi MBE

Chair of the Planning & Transportation Committee, City of London

Shravan Joshi has served since 2018 as an elected member at the City Corporation and has held various positions including:  

• Deputy Chairman of the Licensing Committee  
• Deputy Chairman of the Streets and Walkways Sub-Committee  
• Deputy Chairman of the Property Investment Board 

 He is Chairman of Planning & Transportation Committee and Local Plans Sub Committee and a Member of the Policy and Resources Committee and Resource Allocation Sub-Committee.  

Shravan started his career in investment banking but moved to the energy sector in 1999. He specialised in trade structuring and supply chain contracts into Central Asia, Eastern Europe, the Far East and North America. He has worked with several new energy technology companies, and he advises and consults on commercialisation of new innovations and solutions.  

Carl Weisbrod

Senior Advisor, HR&A, and former Chairman, New York City Planning Commission

Carl Weisbrod was appointed as Director of the New York City Department of City Planning and Chairman of the New York City Planning Commission by Mayor Bill de Blasio in March, 2014. Weisbrod has more than 35 years of experience serving the people of New York. As a member of the de Blasio Administration, Weisbrod is charged with creating land use and zoning policies to promote an equitable, resilient, sustainable and economically vibrant New York City. Weisbrod has also been a key player in the development and implementation of Housing New York, the Mayor’s affordable housing initiative. In previous roles, Weisbrod led the transformation of several dynamic and fast growing neighborhoods including the development of Times Square into a global hub for tourism and entertainment, the evolution of the Financial District from an area dominated by daytime office workers into a thriving 24-7 area and the successful rezoning of Hudson Square into a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood for creative industries and new housing. 

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarlWeisbrod
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-weisbrod-4530a094

Ruth Duston OBE, OC

Managing Director, Primera Corporation

Ruth is recognised as a leading practitioner in the regeneration field. She specialises in developing partnerships from the ground up, guiding embryonic partnerships through successful BID ballots and onward to become sustainable BIDs delivering tangible results. She has vast experience of managing teams and achieving impressive outputs, managing the Primera team which recently steered the Cheapside Initiative to a successful BID ballot. She has also spearheaded three other successful BID ballot campaigns in Central London – Baker Street, Victoria and Northbank. She travels widely, in particular to the US and Europe, to learn best practice. She also speaks frequently at industry events.

LinkedIn (18) Ruth Duston OBE, OC | LinkedIn
Twitter Ruth Duston OBE, OC (@RuthDuston) / Twitter

Tim Moonen

Co-Founder and Managing Director, The Business of Cities

Dr Tim Moonen is Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Business of Cities, an urban intelligence firm based in London that works with leaders in 100 cities, 30 national governments, and 50 global companies and organisations. The co-author of World Cities and Nation States and Creating Great Australian Cities, Tim has been working for 15 years with partners such as the World Bank, OECD, Brookings Institution and Urban Land Institute on strategies for city leadership, long-term planning, city identity, performance benchmarking, and the innovation economy. Tim chairs senior advisory boards and stakeholder engagements on behalf of cities, businesses and places, and teaches executive-level city education for international companies and universities.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-tim-moonen-4864b365

Diana Ibáñez López

Course Leader, MA Cities, Central Saint Martins

Diana Ibáñez López directs MA Cities at Central Saint Martins. The course develops new city-making practices through situated research, working translationally and intervening across scales from the voice to global infrastructures. Before leading MA Cities, Diana was a Senior Curator at Create London, where she led on A House for Artists, an award-winning building designed by Apparata. The project was awarded the RIBA London and Client of the Year Awards in May 2023. Diana has taught architecture and urbanism since 2015, at the Royal College of Art, UCL, TU Delft and Kingston, and been a visiting professor at Karlsruhe HKA. 

Instagram: @csm_ma_cities 

Marina Otero

Head, MA Social Design, Design Academy Eindhoven

Dr. Marina Otero Verzier is Head of the MA Social Design at DAE. In 2022 she received Harvard's Wheelwright Prize for a project on data storage's future. Between 2015 - 2022 she was Research Director at HNI and led initiatives on labor, extraction, and mental health from a post-anthropocentric perspective. Otero curated exhibitions, such as the Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale (2018) and the 2016 Oslo Architecture Triennale, and co-edited books, including Automated Landscapes (2023) Lithium: States of Exhaustion (2021), More-than-Human (2020), Work, Body, Leisure (2018).

Headshot credit: Boudewijn Bollman

Media link: https://www.designacademy.nl/p/about-dae/community/marina-otero-verzier

Samuel Tabory

Global Research Leader, Collaborating for Resilience; PhD Candidate in Urban and Regional Planning, Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Samuel Tabory is global research leader for the international non-profit Collaborating for Resilience, as well as a PhD candidate in Urban and Regional Planning at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. His work focuses on the cross-scale politicking and negotiation required to effect climate-sensitive governance transitions across urban-rural ecological and infrastructural system extents. He holds master’s degrees in Latin American studies and community and regional planning from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Adrian McGregor

Founder & Chief Design Officer, McGregor Coxall

Adrian McGregor is a landscape architect, biourbanist and Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra – Faculty of Arts and Design. He is the founder and Chief Design Officer of McGregor Coxall, an interdisciplinary design firm located in Australia and the UK dedicated to assisting cities achieve resilient prosperity. Selected as one of Sydney’s ‘100 Most Creative People’ and recipient of the Prime Minister of Australia’s Urban Design award, he has designed new cities, lectured, and delivered award-winning projects across the world.

Rachael Hunnisett

Green Mortgage Campaign Lead, Green Finance Institute

Having started out her career as a mortgage advisor before working for a mortgage lender within business development, national accounts and new build, Rachael has a decade of experience working in the mortgage intermediary sector. Her move to the Green Finance Institute see’s Rachael combining her passion for sustainability with her career. Rachael is responsible for the GFI’s Green Mortgage Campaign as part of their Built Environment Programme and is working to create a green mortgage market which is scalable and plays a significant role in improving the energy efficiency of UK housing stock.

Tracy Smith-Carrier

Associate Professor and the Canada Research Chair

Dr. Tracy Smith-Carrier is an Associate Professor and the Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the School of Humanitarian Studies at Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Dr. Smith-Carrier’s program of research touches upon many different fields in the social policy arena, including access to social welfare benefits, social assistance receipt, food in/security, basic income, poverty, and climate justice. She is the Chair of the National Forum Strategic Planning Committee for a Basic Income Guarantee in Canada, and editor of Critical Policy Studies.

Charlotte Glazier

Programme Manager, Greening the Public Realm

Charlotte is the Programme Manager, for Greening the Public Realm at Islington Council. She is an award-winning, urban greening transformation specialist, chartered Landscape Architect and has served as an advisor, consultant, client and manager, with a track record of creating and maintaining inclusive, collaborative, engaging environments which celebrate nature, promote climate resilience and empower communities. She has particular interest in designing and mobilising smaller scale programmes, able to be replicated at scale and pace and has ambitious sightlines for private financing of green infrastructure across the public realm.

Shubhanaga Simpson

Associate Director, Mole Architects

Shubhanaga is Associate Director at Mole Architects. He has excellent experience working across a range of sectors and is a specialist in delivering medium and large-scale housing, leading design teams throughout all design stages and during construction. Shubhanaga was the project architect for the multiple award-winning Marmalade Lane co-housing project. His main areas of interest are sustainability, community-led housing and delivering social value. He trained at the University of Cambridge, the University of Bath, and London Metropolitan University, and joined Mole Architects in 2013.

Yasmin Jones-Henry

FT Writer and Curator of The Lab E20

Yasmin Jones-Henry works in the space where fashion meets finance and culture meets commerce. Through her work as a writer with specialisms in sustainability (ESG), design and investment, she has established a career championing the role culture and creative enterprise can play as a catalyst to inclusive regeneration. As cultural placemaking strategist, Yasmin is a thought leader and an advocate for rethinking retail, scaling circular economy design principles and working to diversify the talent pipelines across the fashion industry and the built environment. Yasmin is a journalist (Financial Times) and curator and co-founder of The Lab E20.

Instagram: @yasminrjh
LinkedIn: Yasmin Jones-Henry
Twitter: @yasminrjhenry
Website: Financial Times, Yasmin Jones-Henry

Dan Scanlon

Executive President & Head of Brookfield Properties UK

Dan Scanlon is Executive Vice President, responsible for leading the Brookfield Properties team in the UK, including a 5M SF portfolio in London. He joined Brookfield Properties in 2009 and has been instrumental in the site acquisition and successful delivery of more than 3 million sq ft of office, residential, retail and leisure in London. Before joining Brookfield Properties, Dan managed a series of large-scale construction projects both in Melbourne and London, including 5years in a senior position at Multiplex Construction (acquired by Brookfield in 2007). Dan is the former Chair of the City Property Association in London and holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia

LinkedIn: Dan Scanlon

Website: Brookfield Properties, Dan Scanlon

Dan Sibert

Senior Partner Architect, Foster + Partners

Dan Sibert is a Senior Partner Architect at Foster + Partners and is originally from just outside Cardiff, Wales. He's interested in the evolution of how we live and work and what this means for the design of the spaces we inhabit, as well as the role of technology in architecture. His background leading projects that utilize computational architecture and BIM, led him to look at how processes can encourage a greater concentration on design. Dan is a keen cook, and has a love for food and its origins. He is also an enthusiastic volunteer in his community, coaching the local rugby and cricket teams.

LinkedIn: Dan Sibert
Website: Foster + Partners, Dan Sibert

Natalie Pearce

Culture Designer & Cofounder of The Future Kind Collective

Natalie (she/her) is a Culture Designer, Facilitator and Cofounder of The Future Kind Collective–a culture consultancy on mission to create world where all people get to work for kinder, fairer, better designed companies. As an ex-Head of Culture for a scaling agency, Nat knows what it takes to develop, maintain and evolve an industry-renowned culture ingrained in empathy, trust, collaboration, curiosity and empowerment, and brings this experience to her work with high growth companies. During her consultancy career, she's led projects for Insights, Amnesty International, NatWest, MasterCard, DVSA, Fidelity, HSBC, ITV and Pizza Hut. Find her on LinkedIn, Instagram, Medium and Twitter, where she talks about well-being, culture, leadership, the future of work and entrepreneurship.

LinkedIn: Natalie Pearce and The Future Kind Collective
Instagram: @natjpearce and @thefuturekindco
Twitter: @natjpearce and @futurekindco
Website: www.thefuturekind.co

Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez

Co-founder and Co-CEO, Notpla

Notpla is a London-based start-up and recipient of the Earthshot Prize 2022, the most prestigious global prize for the environment in history. Their aim is to eliminate single-use plastic with a biodegradable material. Their edible ‘Ooho’ packaging has already been used for water and sauce sachets at the London Marathon and Glastonbury Festival. The key ingredient is seaweed which they say is a sustainable as it is abundant, grows fast, doesn’t need fertilizer, and actively sequesters carbon dioxide.

Anna Scavuzzo

Vice Mayor of Milan and Lead for Food Policy Milano

Anna Scavuzzo is Vice Mayor of the City of Milan and Deputy Mayor for Education since 2016. She is also in charge of the Milan Food Policy which was awarded the Earthshot Prize 2021. 

Within an innovative framework of the food system governance, she is developing actions in several fields: reducing food waste, healthy diets, local public procurement, and agriculture. As Deputy Mayor for Education, she works closely with the municipal agency for school canteens and she promotes policies for more organic local procurement and healthier diets. 

She received a Master's degree in Physics from the University of Milan and worked on applied info technologies, data analytics and public administration learning tools for a leading editorial group. 

www.foodpolicymilano.org

@FoodPolicyMi

@FoodPolicyMi

@foodpolicymi

Food Policy Milano on YouTube

Josh Newton

Cities Activation Manager, Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Josh is responsible for advancing ambitious circular economy policy and demonstration activities in cities across Europe. He provides advice and enables knowledge sharing to help city actors implement circular systemic solutions that tackle global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Previously, Josh was a sustainability/ CSR consultant working with leading FMCG, science and utilities companies. He was also a researcher to a UK Member of Parliament and shadow minister for transport & infrastructure.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/newton-joshua/

Arjan Hassing

Circular innovation strategist, Project lead CircuLaw, City of Amsterdam

Senior expert in circular economy and systems innovation with extensive knowledge on public-private cooperation. Arjan has been part of the strategy team responsible for the Circular Amsterdam 2020-2025 strategy and one of the initiators of the Circular Monitor Amsterdam. Previously he developed the first regional circular economy strategy in the Dutch Province of North-Holland. Arjan is now initiator and project lead of CircuLaw, a knowledge platform aimed at more and better use of existing legislation by local and regional governments.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/arjanhassing/

Prof Catalina Turcu

Professor of Sustainable Built Environment, Bartlett, UCL

Catalina Turcu is Professor of Sustainable Built Environment at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London (UCL). Her work contributes to the understanding and measurement of urban sustainability at the local level. Theoretically, her research adds the institutional dimension to the traditional three-pillar (economic, social, environmental) understanding of sustainability.   

Empirically, Catalina examines sustainable urban transformations at the local level by integrating social, institutional, and physical aspects of the built environment. More specifically, Catalina’s core expertise spans across three areas: the role of institutions in shaping urban sustainability; the social context of urban sustainability; and material narratives of urban sustainability.   

She has published widely, contributed advisory roles to many national and international organisations, and fulfilled scientific appointments with the World Bank (WB), United Nations (UN), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and World Health Organisation (WHO). Catalina is a trained architect and worked in architecture and planning consultancy for 10 years before joining Academia.  

“Any sustainable city model remains largely a social and political challenge not a technical fix.”  

Denis Naughten

TD, Member of the Irish Parliament, and former Irish Minister for Communications, Climate Action & Environment

Denis Naughten TD has been a directly elected MP in Ireland for 26 years and Chairperson of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Working Group on Science and Technology.

He passionately believes that stronger structures and relationships must be developed between the scientific community and MPs. One of the primary objectives of both professions is to solve problems to benefit society.

Denis has served as an Irish Cabinet Minister responsible for Energy, Climate, Communications, Environment and Natural Resources in addition to 3 separate Councils of the European Union Ministers.

Over his career, he has gained immense experience as an Opposition Spokesperson (Shadow Minister) across four separate portfolios, chairing two Parliamentary Committees and being a member of nine different Parliamentary Committees.

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/denis-naughten

Twitter @DenisNaughten

Facebook @DenisNaughten

Ugo Taddei

Head of Transport and Materials Systems, Europe ClientEarth

Ugo is responsible for the development of legal strategies to shift transport and materials systems to bring Europe into the safe and just space for humanity: where no one falls short of life’s essentials, and where we do not overshoot our pressure on Earth’s life-supporting systems. He also focuses on the fundamental role that cities can play to accelerate the shift to more sustainable and just societies.

Ugo joined ClientEarth in 2014 and is based in the Brussels office. Ugo holds a degree in law from the University of Florence (Italy) and a degree in environmental law and policy from the University College London (LLM).

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ugo-taddei-7a76b491/ 

Sophie Mauzerolle

City Councillor, Executive Committee Member & Agglomeration Council Member

Sophie Mauzerolle holds a master's degree in political discourse analysis. She is a city councillor in the Ville-Marie borough, Sainte-Marie district, and a member of the executive committee responsible for transportation and mobility. She previously worked as an executive at the City of Montreal where she was involved in public policy analysis, which allowed her to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the challenges and issues facing the city.

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/sophiemauzerolleelue

Twitter : https://twitter.com/sophiemauzeroll

Linkedin : https://ca.linkedin.com/in/sophiemauzerolle

Kirstin Miller

Executive Director, Ecocity Builders

Kirstin Miller is the driving force behind Ecocity Builders' global initiatives and activities. With over two decades of experience in the field, she has developed a keen understanding of urban ecology and is passionate about creating sustainable cities that prioritize both the environment and social equity. Her leadership is helping elevate international awareness about the principles and practices that are critical to creating sustainable cities and supporting humanity's transition to the Ecozoic Era. 

Elsa Lefevre

Programme Officer, Cities Unit, UN Environment Programme

As Programme Manager at the UN Environment Programme's Cities unit, Elsa Lefevre is dedicated to cultivating urban development in an integrated and sustainable way. A passionate advocate for cities as essential components of achieving Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), she coordinates advocacy efforts on behalf of UrbanShift, a GEF-funded program led by UNEP that supports more than 20 cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America to adopt integrated approaches to urban development, helping shape cities that are efficient, resilient and inclusive.

Isaias Baruch

Digital Design, Ecocity Builders

Isaias Baruch is a Mexican Generative Architect who specializes in ecocity digital twin development and parametric design. Over the past several years, Isaias has dedicated his time and effort to supporting the digital design development of various ecocity technologies that will drive circular economies and local job creation. 

Diana Ibáñez López

Course Leader, MA Cities, Central Saint Martins

Diana Ibáñez López directs MA Cities at Central Saint Martins. The course develops new city-making practices through situated research, working translationally and intervening across scales from the voice to global infrastructures. Before leading MA Cities, Diana was a Senior Curator at Create London, where she led on A House for Artists, an award-winning building designed by Apparata. The project was awarded the RIBA London and Client of the Year Awards in May 2023. Diana has taught architecture and urbanism since 2015, at the Royal College of Art, UCL, TU Delft and Kingston, and been a visiting professor at Karlsruhe HKA. 

Instagram: @csm_ma_cities 

Dinah Bornat

Director, ZCD Architects, Past Mayor’s Design Advocate & Child Friendly Cities Specialist

Dinah Bornat is a co-founder of ZCD Architects, an award-winning practice based in East London. She is an expert in child friendly cities and works across policy and design from small scale to master plan projects, bringing this together with high quality community engagement, to create better places for everybody.  

Stephen Lorimer

Lead for the Clean Energy Cities programme at Centre for Net Zero, powered by Octopus Energy

Stephen is the lead for the Clean Energy Cities programme at Centre for Net Zero, powered by Octopus Energy. The programme recommends priority actions for cities to take the lead of the energy transition. He’s currently researching proof of concepts of city-led energy transitions with the Connected Places Catapult, Oxford, and Birmingham. He is an external expert for the European Urban Initiative and ClimateKIC. As a public servant, he penned successful business cases for the Data Standards Authority for the UK Government and the London Office of Technology and Innovation for London's 33 boroughs and the Mayor. As an academic, he managed a pre-seed fund for sustainable technologies at Imperial Business School and has a doctorate in energy and the built environment from the University College London Energy Institute.

Kristina Roszynski

Architect & Researcher

Kristina joined Cullinan Studio in 1999 inspired by the ethical, employee-owned model and vision of ‘architecture as a social act’. She has worked as an architect for over 25 years, specialising in low energy retrofits of workplace, schools, and homes.

She is currently collaborating on GreenSCIES, an InnovateUK funded project led by London South Bank University (LSBU), GreenSCIES is a Smart Local Energy System (SLES), which is a heat network that can deliver low-carbon heat, power and mobility and utilises recoverable heat sources.

Recently, Kristina has taken the role of Director of the GreenSCIES Centre of Excellence established at LSBU.

Martin Murray

Architect and Ph D Researcher

Martin Murray is a Ph D Research Student at the University of Ulster focusing on the integration of nZEB design and Passivhaus principles.

He completed his Master Studies at Rice University, Houston, as a Fulbright Scholar, winning the William Darden Medal.

He is a practicing architect and project manager and has also taught and acted as an external examiner at third level institutes.

He is a Fellow of the RIAI and has served on the council of both the RIAI, and the AAI, and has  been active also across a wide variety of community initiatives.

Norman Foster

Founder and Executive Chairman of Foster + Partners

Norman Foster is Founder and Executive Chairman of Foster + Partners, a global studio for architecture, urbanism and design, rooted in sustainability. Over the past five decades, the practice has pioneered a sustainable approach to architecture and urbanism through a wide range of work, from masterplans to offices, cultural buildings, airports and industrial design. He has been awarded architecture’s highest accolades, including the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the Praemium Imperiale Award for Architecture in Japan, the RIBA Royal Gold medal and the AIA Gold medal. He is President of the Norman Foster Foundation, based in Madrid. In 1999 he was honoured with a Life Peerage, becoming Lord Foster of Thames Bank. 

https://www.instagram.com/officialnormanfoster/?hl=en 

Francine Lacqua

Editor-at-large and Anchor, Bloomberg Television

Francine Lacqua is an award-winning London-based anchor for Bloomberg Television. She co-anchors daily weekday program “Bloomberg Surveillance: Early Edition,” where she provides insight on foreign policy, global markets and the top business stories of the day. She also presents “Leaders with Lacqua,” a special series where she sits down with top CEOs, entrepreneurs and public figures. Additionally, she anchors “ETF IQ Europe” weekly.

Since joining Bloomberg in 2000, Lacqua has covered the World Economic Forum in Davos, IMF in Washington, G20 meetings, the EU Leaders Summit and OPEC. She also led Bloomberg Television’s coverage of the Italian and French elections where she was one of the first international reporters to interview cabinet members.

Twitter + Instagram: @flacqua

linkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/francine-lacqua-44529629/

Dr Luisa Bravo

Board Member, Ecocity Builders, Founder, City Space Architecture

Dr Luisa Bravo is a global academic scholar and educator, cultural entrepreneur, and public space activist. She has more than 20-years' experience in the professional field as urban planner and designer with a specific focus on public space. Her expertise is grounded in extensive academic postdoctoral research and teaching in Italy and Europe, the United States, Middle East, Asia and Australia. Luisa is the Founder and President of City Space Architecture, an Italian non-profit organization promoting public space culture globally in cooperation with UN-Habitat. Luisa is also a Board member of Ecocity Builders.  

Malek Al Jebaie

Master's student at Lund University's International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics

Malek Al Jebaie is an accomplished Master's student at Lund University's International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics, pursuing an international Master's degree in Environmental Sciences, Management, and Policy (MESPOM) as a recipient of the prestigious Erasmus Mundus Scholarship. Throughout his studies in Vienna, Austria; Lesvos, Greece; and Lund, Sweden, Malek has gained a comprehensive understanding of urban transformation and climate policy. He has experience in building urban resilience and enhancing disaster risk management capacities in Lebanon, working with NGOs, international organizations, and governmental bodies such as the UNDP and HFSHD. With a background in Civil and Environmental Engineering and applied data science, Malek adopts an interdisciplinary approach to tackle the climate crisis, emphasizing utilizing the science-policy interface to develop evidence-based policies at the urban level to build effective governance and promote sustainable development. His latest work involves collaborating with the Ecologic Institute-Berlin to advance the knowledge and insights derived from the Urban Governance Atlas.

Katy Lock

Director - Communities (FJ Osborn Fellow), Town & Country Planning Association

Katy leads on the TCPA’s campaigns and promotion of garden city principles in policy, legislation, education and the arts. This involves working at all levels of government and with a variety of public, private and third sector organisations and individuals, at all stages of planning, design and delivery. Katy has co-authored two books on Garden Cities & New Towns for RIBA Publishing and is currently leading a programme of work on long-term stewardship. A Chartered Town Planner with a background in Urban Design and Sustainability, Katy is also a Trustee for Planning Aid for London and the International Federation for Housing & Planning.  

Neil Manthorpe

Associate Director of Design, Atkins

Avgousta Stanitsa

Senior Design Researcher, Atkins

Chris Massey

Senior Landscape Architect, Atkins

Francis Heil

Associate Director, Atkins

Ruth Hynes

Associate Design Researcher, Atkins

Shrishti Roy

Architect, Atkins

Prof Sahar Attia

Board Member, Ecocity Builders, Chair UN Universities Network Initiative

Dr Sahar Attia is an Emeritus Professor of urban design at the Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University. She is a member of the Supreme Council of Urban Development in Egypt,  a member in the Stakeholders Advisory Group Enterprise UN-Habitat,  a board member of Ecocity Builders, and the vice-chair of the Science & technology working group in the International Parliamentary Union.  

Delfina Bocca

First Year, Materials & Technology Studio Tutor, Head of Digital Exploration Clinic at the Architectural Association, Associate Lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University Oxford Brookes University

Before founding MOTHER STUDIO, Delfina worked as a Senior Architect for Zaha Hadid Architects, specialising on design concepts and international projects. Her previous experience includes work with practices in UK, Italy, and Buenos Aires, where she is currently a registered architect. Engaged with education and research, she focuses on exploring digital and critical narratives as tools for architectural design.

She is currently a First Year, Materials & Technology Studio Tutor and Head of Digital Exploration Clinic at the Architectural Association as well as an Associate Lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University Oxford Brookes University where she leads Interior and Design digital  course as well as a master on Sustainability and Mindfulness.  She has previously co-leaded Digital Romanticism: an undergraduate studio at Oxford Brookes University in Oxfordshire. She curated Digital Nomad: Architecture and the Metaverse at Fundación PROA for the 18th Architecture Biennale in Buenos Aires working with digital platforms.

Nillapat Srisoparb

Lecturer, Architecture Urban Design & Creative Arts, Mahasarakham University & Country Representative & Observer of ARCASIA Committee on Young Architects (ACYA)

Nillapat Srisoparb obtained doctoral degree in Architecture and Building Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, in 2019 and worked as Teaching and Research Assistantship during her Ph.D. life. Afterward, she worked as head of Department of Architecture at Mahasarakham University in Thailand during 2019 - 2022. She works for Association of Siamese Architects as co-curator on international forum for Thailand Architect Expo 2022. Furthermore, she works for ASIAN Young Architects (ACYA), which belongs to Architect Regional Council Asia (ACASIA), as a representative from Thailand. She specializes in design theory, environmental architecture, and behavior in urban design for the community.

Nastaran Peimani

Senior Lecturer in Urban Design, Leader of the Urbanism Research and Scholarship Group, and Co-Founding Director of the Public Space Observatory Research Centre at Cardiff University

Nastaran Peimani is Senior Lecturer in Urban Design, Leader of the Urbanism Research and Scholarship Group, and Co-Founding Director of the Public Space Observatory Research Centre at Cardiff University. She has also served as the Co-Director of the MA Urban Design programme at Cardiff University. Her research focuses on the intersections of urban design, built environment, urban transport and forms of informality. Her current research interests include transit-oriented urbanism, urban morphology, urban mapping, spatiality of street vending, public space and urbanity, and urban design education and pedagogy.­ Nastaran has a PhD from the University of Melbourne.

Owen Hopkins

Director, Farrell Centre at Newcastle University

Owen Hopkins is a writer and curator. He is Director of the Farrell Centre at Newcastle University – a new public centre for architecture and cities which opened to the public in April 2023. Previously he was Senior Curator at Sir John Soane’s Museum and before that Architecture Programme Curator at the Royal Academy of Arts. He is curator of numerous exhibitions including the Farrell Centre’s inaugural show, More with Less: Reimagining Architecture for a Changing World. A frequent commentator on architecture in the press, on radio and TV, he writes regularly for a range of media and is author or editor of numerous books and journals. He lectures internationally and is a frequent guest critic at architecture schools, as well as a judge for a number of architecture awards.

Twitter.com/owen_hopkins

Instagram.com/owenhopkins

Yasmeen Lari

Co-Founder and CEO, Heritage Foundation of Pakistan

Yasmeen Lari, the first female architect in Pakistan, is one of the best-known architects in the country, as well as an architectural historian, heritage and environmental conservationist, humanitarian worker and philanthropist. She graduated from Oxford Brookes University and was elected to Royal Institute of British Architects in 1969. She served as president of Institute of Architects Pakistan (1980-1983), and as first chairperson of the regulatory Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners (1983-1986).

After building several landmark buildings and social housing, and the largest urban redevelopment project in Asia at the time, she retired from architectural practice in 2000. As CEO and co-founder of Heritage Foundation of Pakistan since 1980, she has helped conserve several historic monuments in World Heritage Sites and landmark buildings in various cities. She has served as UNESCO National Advisor and was included among 60 Women who have contributed the most towards UNESCO’s objectives.

Since the 2005 earthquake, she has developed a number of methodologies for low-cost affordable housing which are climate resilient and provide social and ecological justice to those at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP). By building over 40,000 one-room houses in disaster-affected areas, she has helped place Pakistan in the lead with the largest zero carbon shelter programme in the World. 

She is the recipient of many national and international awards including Sitara-i-Imtiaz (2006) and Hilal-e-Imtiaz (2014) conferred by the President of Pakistan; the Asia-focused Fukuoka Prize for Asian Arts and Culture (2016) in Japan; and the international Jane Drew Prize (2020) in London. She has also received the UNESCO Recognition Award (2002), Islamic Development Bank Prize for Women’s Empowerment (2013), and World Habitat Award (2018). Addressed as “Architect for the Poorest of the Poor”, when conferred an honorary degree Laurea Magistrale ad honorem (2021) by the prestigious Politecnico di Milano in Italy, becoming the first woman recipient in 158 years.

She has authored and co-authored several books and publications including The Dual City (1996), and Traditional Architecture of Thatta (1989), among others. She has lectured widely in universities and architectural institutions in Asia, Europe, Australia and US. Her architectural works have been exhibited in various countries around the world including the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago (2015), the Vienna Biennale, Vienna (2019) and the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2022).

Prof. Hanif Kara

Co-Founder and Design Director, AKT II

Professor Hanif Kara arrived in the UK as a refugee in the 1970s, and in 2022 was awarded the OBE for his services to architecture, engineering and education. He’s a co-founder and design director of the engineering practice AKT II, which today works throughout 50+ countries. He’s also a professor in practice with the Harvard GSD (having also taught with architecture schools throughout the UK and Europe), and an appointed Design Advocate for the Mayor of London. In 2022, he was furthermore awarded the CTBUH ‘Fazlur R Khan’ Lifetime Achievement Medal for his contributions to the global built environment. 

AKT II’s social media handles:

Twitter – @AKT_II

Linkedin –  AKT II 

Instagram – akt_ii

Hanif’s social media handles:

Linkedin – Hanif Kara

Instagram – Hanif.kara

Matthew Springett

Co-Director, MATT+FIONA

Matthew Springett is one of the founders of MATT+FIONA. He is an ARB qualified architect with his own practice, MSA Ltd. He is also a Senior Lecturer and Teaching Fellow at the Bartlett, University College London (UCL). Matthew leads on connecting the pedagogical process and co-design process to creating robust, achievable and award-winning design.

George Pope

Programme Coordinator, MATT+FIONA

George Pope joined the MATT+FIONA team in 2022 after starting his career in the publishing sector. He combines a lifelong passion for architecture with experience working in youth engagement with Voluntary Service Overseas in his work at the organisation.

Dr Costis Toregas

School of Engineering & Applied Science, George Washington University  & Ecocity Builders Board Member and Treasurer

Dr Costis Toregas is the Director of the Cyber Security and Privacy Research Institute at The George Washington University (https://cspri.seas.gwu.edu/).  He is a respected consultant to national governments and intergovernmental organizations, and a much sought-after speaker on the impact of technology in government, sustainability, and society.   

Dr Janis Birkeland

Honorary Professorial Fellow, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne

Janis is a professor at the University of Melbourne.  Previously, she was Professor of Sustainable Design at the Uni of Auckland, New Zealand, and Professor of Architecture at Queensland Uni of Technology in Brisbane, Australia.  Before entering academia, she was a lawyer, architect and planner in San Francisco.  She originated the theory of net positive development and design, and taught and published on the subject for decades.  Her Ph.D was Planning for Sustainability (1993) and her books include Net-Positive Design and Sustainable Urban Development (2020) Positive Development (2008), and Design for Sustainability (2002). See http://netpositivedesign.org 

Prof. Montse Delpino-Chamy

Associate Professor, Departamento de Urbanismo, Universidad de Concepcion Chile

Montse Delpino-Chamy is an Architect, Urban Planner, and founder of SENSUR, the first digital platform for participatory mapping in Spanish.

Montse has taught at various universities in Chile, Uruguay, Australia and Spain. She had worked in urban planning processes with Regional Governments and been involved with consulting projects in Chile, Italy, Brazil and Uruguay. Additionally, she had provided volunteer services in various NGOs and citizens associations for local development, and private councils for the formulation of public policy.
Her academic and professional work focuses on sustainable urban development, with special emphasis on the relationship between urban design and citizen perception.

Déborah López and Hadin Charbel

Pareid is an award winning  interdisciplinary design and research studio located between London and Spain. Their works adopt approaches from various fields and contexts, addressing topics related to climate, ecology, human perception, machine sentience, and their capacity for altering current modes of existence.

Led by Déborah López and Hadin Charbel, practice and pedagogy intermingle at the Bartlett School of Architecture where they lead Research Cluster 1 under the title of ‘Monumental Wastelands’. Using climate fiction as a vehicle they combine video-game engines, aggressive material reuse, and narratives, to challenge current economically profitable models through imminent fictions (if).

Social Media Links

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/pareid.architecture/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pareidstudio

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/pareid/

Lina Ghotmeh

Architect and Founder of Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture

Lebanese-born architect Lina Ghotmeh is the founder of Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture in Paris and designer of this year’s Serpentine Pavilion in London. Her work includes the ‘Stone Garden’ tower in Beirut, awarded Dezeen Project of the Year 2021, and exhibited at the 17th Architecture Biennale in Venice, MAXXI in Rome, the Cooper Hewitt in New York, and the Estonian National Museum. She recently completed the first passive, low-carbon building, the Ateliers Hermès located in Louviers, France and built using more than 500,000 bricks locally produced. Lina Ghotmeh was Louis I. Khan Professor at Yale University and Gehry Chair in the University of Toronto. She has been awarded the 2020 Schelling Architecture Prize among many other prizes and nominations.

Gonzalo Herrero Delicado

Director, Ecocity World Summit 2023

Gonzalo is a curator, architect and educator based in London who works at the intersection of architecture, design and technology, exploring their connection to ecology and digital culture. He is the Director of the Ecocity World Summit 2023, a Design Fellow at the University of Cambridge and an Associate Lecturer at Central Saint Martins in London. From 2016 to 2021, he was the Curator of the Architecture Programme at the Royal Academy of Arts where he curated Eco-Visionaries (2019-2020) and Invisible Landscapes (2018-2019), among many other exhibitions, displays and public programmes. Previously, he held different curatorial positions at the Museum of the Future in Dubai, the Design Museum and The Architecture Foundation, both in London.

https://www.instagram.com/gonzaloherrero/

https://twitter.com/gonzaloherrero 

www.gonzaloherrero.eu

Mark Cridge

Executive Director of the National Park City Foundation and London National Park City

Mark is the Executive Director of the National Park City Foundation and London National Park City; a long-term grassroots movement for people making their cities greener, healthier and wilder.

For the previous seven years he was Chief Executive of mySociety, a UK based social enterprise, who help people be active citizens. mySociety's popular services FixMyStreet.com, TheyWorkForYou.com and WhatDoTheyKnow.com are used by over 11 million people each year; with their open source technology and research used by individuals, journalists, and civil society in over 40 countries worldwide.

Prior to mySociety, Mark enjoyed a diverse digital communications career including stints as COO at design consultancy BERG, as a senior advisor at political campaigners Blue State Digital in London, and served on the national executive of the Green Party of England & Wales for five years.

Originally studying Architecture at Strathclyde University, he got his commercial start in 1996 working for a small web design agency in Birmingham before setting up glue London, the UK's first digital advertising agency in 1999, going on to become global managing director of Isobar, following glue’s acquisition in 2005.

@markcridge  |  mark.cridge@nationalparkcity.org

Annekee Groeninx van Zoelen

Graduate MSc Architecture, Urbanism & Building Sciences at Delft University of Technology

As an ambitious and enthusiastic student in architecture, I have many different interests: from travelling with and working on my self-built campervan, to creating new designs for my sustainable clothing brand. But most of all, I enjoy nature, especially by hiking, trail running or surfing. I often wonder how we can improve the world, both for us as for nonhumans. As a result, I am very passionate about my graduation project connecting the built environment and nature, because in my view, we as designers should take responsibility for creating a sustainable, future-proof environment. My wish is to bring our human world back into balance with nature and I see myself working at an architectural firm committed to this. I am very much looking forward to meeting people and exchanging knowledge at this conference!

Mischa Young

Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Environments at the Université de l’Ontario Français, Toronto, Canada

Mischa Young is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Environments at the Université de l’Ontario Français in Toronto, Canada. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis, and received his Ph.D. From the Department of Geography & Planning at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on urban biodiversity and how to leverage new mobility technologies to design more equitable and sustainable cities.

Francesca Perry

Editor and Writer specialising in cities, design and sustainability

Francesca Perry is a London-based editor and writer specialising in cities, design and sustainability. She writes for the BBC, Financial Times, The Economist, CNN and others. She is editor of the book Welfare Architecture for All (2021). Francesca was previously a commissioning editor at The Guardian, deputy editor at Blueprint, and editor-in-chief of ICON. In 2012, she founded the editorial and events platform Thinking City, dedicated to championing more inclusive urbanism. As well as journalism, Francesca has a professional background in participatory urban design.

My LinkedIn profile is here, and my (Thinking City) Twitter account is here.

Lucy Atlee

Senior Quality and Design Manager, TTL Properties, Transport for London

Lucy has been an architect for over 20 years and is a qualified BREEAM Assessor & BREEAM AP. She was board director of aLL Design Architects where she worked with Will Alsop before joining Transport for London (TfL) via Public Practice, a social enterprise that places architects in public bodies. Lucy’s role at TTLP is to champion design and sustainability in the development programme of 20,000 new homes. She delivered TfL’s Sustainable Development Framework, volunteered with LETI on the creation of a Client Guide to Zero Carbon Buildings and is a member of the NLA Net Zero Expert Panel.

Tomas Stokke

Co-founder and director of Haptic Architects

Tomas Stokke oversees Haptic’s international projects including the new Norwegian Government Headquarters, the new Norwegian embassy in Beijing, Istanbul Airport, Noida International Airport, and a waterside development for a marine centre and aquarium in Oslo. He oversees Haptic’s R&D arm, Haptic Green, focused on sustainable solutions through teaching, research and innovation. Tomas led the design of the Regenerative Highrise in Oslo, a thought piece on the future of vertical urbanism, in collaboration with Ramboll, aiming to create a new and flexible high-rise typology. He believes strongly in collaboration – International collaboration is key to Tomas’ approach, making people happy through good design.

Lauren-Rose Harper

Sustainability Officer at Peabody

MSc Environmental Management, BSc Zoology

Lauren works in the Sustainability Team at Peabody, one of the oldest and largest housing associations in the UK. Lauren’s role includes strategising how we will bring over 100,000 homes to net zero carbon by 2050, and the organisation’s business practices and operations by 2030. Lauren oversees Peabody’s customer sustainability engagement agenda and leads the Biodiversity Working Group, exploring how we will build greener communities and spaces. Lauren has also worked as the Environmental Strategy Lead at Tower Hamlets Homes and is keen to combine her nature-based background and beliefs with her role of providing more sustainable places to live in urban environments.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-rose-harper-8719ab147/

Christina Olsen

Managing Director, Center for Ecocities, BCIT

 Christina Olsen is Manager of BCIT's Institute Sustainability office and its Centre for Ecocities where she uses her global 20-year background in sustainability research, consulting, and operational management to leverage system change at the organization and city level. She has previously worked with the San Francisco Planning Department, Nutter Consulting smart cities strategy firm, Wilson Center Urban Sustainability Lab, and Post Carbon Institute, among others. She is also on the board of the EcoSmart Foundation, a Vancouver non-profit organization developing multi-stakeholder initiatives in the renewable energy and green building sectors. Christina holds a master’s degree in Sustainability and Environmental Management from Harvard and a BA in Environmental Studies – with a joint major in Anthropology – from the University of Victoria.

“The Ecocity Summit is a tremendous gathering of city-focused people from all regions of the world and from all backgrounds: academics, youth activists, policy makers, urban planners, ecologists, and concerned citizens. Such diversity helps compost old ideas into fertile new directions of thinking, taking action, and working together. That’s what the theme of connecting communities is all about. It’s what’s desperately needed to transform our battered social and ecological systems.”   

Cora Hallsworth

Manager of Municipal Programs at BCIT’s Centre for Ecocities

Cora Hallsworth, Manager of Municipal Programs at BCIT’s Centre for Ecocities, has over 20 years experience advancing community and organizational sustainability. She has worked on award winning plans and has been contracted and appointed to advise on municipal, regional and corporate climate action and sustainability initiatives. She has extensive background in climate action, sustainable consumption and waste management; focusing on planning, strategy and inventory development. Cora is Principal of her own consulting practice; part-time Faculty instructor at BCIT; and is a Senior Associate with One Earth. Cora has been managing the pilot testing of the ecoCity Footprint Tool and has been working with municipalities to employ the results from these assessments, including as lead of One Planet Saanich.

Glenys Verhulst

Sustainability Planner with the District of Saanich

Glenys Verhulst is a Sustainability Planner with the District of Saanich with over 15 years of experience in climate and energy efficiency programs. With the District, Glenys led community engagement for, and was a lead writer of mitigation policy in, the award-winning Saanich Climate Plan. She leads reporting on corporate and community climate action to Provincial and international climate disclosure bodies. She is responsible for implementing corporate and community-mobilizing climate actions and is advancing climate equity work for the District, including the Saanich E-bike Incentive Pilot Program.

Gonzalo Herrero Delicado

Director, Ecocity World Summit 2023

Gonzalo is a curator, architect and educator based in London who works at the intersection of architecture, design and technology, exploring their connection to ecology and digital culture. He is the Director of the Ecocity World Summit 2023, a Design Fellow at the University of Cambridge and an Associate Lecturer at Central Saint Martins in London. From 2016 to 2021, he was the Curator of the Architecture Programme at the Royal Academy of Arts where he curated Eco-Visionaries (2019-2020) and Invisible Landscapes (2018-2019), among many other exhibitions, displays and public programmes. Previously, he held different curatorial positions at the Museum of the Future in Dubai, the Design Museum and The Architecture Foundation, both in London.

https://www.instagram.com/gonzaloherrero/

https://twitter.com/gonzaloherrero 

www.gonzaloherrero.eu

Kobie Brand

Deputy Secretary General, ICLEI and Regional Director, ICLEI Africa

Kobie Brand is the Deputy Secretary General of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, Regional Director of ICLEI Africa and Global Director of ICLEI’s Cities Biodiversity Centre.

Kobie has more than 25 years of practical and managerial experience in Environmental Management and Urban Development. Her expertise ranges from biodiversity, climate change, coastal management to urban sustainability and planning.

She is responsible for the strategic direction, growth, partnerships, programmes and scope of work for ICLEI in Africa, as well as for ICLEI’s global biodiversity and nature-based solutions work and related agendas. This includes the global CitiesWithNature partnership initiative and ICLEI’s One Health, and water and sanitation initiatives.

Kirstin Miller

Executive Director, Ecocity Builders

Kirstin Miller is the driving force behind Ecocity Builders' global initiatives and activities. With over two decades of experience in the field, she has developed a keen understanding of urban ecology and is passionate about creating sustainable cities that prioritize both the environment and social equity. Her leadership is helping elevate international awareness about the principles and practices that are critical to creating sustainable cities and supporting humanity's transition to the Ecozoic Era. 

Prof. Joseph Alcamo

Director of the Sussex Sustainability Research Programme at the University of Sussex

Prof. Joseph Alcamo is Director of the Sussex Sustainability Research Programme at the University of Sussex, UK which is providing "Science for the SDGs". During an extended break from academia, he served as Chief Scientist of the UN Environment Programme and later as UN Special Science Advisor to the Head of the Paris Climate Agreement negotiations. He was cited as a contributor to the Nobel Peace Prize won by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007. In the 1970s he helped found Urban Ecology Inc. and spoke at the first Eco City Summit in Berkeley in 1990.