AIPH Green City Briefing: The power of plants to transform city liveabilty

A well planned, designed, and maintained green built environment can promote and enhance positive lifestyles for city residents, visitors and businesses.

Discover the impact of developing green infrastructure.

This Briefing will feature the winner of the ‘Living Green for Urban Infrastructure & Liveability’ category of the AIPH World Green City Awards 2024 – Baia Mare, Romania. The city won for its ‘Smart Post-Industrial Regenerative Ecosystem’ initiative. Find out more.

Watch on-demand

Programme

13:00 – Welcome and Introduction by MC John-Rob Pool,
Senior Manager, Nature-positive Urban Development & UrbanShift

13:05 – Presentation by Dr Thendo Mafame, Lecturer in Human Geography and Urban Studies at Sol Plaatje University, South Africa

13:25 – Presentation by Codrut Papina and Sorin Pop from Baia Mare, Romania

13:45 – Q&A

14:00 – Briefing closes

John-Rob Pool

John-Rob Pool is the Senior Manager for UrbanShift and Nature-Positive Urban Development, supporting the World Resources Institute (WRI)’s efforts to integrate nature and biodiversity into urban development projects.

In his role, John-Rob leads WRI’s UrbanShift team and manages WRI’s contributions to UrbanShift by overseeing the day-to-day management of the project. He leads on strategy, M&E, and partner engagement. He also develops and delivers technical content on nature-based solutions, urban biodiversity and urban climate finance for capacity building activities such as City Academies, Geospatial Planning Labs and Peer Exchanges. John-Rob is a published and recognised expert on urban nature-based solutions. He has authored and contributed to topical research, been invited to speak at multiple global conferences and events, and been cited in numerous media articles.

John-Rob holds a Master of Science in Environmental Policy from the University of Oxford, where he was a student of St Edmund Hall. In addition, he holds a Bachelor of Science (Honors) in Biodiversity & Conservation and a Bachelor of Science in Zoology & Environmental Science, both from Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. John-Rob is originally from Botswana and is a dual national of South Africa and the United Kingdom. He speaks fluent Setswana and Sotho and conversational Afrikaans and French, and enjoys being outdoors and in nature.

Dr Thendo Mafame

Dr Thendo Mafame is a Lecturer in Human Geography and Urban Studies at Sol Plaatje University, South Africa. Her research explores placemaking, participatory urban governance, and inclusive public spaces in rapidly transforming township environments. She holds a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning and has published in journals such as the African Geographical Review. Dr Mafame’s current projects focus on community-led approaches to urban development, livestock and livelihoods in urban areas, and resilience to climate shocks in African cities. She collaborates with international partners through research exchanges with University of Barcelona Spain and the University of Jyväskylä in Finland.

Sorin Pop

Sorin Pop has over 14 years expertise in research and development management, and innovation management. His previous experience includes Earth Observation and GIS related projects including a range of Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe spanning across countries and disciplines. He was training coordinator and trainer for several EU funded projects. He is passionate about the digital transformation of public processes, utilizing geographical and earth observation data, supported by machine learning algorithms, as well as transforming communities through technology.

Codruț Papina

Codruț Papina is an urban and landscape planner, doctoral student and junior researcher, holding a degree in Landscape Design and Planning with a master’s degree in urban management for Competitive Cities. He is a PhD candidate at UAUIM Bucharest with a focus on the development of urban peripheries, biophilic cities, sustainable approaches on how cities can grow and transform. He has valuable experience in co-creation processes for strategic planning, urban design and urban regeneration. Currently involved multiple projects including European Urban Initiative projects Bistrița B-CONNECT focusing on greening the city, and Bucharest Sector 6 FAVORIT+ centered on energy transition processes, and Horizon Europe project URBREATH which tackles digital twining for planning and monitoring NBS interventions.