AIPH World Green City Awards 2022

AIPH is proud to announce the Winners of the AIPH World Green City Awards 2022. The announcement of the 6 Category Winners and the Grand Winner was made at a dedicated Awards ceremony which took place at a special gala dinner at the IUCN Leaders Forum in the Self-Governing Province of Jeju, Republic of Korea on 14^th October 2022.

The most prestigious award of the Inaugural 2022 edition, the Grand Winner, was presented to the city who was voted by the Jury to demonstrate the highest capacity for influence, replicability, and scope to inspire change in their entry. In making their decision, members of the Jury were invited to consider the following question:

“The AIPH World Green City Awards 2022 enables winning cities achieve greater recognition for their inspiring initiatives – in light of this, which entry do you feel may have the biggest transformational impact?”

It is AIPH’s great honour and privilege to present the award for the Grand Winner of the AIPH World Green City Awards 2022 to:

The City of Hyderabad, India for their entry titled “Green Garland to the State of Telangana”

Grand Winner - Hyderabad

“AIPH celebrates this fantastic achievement for the City of Hyderabad. We are proud to showcase their inspiring urban greening work. With this global recognition, we can confidently say that Hyderabad is a world leader in nature-oriented approaches to city design, form, and function,” said Tim Briercliffe, Secretary General, AIPH. “The innovation, ambition, and inspiring action demonstrated in the City’s entry leaves a powerful legacy for other cities from around the world to aspire to.”

Watch the ceremony on-demand

Following the first round of judging for the AIPH World Green City Awards 2022, where a Technical Panel of twenty-three multi-disciplinary experts from around the globe assessed and scored entries across six award categories, a shortlist comprising the top scoring three entries in each category was presented to the world-renowned 2022 Awards Jury. The Jury then the responsibility and privilege to vote for a winner in each of the six categories, as well as select the overall winner in the highly contested AIPH World Green City Awards 2022.

These winners were announced at a dedicated AIPH World Green City Awards ceremony, which took place on 14th October 2022 during the IUCN Leaders Forum in the Special Self- Governing Province of Jeju, Republic of Korea.

Building on the momentum of IUCN World Conservation Congresses, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) launched the IUCN Leaders Forum – a new series of high-level events to convene global leaders more frequently on key topics of relevance to the international agenda. The first edition of the IUCN Leaders Forum, organised by IUCN together with the Korean Ministry of Environment and Jeju Self-governing Province, was held in Jeju, Republic of Korea from 13 – 15 October 2022, with a focus on “Building nature-positive economies and societies.”

Watch the ceremony on-demand

Living Green for Biodiversity:

Winner: Reverdecer Bogotá, Bogota D.C, Colombia

“The greening of Bogotá” is a public policy included in the District Development Plan 2020-2024: “A New Social and Environmental Contract for the Bogotá of the 21st Century”. Its purpose is to improve the quality of the natural, built and regional environment from the perspective of generating well-being conditions for the population and other living beings present in the territory. Agro-ecological urban and peri-urban agriculture takes on special importance as it involves more than 120 plant species in orchards, including fruit trees, shrubs, vines, and even small plants. In 2020, this Urban Agriculture Program gained strength and prominence, resulting in more than 5,000 fortified vegetable gardens.

Living Green for Climate Change:

Winner: Mexico City’s Environmental and Climate Change Program, Mexico City, Mexico

Given the deterioration caused by the disconnection with nature, the growth of the urban sprawl and factors such as overexploitation, pollution, changes in land use, invasive species and the effects of climate change, a comprehensive policy was launched to regenerate the ecological conditions of Mexico City. This policy was based on a vision of sustainability, innovation and rights, derived from the Government Program of Mexico City 2019-2024 and established in the Environmental and Climate Change Program (ECCP) 2019-2024. Thanks to the ‘Green Challenge’ strategy, the increase in the annual production of plants went from less than 500 thousand in 2018 to more than 10 million in 2021, which has allowed the planting of 27,082,593 trees and plants.

Living Green for Health and Wellbeing:

Winner: Transforming degraded land into Urban Micro Parks, City of Fortaleza, Brazil

In the context of Fortaleza, where access to public leisure areas is restricted and unequal, the Urban Micro Parks have become a low-cost and fast implementation alternative to expand this offer in more vulnerable areas with high population density. Utilising the ‘Naturalised Park’ concept, these parks offer children a connection to natural materials such as tree trunks. The Urban Micro Parks can offer elements such as spaces to play, sit, gather, trails, climbing elements, community vegetable gardens, among others.

Living Green for Water:

Winner: The Phytotechnology Stations at the Montréal Botanical Garden / Space for Life, City of Montreal, Canada

With its collection of about 20,000 plant species and cultivars and 30 topical gardens spread out over 75 hectares, the Montréal Botanical Garden is recognized as one of the world’s greatest botanical gardens. The Botanical Garden is part of Space for Life, a group of five institutions that together make up the largest museum complex in Canada. In recent years, the Montréal Botanical Garden has set up a series of phytotechnology stations to address various environmental issues that exist on its site. The idea is to design installations that simultaneously solve the problems, demonstrate the technology, and educate the public as to the role and functioning of the plants.

Living Green for Social Cohesion:

Winner: OASIS Schoolyard Project, City of Paris, France

The OASIS Schoolyard Project seeks to renew, dynamize and green the existing public schoolyards by improving their thermal conditions, responding simultaneously to multiple urban issues such as the lack of green areas within the city, the design of appropriate public spaces for children growing up in the city and in general the enhancement of citizens’ quality of life. By December 2021, 72 schoolyards had been transformed, and the City’s goal is to reach all 770 kindergarten, elementary and middle schools by 2050.

Living Green for Economic Recovery and Inclusive Growth:

Winner: Green Garland to the State of Telangana, City of Hyderabad, India

Telangana Ku Haritha Haram (TKHH), meaning ‘Green Garland to the State of Telangana’ is a flagship program which is a large-scale tree-planting program. The program envisages increasing the tree cover of the State from present 24% to 33% of the total geographical area of the State. They surpassed this goal with an ultimate increase of 147% through the initiative.

The shortlist for the 2022 Awards were comprised of the three highest scoring entries in each of the six award categories, assessed by the Technical Panel of judges. Each of the finalists received a ‘Highly Commended’ award at the inaugural AIPH World Green City Awards ceremony.

Living Green for Biodiversity

Addressing the loss of species, habitats, ecosystem health, and genetic diversity

Reverdecer Bogotá
Bogota D.C., Colombia

Act Local, Contribute Global to World Biodiversity Conservation
Town of Victoria Park, Australia

Getting everyone involved in greening the city
City of Paris, France

Living Green for Climate Change

Tackling the root causes and effects of climate change to build more liveable and resilient cities

Peynircioglu Stream Ecological Restoration Project
City of Izmir, Turkey

Grey to Green
City of Melbourne, Australia

Mexico City’s Environmental and Climate Change Program
Mexico City, Mexico

Living Green for Health and Wellbeing

Addressing the medical, behavioural, and social determinants of health for residents

Transforming degraded land into Urban Micro Parks
City of Fortaleza, Brazil

Utrecht Green and Healthy City
City of Utrecht, Netherlands

Sunvale Community Park
City of Brimbank, Australia

Living Green for Water

Ensuring that water resources are safeguarded and wisely used, with clean water available to all while also protecting residents from flooding risks

The Phytotechnology Stations at the Montréal Botanical Garden / Space for Life
City of Montreal, Canada

Creating a Green City
Logan City Council, Australia

uMhlathuze Water Stewardship Partnership
City of uMhlathuze, South Africa

Living Green for Social Cohesion

Fostering belonging, trust and inter-generational as well as cross-cultural relationships to prevent exclusion, marginalisation and violence

Socio-urban integration in the midst of an ecological reserve: The case of Rodrigo Bueno
City of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Sunchoenman Bay Wetland Conservation Project
Suncheon City, South Korea

OASIS Schoolyard Project
City of Paris, France

Living Green for Economic Recovery and Inclusive Growth

Creating systems and solutions that allow all city residents to overcome economic distress and thrive

The 2020-2030 Master Plan for the Conservation, Improvement and Development of Parc Jean-Drapeau
City of Montreal, Canada

Transformation of “Beltway to Green Belt”
City of Mashhad, Iran

Green Necklace to the State of Telangana
City of Hyderabad, India

While they were not selected as finalists, six entries were awarded Certificates of Merit for demonstrating a particularly inspiring and innovative approach to city greening which has the potential for replicability by other cities around the world.

Transforming Mown Turf Lawns to Urban Pollinator Meadows
City of Vancouver, Canada
City of Logan Climate Change Resilience Strategy and Net Zero Commitment
City of Logan, Australia
Cooling the City
Penrith City Council, Australia
Application of recycled water in the irrigation of urban open spaces (Parks & Stadiums)
Bulawayo City Council, Zimbabwe
City of São Paulo’s Rain Gardens
City of São Paulo, Brazil
Urban Agriculture Strategy
City of Montréal, Canada

Twelve internationally recognised green city experts joined the jury for the AIPH World Green City Awards 2022.

Following completion of the first round of judging by the Technical Panel of Judges, 18 green city initiatives reached the shortlist for the inaugural AIPH World Green City Awards. The shortlist is comprised of the three entries in each of the six categories that achieved the highest scores by the Technical Panel. These entries were presented to the jury who selected one winner for each category, as well as one grand winner.

Meet the Jury

Bill Hardy – Chair of the AIPH Green City Committee and Vice President of the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association (CNLA)

Bill has had many roles and responsibilities within the horticulture industry over the years and has always had an avid involvement in industry professional development, education, and certification.

Bill is active with several industry associations including: the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association – Communication Director and 2nd Vice President; HortEducationBC – Founding Director and current Business Manager; Canadian Garden Council – Founding Director and CNLA Representative; International Association of Horticulture Producers – Chair Green City Committee; and the Green Cities Foundation – Director at Large

Andrew Grant – Founder and Director of Grant Associates

Andrew is a Landscape Architect whose work explores the connection between people and nature. He started his company, Grant Associates, in 1997 which has grown into an international design studio with offices in Bath and Singapore. His approach is based around using creative ecology to find solutions to the major challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and improving human quality of life, health and well being. Each of his projects responds to the place, its inherent ecology and its people and promotes quality and innovation in landscape design.

In 2012 he was awarded the title of RSA Royal Designer for Industry in recognition of his pioneering global work in landscape architecture such as the multi award winning Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. The 54 hectare park explores the technical boundaries of landscape and horticulture in an Asian city and won the Building Project of the Year Award at the 2012 World Architecture Festival.

He is a Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield, an Honorary Fellow of the RIBA and a member of the National Infrastructure Commission Design Group. Based in the city of Bath he is Chair of the Bathscape Landscape Partnership and a member of the Bath World Heritage Site Advisory Board. He is also co-founder of the pop up festival Forest of Imagination which engages the wider community of Bath in the reimagining of city spaces and our relationship with nature in the city.

Colleen S.L. Mercer Clarke – Chair of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA)’s Working Group on Climate Change

Dr. Mercer Clarke is an interdisciplinary scientist and landscape architect specializing in advancing resilience through the delivery of useful science on climate change to communities, business and governments. Trained as both a marine ecologist and as a landscape architect, Colleen’s professional career has ranged in scale from international and national coastal management initiatives, environmental audit and impact assessment, through watershed, regional and municipal planning initiatives, and detailed site design. For over 30 years, Colleen has focused on the sustainable development of resources and communities through stewardship and conservation of natural and cultural resources.

In 2009, Colleen’s work shifted to focus on adaptation in coastal communities at threat from sea level rise, severe weather and a changing climate. She is Co-Author of the Adaptation Primers – introductory books providing information on the most complex challenges facing decision-makers today (https://www.csla-aapc.ca/mission-areas/primers). Currently, she is an advocate for ecosystem-based approaches to planning and design, and for the continued strengthening of efforts to protect, restore, and to sustain our natural world.

In addition to on-going national and international advisory roles on climate policy and action, Colleen served as Chair of the CSLA Committee on Climate Action, as well as Chair of the International Federation of Landscape Architect’s Working Group on Climate Change (IFLA). Currently she is the Outgoing Chair of the International Federation of Landscape Architect’s Committee on Professional Practice and Policy (2020-2022), and as the IFLA Special Envoy and Voting Member to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In 2021, she was elected to the Board of the Canada Committee for the IUCN, where she also chairs the CC-IUCN Committee on Climate Change.

In 2009, Colleen was elected to the College of Fellows of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. In recognition for her work on climate adaptation, in 2016 she was the recipient of the CSLA President’s Award and in 2019 was the recipient of the President’s Award of the International Federation of Landscape Architects.

David Maddox – Founder and Editor of The Nature of Cities

David loves urban spaces and nature. He loves creativity and collaboration. He loves theatre and music. In his life and work he has practiced in all of these. After a PhD at Cornell he worked at The Nature Conservancy on climate change and stewardship, leaving in 1992 to be a theatre artist. In 2012, David founded The Nature of Cities, a transdisciplinary essay, discussion, and event platform—1,000+ writers from around the world, scientists to activists, designers to artists. TNOC also conduct a global virtual event called TNOC Festival. He has published over 60 journal articles and books chapters, edited six books (both fiction and non-fiction), been sound designer for over 100 plays, and written 7 works of musical theatre. He lives in New York City.

Ellie Tonks – Programme Lead, Climate Resilience, Climate-KIC

Ellie Tonks brings expertise in designing and delivering impact orientated systems innovation projects. As Programme Lead of EIT Climate-KIC’s Resilient Regions programme Ellie works with European regions and cities to design portfolios of climate-resilience innovations. With EIT Climate-KIC Ellie has managed over 30 innovation projects and partnerships in over 12 European Union Member States. Ellie brings academic and professional expertise on climate resilience and nature-based solutions and is on the Advisory Board of the JustNature project. Prior to this, Ellie has worked at the intersection of the arts and sustainability and continues to apply this multi-disciplinary thinking to her work on regional-scale systems change. Ellie was one of the 2050 Climate Group’s Young Leaders in Scotland and continues to be a youth climate advocate.

Gil Penalosa – Founder & Chair of 8 80 Cities; World Urban Parks Ambassador

Gil Penalosa is passionate about creating equitable and sustainable cities, where all people can live healthier and happier.

Gil is the founder and chair of the Canadian non-profit organization 8 80 Cities. He is also Ambassador of World Urban Parks. He has worked in over 350 different cities, in all continents.

Before immigrating to Canada, Gil was Commissioner in Bogota, where he led the construction of over 200 parks and 100 kilometers of Open Streets. He holds an MBA from UCLA, and a PhDhc from SLU’s Urban Planning, Sweden. Gil is in Planetizen’s Top 50 Most Influential Urbanists and recently received in Australia the World Urban Parks Distinguished Individual Award.

Henk Raaijmakers – President, European Nurserystock Association (ENA)

Twenty years ago, we, as a Dutch Nursery Association, introduced the Green City philosophy on the Floriade 2002. In the following years, we as an organisation spent millions on research to prove that green in the city was not a cost but a solution for many problems. All those years, I promoted Green City all over the world. The message was heard, but not much action was taken. Climate change and Covid 19 are the real game-changers. As president of ENA, I find it very important that the Green City concept becomes more international; therefore, as ENA we started a Green Cities campaign for Europe, in 13 countries within the European Union. As former president of the Dutch Nursery Association and now ENA president, I am involved in the Floriade world exhibition in the Netherlands. A great example of how green and infrastructure was designed and executed before the start of building houses. The Dutch Growers Association donated 2.500 trees, 90.000 shrubs and 180.000 perennials to show the enormous variety of possibilities in greening the city. Together with the green team of Floriade Almere, especially Niek Roozen, we wrote the second version of the Green City Guidelines; the next step in developing the green areas in and around the city. As the owner of nursery De Oude Aa, in my daily work I feel the hiccups and difficulties of unpractical and sometimes lousy legislation. We, as ENA, work hard to archive promotion for green, realising sustainability goals and better legislation.

Kaj Embren – Coach and senior advisor in Sustainability with focus on Climate Policies and actions

Kaj Embren is a sustainability expert in communication for businesses and organisations. His network spans CEOs, political leaders, digital influencers and engaged members of the public.

With over 25 years’ sustainability leadership and consultancy experience, Kaj has a track record of Promoting sustainable solutions to his many followers, and through his powerful. Informative, and inspirational podcast series, Transformers.

He has been working both as an independent consultant and between 2015, to 2018 as a Senior Advisor to the South Pole Group. Kaj has focused on projects to implement the COP 21 targets in cities and the finance sector globally, and in Scandinavia/Nordics particularly, and has advised Climate KIC central and Nordics and planning and running management workshops (e.g. on ‘Communications’, ‘Decision-making’, ‘Metrics’) and issue-based workshops on ‘Green Finance and Cities’ ‘Crowdsourcing’ and on Neighbourhood Economics.

Kaj organized the Nordic Mayors Network before The Paris Climate Summit( 2013-2015), connecting mayors and municipal administrations from a wide range of Scandinavian cities, the Compact of Mayors, the Convenant of Mayors, ICLEI, the Club of Rome, The Association of the Nordics, The Ministry of the Nordics, Global Utmaning, Kairos Future, the Southpole Group, the Stockholm Environment Institute and WWF Sweden.

Karen Tambayong – AIPH Regional Representative and Chairperson of the Horticulture Committee for the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce

Karen has had many roles and responsibilities within the Horticulture industry over the years as the Chair of the Horticulture Committee, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, and has always had an avid involvement in initiating programs for the Indonesian government and empowering the industry. She also gives recommendations to develop regulations for the horticulture industry.

Recently, Karen initiated the Closed Loop System for Horticulture, which was recognized by the President. Karen is active with other associations including: the Indonesian Flower Association – Advisor, she initiated the Tomohon Flower Festival that transformed the city to become one of the Indonesian tourist destinations. In cooperation with the Ministry of Public Works, she started the Urban Greening Forum, and introduced the Green City Guidelines when she lead the association. In the last 5 years Karen has consulted to the Toll Road Highway, where she introduced Green Infrastructure principles, and developed the Toll Road Planting Guidelines. She has served on the Indonesian Botanical Garden Foundation as Vice Chair of Finance, and at the Flower Foundation as Advisor .

Karen recently received recognition for her dedication as a Green City pioneer and ambassador of Indonesia’s ornamental horticulture when she was named one of the nine winners of the prestigious 2021 Silver Carnation Award in the International Business Management category. Karen is a long-standing board member of AIPH for Region 8 (South East Asia and Oceania).

Kobie Brand – Deputy Secretary General of ICLEI and Regional Director of ICLEI Africa

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 globally in her capacity of Deputy Secretary General.

Kobie is also Global Director for ICLEI’s Biodiversity and Nature-based solutions work, and in this capacity heads up the Cities Biodiversity Center embedded in ICLEI Africa.

Rob Adams – City Architect, City of Melbourne

Since joining the City of Melbourne in 1985, Rob Adams has through his role at the City help write and implement the rejuvenation strategy for central Melbourne. This has resulted in Melbourne being voted, by the Economist Magazine, the world’s most liveable city on seven occasions.

He received the Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year in 2008, the Order of Australia in 2007, and the Australian Institute of Architect’s National President’s Award in 2018, and the CoM City Design team which he led have received over 160 international, state and local awards.

Since November 2020 he has fulfilled an advisor and mentoring role as the City Architect while also setting up his own practice Adams Urban.

Tim Badman – Director of the World Heritage Programme at IUCN and Lead of the Heritage, Culture, and Youth Team in the Centre for Society and Governance

Tim Badman is Head of the Heritage, Culture and Youth Team in IUCN (the International Union for Conservation of Nature), which hosts IUCN’s Urban Initiative. He previously served as Director of the IUCN World Heritage Programme since 2009 and Director of the IUCN Nature-Culture Initiative in 2019-2020. He is chair of the IUCN World Heritage Panel and heads IUCN’s delegation at World Heritage Committee meetings. Tim has a background in local government, working on environmental and coastal policy and programmes. He joined IUCN having worked as team leader of the Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site, UK, and Environment Policy lead for Dorset County Council.

Twenty-three multi-disciplinary experts from around the globe formed the technical panel for the inaugural AIPH World Green City Awards.

The panel was comprised of leaders in the global green city space whose expertise spans across the six award categories. The role of the technical panel was to assess and score all eligible entries and select a shortlist of entries for each award category to be delivered to the 2022 Jury, who will select each category winner. The technical panel also put forward recommendations on which shortlisted entries should be considered for the overall AIPH World Green City award.

Meet the panel

Anne Maassen

Anne oversees the Prize for Cities, WRI’s award for excellence in urban transformation, and integrates the Prize into WRI Ross Center’s learning, engagement, and capacity development agenda. Working with leaders across the program, Anne generates insights about urban transformation, creates opportunities for new knowledge partnerships, and helps build a community of urban changemakers at the interface between scientific, policy, funding, and practitioner communities.

Before joining WRI, Anne was a project design and evaluation specialist for multilateral development banks and agencies and worked at the World Bank and the Climate Investment Funds. She has provided strategic advice to governments, multilaterals and non-profits, and has published and peer-reviewed studies on urban transformation for sustainability.

Anne holds a PhD in Geography from Durham University (UK), with a focus on urban sustainability and innovation, as well as an MSc in Environmental Monitoring, Modelling & Management (King’s College London, UK) and a BA in Economics, Politics & International Studies (University of Warwick, UK).

Darby McGrath

Darby McGrath is the Senior Research Scientist for Environmental Horticulture and Program Lead for the Plant Response & Environment at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre located in Ontario, Canada. She is also the Leader of the newly launched, Greening the Landscape Research Consortium at Vineland.

Her research is focused on developing solutions to improve urban tree establishment by working with tree production nurseries, the landscape sector, developers, consultants and municipalities. She has a MES and PhD from the University of Waterloo. She is also an adjunct professor at the University of Waterloo and Brock University.

Dominic Regester

Dominic Regester is the Executive Director of Karanga: the global alliance for Social Emotional Learning and Life Skills and a Program Director at the global think-tank Salzburg Global Seminar, where he is responsible for designing, developing and implementing programs on education, conservation, and the future of cities. Prior to this he worked for the British Council for 14 years on global citizenship education, teacher professional development, and education collaboration. He works on a broad range of projects across policy, philanthropy and international development including as a Director at the Amal Alliance and a Contributing Editor to Diplomatic Courier. He holds two Masters degrees, an M.A. in Chinese studies from the School of Oriental and African studies in London and an M.A. in Education and International Development from the Institute of Education at University College London.

Dusty Gedge

Dusty a consultant with the Green infrastructure consultancy (GIC), working in London, UK and Europe. He is the current President of the European Federation of Green Roof Associations (EFB) and founder of Livingroofs.org, and a board member of GRO – the UK green roof trade body.

Though he has a particular interest in biodiversity and urban nature, his work in the built environment also focuses on climate resilience and the promotion of greener cities through multi-functional green infrastructure.

In 2021 he was appointed Industry Expert-in-Residence at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.

Grant Pearsell

Grant Pearsell is an ecological planner from Edmonton, Canada. His work is guided by a collaborative approach to decision-making and a commitment to integrated systems thinking. It is also founded in his technical background and experience in land use planning, urban ecology, and engineering. His vision and work drive positive change to build a sustainable and vibrant city where ecological functions remain intact and the recreational, restorative, and social needs of the community are met.

Grant is an internationally recognized and award-winning leader in the field of urban biodiversity. He has been an invited speaker on urban biodiversity issues around the world, chaired and participated on a wide variety of technical committees and boards, and has been published in both academic and professional journals and books.

You are equally likely to find Grant in a boardroom discussing biodiversity opportunities or in Edmonton’s beautiful River Valley and Ravine System – either relaxing or finding ways to add to North America’s largest municipal park.

Dr Harriet Bulkeley

Harriet Bulkeley holds joint appointments as Professor in the Department of Geography, Durham University, and at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University. Her research focuses on environmental governance and the politics of climate change, energy, nature and sustainable cities. She has published 8 books, several edited collections and over 60 papers, including An Urban Politics of Climate Change (Routledge 2015) and Accomplishing Climate Governance (CUP 2016). From 2016 – 2021 she convened the EU H2020 NATURVATION project exploring the potential and politics of urban nature-based solutions (www.naturvation.eu). She has been recognised as one of the most highly cited social science researchers internationally and in 2019, she was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences and as a Fellow of the British Academy.

Ian Shears

Ian Shears is acknowledged as one of Australia’s experts in urban landscapes and as an experienced practitioner in public open space design, implementation and management. He has specialised in urban greening for 30 years and worked for 19 years with the City of Melbourne. He currently advises a range of governments nationally and internationally on policy and practice of urban greening.

Ian and his teams have been credited with the development of some of Australia’s most progressive environmental policies, programs and projects and have won many state, national and international awards for their work.

Ingrid Coetzee

Ingrid is a governance and sustainability expert with special interest in nature-based solutions, ecosystem services, nature and health, and biodiversity mainstreaming and governance systems. She has over 30 years’ work experience of all government levels and joined ICLEI Africa and Cities Biodiversity Center in December 2016. Ingrid has extensive experience of working with multi-lateral environmental agreements, such as the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its associated processes. Ingrid has authored several guidelines and policy frameworks, and managed numerous multi-dimensional, large-scale projects. She is the Director: Biodiversity, Nature and Health at ICLEI Africa, and the technical lead of ICLEI’s global Cities Biodiversity Center and its biodiversity advocacy work. Ingrid represents ICLEI and the local and subnational government constituency on the CBD Informal Advisory Group on Mainstreaming of Biodiversity, and on UNEP’s Major Groups Facilitating Committee.

Jennifer Rae Pierce

Jennifer Rae Pierce is a political ecologist, urban planner, and urban biodiversity specialist with 16 years of experience. She holds a master’s degree in urban planning from Cornell University and in environmental science and policy from Central European University. She is a co-founder of Urban Biodiversity Hub (UBHub) which hosts the largest global database on urban biodiversity activities, publishes research on local practices and global targets for biodiversity, and supports related indicator tracking and development for local governments. She has served as a technical expert on urban biodiversity indicators and measurement for several international NGOs and local governments, including the World Bank. She has prepared local government tools and reports including a biodiversity and ecosystem services mainstreaming toolkit for ICLEI and the Urban Nature Index for IUCN. Her research experience includes projects in the cities of India, Japan, Israel, Canada, the USA, Brazil, and South Africa.

Jennifer McKelvie

Jennifer McKelvie is the Toronto City Councillor for Ward 25, Scarborough Rouge-Park, representing over 100,000 constituents in the City’s most eastern riding. Before being elected in 2018, Jennifer worked as a professional Geoscientist and managed research partnerships at the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). Her own graduate (Ph.D. 2006) and postgraduate research was supported by numerous provincial, national and international awards, including the prestigious L’Oréal/UNESCO Women in Science Fellowship.

At Toronto City Council, Jennifer serves as Chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee. In that capacity, she is taking an active role in the City of Toronto’s climate change, resilience and ravine strategies.

Jianping Zhou

Mr. Zhou Jianping, Master of Business Administration. He has been serving as the president of Beijing University of Agriculture since October 2020. Mr. Zhou has long been engaged in landscaping department and has accumulated rich experience in management. He was once appointed as the investigator, deputy director and director of the Urban Greening Division of the Beijing Municipal Forestry and Parks Bureau, and the deputy director of Beijing Municipal Forestry and Parks Bureau, in charge of urban greening management. He was the executive deputy director of the Bureau of Coordination during Beijing World Horticultural Expo 2019, responsible for the planning, construction, even organization and operation of the Expo. Mr. Zhou is currently a member of the Population, Resources and Environment Committee of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the first National Special Inspector of Natural Resources.

Mr. Zhou was appointed Vice-President of AIPH in October 2021.

John-Rob Pool

John-Rob is the Implementation Manager of Cities4Forests, where he oversees the day-to-day implementation of the project. In this role, John-Rob works to cultivate awareness and spur action on the part of city governments and urban residents to protect, conserve, and restore trees and forests inside and outside city boundaries, and to harness the previously untapped voices of mayors to catalyze the political, social, and economic weight of cities to support trees and forests, recognizing the important role that they play in improving the livelihoods of city inhabitants. He leads the engagement of multiple cities in Africa, Europe and Latin America, works hand in hand with WRI’s International Offices in Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, and Mexico, contributes to technical research, and supports outreach and engagement efforts.

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.

Judith van der Poel

Judith (1979) studied Garden and Landscape Design in Velp (2001) and graduated from the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam (2015) as a landscape architect. In addition to being the company’s landscape designer, in 2019 Judith became the director and owner of Niek Roozen Landscape. Together with her partner, she continues to drive the company’s mission and philosophy.

Judith excels in creating strong, detailed concept designs in which positive existing landscape qualities are preserved and serve as the design foundation. Diverse green parks in cities and exhibition areas, like International Expo’s/Floriades in the Netherlands and Dutch gardens all over the world, are great stages to showcase the Green City Philosophy to many diverse visitors. One of the core philosophies of Niek Roozen Landscape is their green city principles, through which Judith believes that the right type of greenery in the right place can contribute significantly to improving the quality of urban environments. Judith has been involved in numerous designs at various scales, both in The Netherlands and abroad, where the appropriate application of the green city principles became important added value elements for the projects.

Judith also has a considerable amount of experience in landscape design projects in China, which includes large scale projects in rural regions and tourism-oriented designs on the fringes of larger cities. Judith is committed to creating realistic design plans where nature, culture, and recreation are harmonized and form a synergistic relationship.

Kyra Appleby

Kyra heads the Cities, States & Regions team at CDP, having joined in 2010. Prior to her role at CDP, Kyra worked in various research positions at NBC Universal, eMarketer and the City of New York. Kyra holds an MA in Public Administration from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a BA in Environmental Earth Science from the Johns Hopkins University.

Luis Romahn

Luis Romahn is president and founder of Parques de México and the National Association of Parks and Recreation of Mexico. He has worked for the past 12 years on urban parks and public spaces projects in Mexico through models of participatory design, community building and financial sustainability; in addition to organizing the International Congresses of Urban Parks of Mexico and South America.

Luis is Executive Director of World Urban Parks, Member of the Board of Directors of the City Parks Alliance in the United States and member of the Board of the World Parks Academy. He is a Fellow for the Salzburg 2021 Seminar in the Emerging Urban Leaders Program and winner of the Emerging Leaders Award by the World Urban Parks Organization 2021.

In recent years Luis has given lectures in Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and the U.S. on public spaces. He is the author of the book “Building my Park – From Citizen Participation to the Administration of Public Space.” Luis has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in communication and education, both from the Monterrey Tec.

Marcus Grant

Marcus Grant is an urban designer and Chartered Landscape Architect specialising in people and planetary health through place-shaping. After studying ecology as an undergraduate, he trained in landscape and was awarded a Masters for a review of landscape and sustainable tourism. He has worked in consultancy for a broad range of clients, specialising in spatial planning and population health through joining an academic Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organization in 1996. Marcus is Editor-in-Chief of Cities & Health an international journal, and is an expert advisor to the WHO and UN-Habitat, for whom he developed international health guidance for urban and territorial planning. Marcus is co-author of Shaping Neighbourhoods: a desktop guide for local health and global sustainability.

Michael Casey

Michael is an award winning Registered Horticulturalist with a passion for sustainable urban horticulture, urban greening and green infrastructure and therapeutic horticulture. His highly successful horticulture practice is synonymous with cutting edge, thoughtful and beautifully designed landscape architecture, attracting high profile clients and projects. Michael’s expertise is sought by others in the industry as demonstrated by his external and ongoing consulting positions, impressive training portfolio and extensive authorship in industry publications. His professional standing through peak industry bodies is also a testament to his influence in the industry and the future of Australian and International horticulture.

Michael von Hausen

Michael von Hausen is a national leader in innovative green development and climate resilient communities. He is President of MVH Urban Planning and Design in Vancouver, British Columbia. He and his company have received numerous provincial, national, and international awards for their innovative projects. Michael is also Adjunct Professor at both Simon Fraser University and Vancouver Island University. Michael developed and has facilitated the UDI School of Development over the last 20 years in Vancouver.

His most recent books – Public Realm: The New Makers Handbook (Tellwell, 2022), and New Pathways to Approvals: Developing Better Communities Together (Tellwell, 2021) – provide refreshing new processes and approaches to both public realm design and real estate development.

Michael is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Planners and former President of the British Columbia Society of Landscape Architects. He completed his master’s degree at Harvard University in urban design with a specialty in real estate development economics.

Peter Chmiel

Peter is a director at Grant Associates, an international award-winning landscape architecture company and leader in creative ecology, environmental sustainability, and innovative landscape design. With 35 years of experience in landscape architecture, his interest is the promotion of design quality and technical innovation through the synergy of landscape, architecture, nature, community and space.

In 1997 Peter joined Grant Associates, working on The Earth Centre, a landmark millennium project and the first visitor attraction based on the ethos of sustainable development. He has a particular design and implementation interests relating to sustainable homes and fostering new communities. Peter is currently working on the developing 17-acre Paradise site between Centenary Square and Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, and the major redevelopment of central Tottenham Hale ‘’Heart of Hale’’.

In September 2021 Peter won Gold and Best Show Garden at his debut RHS Chelsea Garden where the Guangzhou Garden provided a narrative promoting green city principles.

Peter Massini

Peter has spent the majority of his 30-year professional career as an urban ecologist and green infrastructure policy maker.

He started his career with the London Wildlife Trust and the London Ecology Unit, managing nature reserves and providing ecological advice to London boroughs. He subsequently worked for Natural England where he had responsibility for the government agency’s strategy for the London region. He initiated and help formulate the All London Green Grid and the policies that helped foster interest in green roofs and other forms of urban greening.

For the past 10 years he has led on green infrastructure and natural environment policy for the Greater London Authority, successfully embedding a policy framework in the London Plan and London Environment Strategy that aims to make London a greener, more liveable and resilient city.

Robert Brears

Robert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Palgrave Handbook of Climate Resilient Societies and the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Futures, both Major Reference Works published with Springer Nature. He is the author of a variety of books including Blue and Green Cities: The Role of Blue-Green Infrastructure in Managing Urban Water Resources and Nature-Based Solutions to 21st Century Challenges among others. Robert is the Founder of Our Future Water, which has a Knowledge Partnership with the World Bank’s Connect4Climate Program to take on climate change as well as with the UNEP/World Bank/OECD-hosted Green Growth Knowledge Platform.

Simone Borelli

Simone Borelli holds a first degree in Forest Science from the Universitá della Tuscia, Italy, an M. Sc. in Watershed Management from the University of Arizona and Postgraduate Diploma in Public Management from the University of London. He has worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) for over 20 years in different positions and is currently responsible for the Urban Forestry programme of the Forestry Division. In this capacity, he provides technical support to FAO field projects, provides policy advice to member countries and develops technical publications. He is one of the creators of the World Forum on Urban Forestry and of the Tree Cities of the World programme. In addition to FAO, he has also worked for WWF, IPGRI (now Bioversity) and as a consultant for public institutions and the private sector.

Zac Tudor

Zac is an associate landscape architect for Arup, where where he leads landscape architecture for the north region. He is based in the Sheffield Arup offices. Previously, he worked for Sheffield City Council’s Project Design Team for 22 years.