AIPH World Green City Awards 2024 Jury

Meet the Jury

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

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 environmental issues. Bill believes in the power of plants and working landscapes to help cities become healthier, more livable spaces, and he puts his beliefs into action by committing his time and talent as a volunteer on many green city initiatives. Bill is active with several industry associations including the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association; HortEducationBC; the International Association of Horticulture Producers; and the Green Cities Foundation.

Dr Bruno Marques – President of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), New Zealand

Dr Bruno Marques is a registered landscape architect and educator. He completed his Landscape Architecture studies at the University of Lisbon (Portugal) and Berlin Technical University (Germany), followed by his PhD studies at the University of Otago (New Zealand). Bruno has practised in Germany, Estonia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, having an extensive portfolio of built projects. During the past ten years at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, he has developed a comprehensive research agenda to embrace the formulation of frameworks on landscape rehabilitation, cultural landscapes, place-making and Indigenous community health and wellbeing. He is currently the Associate Dean for the Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation and the President of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA).

Prof Dr Cecil Konijnendijk – Director, Nature Based Solutions Institute, Netherlands

Cecil co-directs the Nature Based Solutions Institute, a think tank for the evidence-based greening of cities. He has close to 30 years of experience studying, teaching, and advising on aspects of urban forestry and nature-based solutions. A Dutch national, he has lived and worked in Europe, Asia, and North America. He is an honorary professor of urban forestry at the University of British Columbia. He has advised international organisations such as the United Nations (FAO and UNECE), as well as national and local governments in more than 30 countries. In 2021 Cecil launched the influential 3+30+300 rule for the greening of cities.

Damian Tang – Founder of URDX, Chair of Circular Cities Summit, Chair of IFLA Asia Pacific Advisory Board, Singapore

Damian Tang, founder of User-driven Regenerative Design Experience (URDX), is an esteemed professional with a rich educational background, including a Bachelor’s in Architecture, a Master of Landscape Architecture, and executive education from Cambridge Judge Business School in Circular Economy and Sustainability Strategies. As the Chairman of the Circular Cities Summit and the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) Asia Pacific Advisory Board, he plays a pivotal role in shaping sustainable urban futures. With over two decades of experience in Singapore’s public service, Damian has made significant contributions across various sectors, earning him three Ministerial Awards and the prestigious Public Administration Medal. His work spans strategic planning, therapeutic design, resilience strategies, and biophilic innovation, underscoring his leadership in environmental and urban sustainability.

David Maddox – Founder and Editor of The Nature of Cities, USA

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.

Felix Loh – CEO, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

A distinguished horticulturist, Mr Felix Loh began his career with a Bachelor’s in Horticulture from Massey University, New Zealand, subsequently obtaining a Master of Science in Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture from Cornell University, USA, supported by a Singapore Government Scholarship. With over 20 years in parks management and horticulture, he received accolades, including the Singapore Government Public Administration Medal in 2005. Mr Loh joined Gardens by the Bay in 2014, championing R&D and achieving notable success with flowering blooms on challenging temperate species like cherry blossoms. He also pioneered technological advancements, introducing Asia’s first fully-operational self-driving vehicle at the Gardens. He is currently Co-Chair of the Tripartite Cluster for the Landscape Industry and Tripartite Cluster for Waste Management.

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

Gil Penalosa is passionate about cities for all people. Because of his unique blend of experience, pragmatism, and passion, he has worked in over 350 cities. Gil is the Founder and Chair of the successful Canadian non-profit organization 8 80 Cities and founder of Cities for Everyone. Gil was elected twice as chair of World Urban Parks. He holds an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, received a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the Faculty of Urban Planning at Swedish SLU. In 2023 Gil was voted to Planetizen’s Top 100 Most Influential Contemporary Urbanists, at #13.

Gulnara Roll – Head of Cities Unit at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Climate Change Division, France

Gulnara Roll is the Head of Cities Unit at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Climate Change Division. The UNEP Cities Unit provides support to cities in accelerating their climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts; and mainstreaming environmental sustainability into their policies and programmes. Previously, she held various roles at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in Geneva and UN Regional Commissions Office in New York. With a background in Environmental Sciences and Policy, and Human Geography, Gulnara studied at Central European University, Brown University, and St. Petersburg State University. She also holds an Executive MBA from the University of Geneva.

Harmen Kraai – Horticulturalist and Aquacien, The Urban Jungle Project, Netherlands

Trained as a nurseryman and horticulturist, out of an interest in bringing nature into the city, Harmen has a practical background. Working in the city, he became fascinated by the importance of architecture, urban planning and design. Today, he knows how to combine all this at The Urban Jungle Project, where he aims to improve city climates by building urban jungles. Harmen is much in demand for jury work, graduation projects, award ceremonies and substantive programmes in the field of greening, such as Floriade EXPO 2022, where he was responsible for the creation of the publication The Green City Guidelines.

Jennifer Lenhart – Global Lead, WWF Cities, Sweden

Jennifer Lenhart is WWF’s Global Cities Lead, which has engaged over 900 cities in almost 70 countries, namely via the One Planet City Challenge. She holds a PhD in urban climate governance from Wageningen University (Netherlands) and an Erasmus Mundus MSc in Environmental Science and Policy co-hosted by Lund University and Central European University. With 15+ years’ experience addressing urban environmental challenges via holistic approaches, Jennifer previously worked at UN-Habitat in Nairobi, Kenya, the City of Malmö, Sweden, and an urban sustainability consultancy in Seattle. She is currently based in Santiago de Chile.

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

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, South Africa

Kobie is the Deputy Secretary General of ICLEI (globally) and Regional Director of ICLEI in Africa. She has over two decades of experience in senior management and leadership roles in the field of urban sustanability and has a passion for greener, safer and more inclusive cities for a current and future urban population. She also directs ICLEI’s global work on biodiversity, nature, health and water and regularly represent our constituency of local and subnational governments at international platforms and in global advocacy processes such as the Rio Conventions and others.

Pietro Elisei – President, ISOCARP, Romania

Pietro has worked, as a consultant, with ministries, cities and countries throughout Europe, holding important positions in international organisations dedicated to urban planning (PLANUM SG, ISOCARP VP). He is an international expert in urban regeneration policies, integrated planning for small and medium-sized cities, smart cities and strategic planning. He collaborates with European Universities and Research Centres, works as an expert with international institutions (European Commission: URBACT and UIA Secretariats, UN-Habitat, UNECE) in the field of research/urban and territorial planning.

Dr Radhika Murti – Director, Global Ecosystem Management Programme, and Director, Centre for Society and Governance, International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Switzerland

Dr. Radhika Murti is the Director for IUCN’s Centre for Society and Governance, based at the Headquarters in Switzerland. In this position, Dr. Murti has the management and oversight of IUCN’s work on social and governance issues in conservation as well as Nature-based Solutions. Originally from Fiji Islands, Dr. Murti has a background in forestry science, land tenure related conflict management in communal ownership and community based climate change adaptation planning.

Rob Adams – Director, Adams Urban, Australia

Professor Rob Adams AM, Director Adams Urban, is a multi-award-winning architect and urban designer. Over his 40 years at the City of Melbourne, Rob co-authored the 1985 Strategy Plan and worked to implement it, playing a significant role in the transformation of central Melbourne. The teams he led received over 175 international, state and local awards. Rob has received the Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year (2008), and an Order of Australia (2007). He represented Australia on the Future of Cities Council of the World Economic Forum, 2008-2022 and is sought after as an expert on cities both nationally and internationally.

Thomas Elmqvist – Professor, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden

Thomas Elmqvist, PhD, is a professor in Natural Resource Management at Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University. His research is focused on urbanization, urban ecosystem services, land use change, natural disturbances and components of resilience including the role of social institutions. He has led and coordinated several major international interdisciplinary research projects, such as the UN-initiated global project “Cities and Biodiversity Outlook” and the Future Earth Project “Urban Planet” He currently serves as Editor in chief for the Nature Research journal “npj Urban Sustainability” and as associated editor for the journals Sustainability Science, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. He has published over 100 papers, 30 books and book chapters and received the Biodiversa prize 2018 for “Excellence in science and impact” and the Ecological Society of America prize for best paper in “Sustainability Science” in 2019 and 2023.

Tim Badman – Head, Heritage, Culture and Youth, International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Switzerland

Tim Badman is Head of Heritage and Culture at IUCN, having 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 joined IUCN having worked as team leader of the Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site, UK. This role culminated in inscription of the site on the World Heritage List in 2001, and the subsequent development of the World Heritage programme on-site.

Dr Zhimin Wu – Director, FAO Forestry Division, China

Zhimin Wu, Director of FAO’s Forestry Division, has close to 4 decades of an extensive experience in national and international forestry roles. Prior to his appointment at FAO in December 2022, Dr. Wu served as Director-General of the Wetland Management Department of China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) since 2019. Dr. Wu also served as Director General for International Cooperation, Director General for Wildlife Conservation, NFGA of China. At the international level, he served as President of the COP 14 of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Vice Chairperson of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), and Deputy Director General of International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR).