Festival Team

Ana Faggi

¿En qué ciudad vives?
Buenos Aires, Argentina

¿Quién eres?
Soy una docente e investigadora de los temas de ecologia urbana.

I am an ecologist from Argentina interested in urban environmental issues. I’m devoted to teaching, research and the application of nature based solutions. I work at Flores University.

¿Qué esperas aportar para construir ciudades que sean mejores para la naturaleza y para todas las personas?
Espero motivar a muchos  para poder planificar y manejar ciudades que recuperen parte de su naturaleza local.

Kevin Lunzalu

Which city do you live in?
Santa Cruz, USA

Who are you?
Kevin Lunzalu is marine ecologist from Kenya. He is the co-founder of the Kenyan Youth Biodiversity Network, a youth-led organization that mobilizes grassroot action to prevent and reverse biodiversity loss. He is interested in re-designing and fostering inclusive, equitable, and resilient African cities to advance global sustainable goals for people and nature.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
Enhance youth-led contributions to Kenya’s urban biodiversity through urban ecosystem restoration, policy advocacy, and innovation.

María Mejía

Which city do you live in?
Bogota, Colombia

Who are you?
I’m a Colombian with lots of questions and pretty hair. I’m currently leading the BiodiverCities by 2030 Initiative at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute of Colombia. Volunteer at Fundación Cerros de Bogotá. Conspirator of Urban Nature: Platform of Experiences (2016). Friend of TNOC since 2013. 

@okmejia

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?

I hope we learn how to combat privilege blindness, I hope we grow empathy and collaboration. I hope we nourish our common sense and brush off fear to experiment and explore.

Tim Lueschen

Which city do you live in?
Berlin, Germany

Who are you?
Change agent in the fields of stakeholder engagement, sustainability transformation and human-nature connection

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
I hope to increase the awareness of the importance of inter-species planning, caring and management and to show the synergies that can be found within this approach.

Jean-Marie Cishahayo

Which city do you live in?
Ottawa, Canada

Who are you?
I am an urban economist with a strong passion in green and smart cities  and advocate for smart actions using natural based solutions in building clean, green, inclusive and resilient communities. Having an opportunity to live in 4 continents in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, I am truly a multicultural person striving for peace and sustainable development.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
In the TNOC team, I am acting as Director for Africa and francophones, working hard with my lovely colleagues to promote the above environmental and nature solutions values and especially to attract more francophones friends.

Diana Wiesner

¿En qué ciudad vives?
Bogotá Colombia

¿Quién eres?
Soy amiga y cómplice de TNOC desde 2013. Apasionada y defensora de las montañas bogotanas. Desde hace 15 años creamos una organización ciudadana llamada Fundación Cerros de Bogotá, cuya labor ha buscado emprender acciones ciudadanas y consensos sobre las visiones de la ciudad y su paisaje . Así mismo lidero mi propia empresa dedicada al diseño de Soluciones Basadas en la Naturaleza, la ecología urbana y paisaje con énfasis en la acción social.

@dianawiesner_

¿Qué espera contribuir a la construcción de ciudades que sean mejores para la naturaleza y para todas las personas?
Desde hace más de 15 años buscamos contagiar e involucrar niños, jóvenes y ciudadanos en general a unirse a un movimiento que promueve el afecto y conocimiento de los ecosistemas urbanos a través de la colaboración en red, fusionando el arte y la experimentación. También desde mi práctica profesional incidiendo positivamente con diversos actores de la construcción y la planeación en Colombia.

Cathy Oke

Which city do you live in?
Melbourne, Australia

Who are you?
Dr Cathy Oke, Enterprise Principal Fellow in Informed Cities, & Associate Director (Enterprise & Impact) Melbourne Centre for Cities, University of Melbourne.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
I hope to contribute equal parts evidence, inspiration and innovation at the nexus of policy, practice and research to build better cities for people and nature.

Becs

Which city do you live in?
Whakatane, Aotearoa New Zealand

Who are you?
Mother, wife, teacher, place maker and change agent, I’m happiest in my work when I’m enabling the creation of youth-designed and governed places.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
Through my work, supporting the Youth of Kopeopeo project, I can confirm both our wider community and our planet benefit when we look to young people’s experiences and expertise when it comes urban design.

Shanshan Chen

Which city do you live in?
Berlin, Germany

Who are you?
PH.D candidate, landscape ecology, Humboldt University of Berlin. My research focuses on urban green spaces and ecosystem services with big data and remote sensing.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
To make a potential balance between human demand and natural supply for urban sustainable development and smart green city.

Maria Aragão

Which city do you live in?
Lisboa, Portugal

Who are you?

Portuguese Landscape Architect, graduated from the University of Georgia’s School of Environmental Design. Currently the Technical Support to the Portuguese Association of Landscape Architects’ Board of Directors, running a small private practice, serving as curator for the TNOC Festival, and raising two boys, two dogs, two cats, fifteen chickens and a sheep. Her main professional interest lies in landscapes for health, therapeutic gardens and the health benefits of urban green spaces and contact with nature.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
Fierce fighter for more sustainable cities to ensure a future for my two sons and their children and an advocate for therapeutic gardens and the healing power of nature.

JD Brown

Which city do you live in?
Charlottesville, USA

Who are you?
Program Director, Biophilic Cities

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
Exploring the intersection of law and planning to promote abundant and equitable urban nature

Hita Unnikrishnan

Which city do you live in?
Sheffield, UK

Who are you?
Postdoctoral researcher studying nature and cities, water commons, urban social ecological systems, and community energy with a focus on India and East Africa. Also a visiting faculty at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, India. Recipient of a Newton International Fellowship by the British Academy in 2018 and a Prof. Elinor Ostrom International Fellowship on Practice and Policy on the Commons in 2013.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?

Amanda Vincelli

Which city do you live in?
Tio’tia:ke/Montreal, Canada and Tongva/Los Angeles, USA

Who are you?
I am an artist, cultural and community organizer invested in creating liberatory spaces for personal and collective emancipation. I co-founded Navel in Los Angeles and, here in Tio’tia:ke/Montreal, I support the work of the SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation and Brique par brique. I am one of the North American curators for the Nature of Cities Festival.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
My hope is to contribute to the empowerment of people through arts-based approaches so we can together build healthier environments in which we can all thrive and live in harmony with nature.

Gitty Korsuize

Which city do you live in?
Utrecht, Netherlands

Who are you?
I am an urban ecologist who connects people to nature, nature to people and people who love urban nature with each other.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
I hope to share the inspiration from all over the world to each city. Together we build a green world, step by step.

Lleonard Oliver Burwitz

Which city do you live in?
Santa Maria del Camí, Spain 

Who are you?
From boy-scout to city planning technician (waste management, green energy & transversal education) stepping by the folkloric and performative arts, my hobbies and jobs blend in the face of the ecological crisis. I thrive in team working and collaborative creation.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
My focus is on accessibility and horizontal participation in urban planning and livability. Performatic divulgation and social artistic interventions are our collective tools for knitting communities.

Carmen Bouyer

Which city do you live in?
Paris, France

Who are you?
I am an independent artist and arts editor at The Nature of Cities. Along with many collaborators, I create geographically specific images, objects, spaces and experiences that can softly nourish and revitalize our organic bounds with the local earth.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
I hope to participate in an artistic movement that celebrates the thriving of all life forms in both poetical and practical ways.

Patrick Lydon

Which city do you live in?
Daejeon, Korea

Who are you?
An urban ecological artist and director of City as Nature, I enjoy producing ecological films, illustrations, and exhibitions, building urban gardens, and writing about The Possible City. Here at The Nature of Cities, I am one of your friendly, radical arts editors.

@pmlydon

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
The ability to produce and eat more delicious local foods, and to take long naps in the park — which implies reimagining our priorities, working less, nurturing ourselves and nature more, and fostering communities where good food, housing, and the joy of being alive with this nature are guaranteed for all.

Claudia Misteli

Which city do you live in?
Barcelona, Spain

Who are you?
I devote a lot of my energy to a personal cultural project called “Contrallum”. Curator and social designer for the TNOC Festival.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
I am a communicator and social designer, interested in how design, communication, and social innovation can shape and reshape more just, sustainable and participatory futures.

M’Lisa Colbert

Which city do you live in?
Montréal, Canada

Who are you?
I am a social/humanities researcher, creative professional, writer, and community organizer dedicated to exploring and better understanding the complexities of urban life.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
I hope to help reconnect the human as a vital part of nature, not something outside, above it, and damaging to it. I hope to inspire and create smaller, more beautiful and better functioning places and spaces for all, in and around cities.

Devansh Jain

Which city do you live in?
Singapore

Who are you?
I am an urbanist, who is passionate about planning different ecosystems in cities with strong interest in Resilient and Smart Urbanism.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
I look forward towards planning comprehensive and sustainable ecosystem in cities with complex-built environments, to synthesize beneficial outcomes for its current and future citizens.

Sonia Ríos

Which city do you live in?
North-West of Spain, Galicia and Asturias 

Who are you?
Architect & urban planner focused on green and sustainable design. 

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
I enjoy biophilic design, nature based solutions, passive  buildings and sustainable strategies, that contribute to make cities healthier and more livable places to live in, while protect the planet.

David Maddox

Which city do you live in?
New York, USA

Who are you?
I am part ecologist, part musician/playwright, and all of both.

What do you hope to contribute in building cities that are better for nature and all people?
I hope that we all can be better listeners, and learn to collaborate together.

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