Speakers and presenters

Ab Rogers is a Designer and Founder of Ab Rogers Design (ARD), a design and architecture studio he established in 2004 and now runs with Co-director Ernesto Bartolini. Known for a wide-ranging practice informed by his unique imagination, Ab’s studio specialises in the design of caring and experiential spaces, sustainability and inside-out design. Working internationally across health, culture, hospitality and residential sectors, it champions a broad skill base in its creation of active, supportive, engaging environments that inject narrative and purpose into the everyday. In 2021 the studio won the Wolfson Economics Prize with its design for the hospital of the future. Following this, Ab co-founded the DRU+, a design research unit that explores the interrelationship between design, culture and neuroscience, using scientific rigour to deliver the art of care, alongside Francesca Bertolotti-Bailey and Ash Ranpura. He has taught all over the world, creating and leading the Interior Design MA Programme at the Royal College of Art from 2012 to 2015. Recent projects include sustainable structures for the Thai music festival ‘Wonderfruit’, the Maggie’s Centre at the Royal Marsden Hospital and a series of immersive exhibitions at cultural centre 180 The Strand, including shows for Wes Anderson’s films 'Asteroid City' and 'French Dispatch', and Universal Everything’s digital extravaganza ‘Lifeforms’.

Arthur is a director at Innovo, which works with ambitious governments and companies to build solutions for sustainable cities. He is a founder of various organisations, including: 🏗️ Skyroom: building affordable homes for key workers in the airspace above existing buildings; ♻️ Bio-bean (acq. Envar): manufacturing advanced biofuels and biochemicals derived from used coffee grounds; and ⏩ Fast Forward 2030: supporting early-stage social and environmental entrepreneurs. In addition, he works with various organisations, including as: 🚇 Board member at Transport for London (TfL); 🏛️ Board member at the Museum of the Home; 🎓 honorary associate professor at UCL Institue for Global Prosperity; 🚀 entrepreneur in residence at UCL; 🪴 chair, Climate Roundtable at the Royal Academy of Engineering and 📗 author of forthcoming book, 'Roadkill: Unveiling the True Cost of Our Toxic Relationship with Cars', with Professor Dame Henrietta Moore (Wiley, 2025). Pre-order here: https://getroadkill.com/

Professor Henrietta L. Moore is the founder and director of the Institute for Global Prosperity and the chair in culture philosophy and design at University College London (UCL). A leading global thinker on prosperity, Professor Moore challenges traditional economic models of growth arguing that to flourish communities, businesses and governments need to engage with diversity and work within environmental limits. Her recent policy work focus on new economic models; universal basic services; artificial intelligence; environmental degradation and decarbonisation; displaced people; and the gender pay gap. In 2016, Professor Moore was made Dame Commander for the British Empire for her contribution to social sciences, services to business, policy and the arts. She is also a fellow of the Clean Growth Network, a fellow of the British Academy, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, an academician of the Learned Societies for the Social Sciences, and a member of the Institute of Directors.

Prof Ashton was appointed director of public health for Liverpool City Council in April 2020 in a joint appointment with the University of Liverpool, where he is an honorary professor in the Department of Public Health and Policy. He leads a team of 30 people in the local authority, covering a range of public health activities, including the commissioning of public health services, health protection, health improvement, healthcare public health, embedding health in all policies approaches, and addressing the wider determinants of health. Matt led on the response to the Covid-19 pandemic for Liverpool, and his efforts have been recognised nationally through the award of the Faculty of Public Health’s presidential medal in 2021, and also the Chief Medical Officers' National Impact Award in 2022. Matt is passionate about bringing together the best people and partnerships in the region to improve health and wellbeing and reduce inequalities in local communities.

Paul was elected as councillor for Langworthy in 2012, and held the role of strategic assistant mayor, where he championed equalities, technology innovation, urban regeneration, and workforce development until 2016. His focus on fostering inclusive prosperity and sustainable growth laid the groundwork for his future leadership. Since being elected as City Mayor in 2016, Paul has been campaigned for equality, financial inclusion, and the real living wage. He has worked to embed social value across the public and private sectors, with a particular commitment to tackling poverty and addressing the housing crisis. His leadership has helped create an environment where innovative solutions to Salford’s housing challenges can thrive. Passionate about empowering young people and nurturing Salford’s rich cultural and sporting life, Paul led the launch of Suprema Lex in 2020, Salford’s shared cultural strategy. Driven by the Salford Culture and Place Partnership, this strategy is a cornerstone of the city’s ambitions for creativity, arts, and community engagement. In his wider role as deputy city mayor in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Paul has been instrumental in delivering the Housing First initiative and tackling homelessness. He continues to oversee the development of Greater Manchester’s Housing Strategy, while leading efforts on the Plan for Homes, Jobs, and the Environment, ensuring that the city region's growth is sustainable, inclusive and equitable.

Dr. Yonette Felicity Thomas is the founder and president of UrbanHealth360, an organization of multidisciplinary thinkers centered on a people-oriented, community-focused approach to urban health. Dr. Thomas is a globally acknowledged thought leader, urban health champion, and an advocate for valuing the health of women and girls as an economic imperative. A social epidemiologist/medical sociologist by training, she has served as the chief of Epidemiology at the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the National Institutes of Health, held academic positions at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Howard University, and as a vice president for research. She founded Borjoner International and Strategic Transitions to influence the progress, health, and wellbeing of individuals and communities across the world. As a founding board member of Women’s Economic Imperative (WEI), she leads the organization’s focus on the health of women and girls as an economic value. Her work as global advisor for Evidence for Sustainable Human Development Systems in Africa (EVIHDAF) and the Centre for Urban Health and Development within the Asian Institute of Poverty Alleviation (CUHD-AIPA) extends her focus on the global south and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals in this last decade. She is the Associate Editor for Women and Girls for Cities & Health. She is a founding board member of the International Society for Urban Health (ISUH) and recently led the organization into sustainability by serving as the inaugural executive director (as a board member) and has served as a science advisor for urban health to the New York Academy of Medicine. She is a founding board member and former vice president of the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS) and served on the Steering Committee of the National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse for more than a decade. She served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Revisions to the Common Rule for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research in the Behavioral and Social Sciences. Her primary research and publications have focused on the social determinants of health, health disparities, the health of women and girls as an economic value, the social epidemiology of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS and the link with geography, including edited volumes: Geography and Drug Addiction, Crime, HIV, and Health: intersections of Criminal Justice and Public Health Concerns.

Abigail Oppong is a young, distinguished professional who is celebrated for advancing AI ethics, particularly in addressing biases in NLP and health systems. She was honoured as one of the 100 women in AI ethics by Women in AI Ethics in 2023. Her passion for science, technology and nature drives her to explore how new developments can advance humanity. Abigail’s work includes evaluating biases in NLP and health systems and enhancing fairness in AI technologies, especially for underserved communities. She has contributed significantly to projects through collaborations, focusing on creating responsible AI systems that meet local and regional ethical standards. Abigail’s professional journey includes a stint as a research consultant working with academia, industry, and NGOs. She has spoken at international conferences and been published in prestigious forums like CHI and EMNLP. She also spoke as a panellist at the Royal Society, where she advocates for the need to build more inclusive health technologies. She has been part of an engagement with an expert group on quantum science at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, where she champions the need for more inclusion in the discovery of science and community-based solutions. Her data science, machine learning, and AI ethics skills make her pivotal in shaping AI governance and ethical standards, particularly in Africa. Abigail’s interdisciplinary approach and previous experience in the non-profit sector enrich her contributions to AI ethics, emphasising the importance of localisation, trust, culture, and representation in technological development. During her leisure time, she likes giving back to the community. She has co-founded several initiatives to promote Unity, good health, and community development. Her passion for community development influenced her research journey to investigate how local organisations can be empowered in the age of emerging technologies.

Adam is an Architect and researcher with BDP, having first joined as a Part II Architectural Assistant in 2008 and qualifying in 2010. Adam has experience of all aspects of project design and delivery; from initial concept development and masterplanning through project delivery in the residential sector. Adam returned to BDP following the completion of his PhD and Post-Doc research at the University of Sheffield, and has particular expertise in the design of environments that support older people’s health and well-being. Adam has provided expert advice to Sheffield City Council to develop their Older People’s Independent Living Strategy, and his research has been featured in a number of publications including the 2018 RIBA book ‘Age-Friendly Housing’. He regularly presents on the theme of age-friendly housing including talks given to New London Architecture and the Royal Society of Arts. He continues to tutor on the University of Sheffield School of Architecture and Landscape undergraduate programme.

Amarina Donohoe-Bales is a PhD student and research officer at the Matilda Centre, University of Sydney. Amarina’s research explores the social and environmental determinants of mental health, including the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and associated climate disasters on young peoples’ wellbeing. Prioritising lived experience partnerships and co-production principles throughout the research process, Amarina aims to co-create policy and practice solutions to support future generations’ psychosocial wellbeing in response to diverse, complex, and compounding socio-ecological challenges.

Amber Nyoni is a dedicated public health professional who champions equitable health outcomes for all. She holds a master's in population health from University College London, with a focus on health and wellbeing in the built environment, and an undergraduate degree in environmental and public health from Middlesex University. Amber is a registered public health practitioner with UKPHR. Amber's professional journey has contributed to her passion for the intersection of health and the built environment. She has worked in roles supporting a health-in-all-policies approach across various disciplines, including town planning, which led to the development of the Essex Livewell Development Accreditation for Housebuilders. Currently, as a strategic planning and public health lead at Essex County Council, Amber supports the integration of public health and town planning to address and embed the wider determinants of health into planning processes. Her role involves providing public health expertise on health impact assessments for strategic planning applications and building capabilities and capacity within Essex. Amber is also currently a member of the Urban Land Institute Health Leaders Network for Cohort 8. Amber's commitment to creating healthy and sustainable communities has been a driving force in both her professional and academic pursuits.

Dr Pyko obtained his PhD in environmental epidemiology from Karolinska Institutet in 2018. He works at the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Medicine within the Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, and at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet. His research focuses on the health effects of air pollution and noise exposure in urban environments. Dr Pyko has contributed to large-scale European projects, such as ELAPSE, ESCAPE, and NordSOUND. He currently co-ordinates data integration and GIS-based exposure mapping for regional health planning tools, with a strong emphasis on environmental justice and equity.

Andrew joined Ryder as an urban design assistant in 2021 after graduating from Newcastle University with a master’s degree in urban design where he achieved the William Ault prize as the highest achieving student. Andrew is passionate about masterplanning, placemaking for health and wellbeing and designing places for all. Prior to Ryder, Andrew completed a variety of interior design projects, ranging from residential, hospitality, and conversion of listed buildings.

Andrew is an air quality scientist with a passion for harnessing technology to expand access to air quality information. Over the course of a 20-year career at the heart of air quality monitoring and management in London, he has led the development of pioneering apps, websites, widgets, and now with AWAIR, the UK’s first dedicated outdoor air quality display.

Angela is a research associate at Newcastle NIHR Patient Safety Research Collaboration / School of Pharmacy. Angela’s research focus is on applied healthcare research, with a particular focus on using ethnographic and qualitative methods to explore everyday practice in health and social care settings to understanding how health services are delivered, experienced, and adapted in real-world contexts.

Dr Merritt obtained her PhD in environmental medicine from Karolinska Institutet in 2004. Her current position is as head of the Unit for Environmental Medicine at the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Medicine within the Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm. She is also affiliated as a researcher with the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet. Dr Merritt has a particular interest in personal exposure assessment of airborne exposures. She is also Co-PI of a birth cohort in Sweden.

Dr Georgelis obtained his PhD in Biochemistry from Stockholm University in 1989. Since 1990, he has been employed as an environmental toxicologist at the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Medicine within the Stockholm Health Care Service, Region Stockholm. He is also affiliated as a researcher with the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet. Dr Georgelis has a particular interest in environmental risk assessment.

Araceli Camargo hold and MSc in cognitive neuroscience from King’s College London. Her area of study was in the attentional differences for those experience autism, this work was part of the ERASMUS grant and project on autism, one of the most comprehensive study cohorts in autism. Araceli then moved on to found Centric Lab alongside scientists from University College London. Her line of work is now focused on the neuroendocrine system as a lens to examine the physiological link between health and place. She has published several studies on the subject, such as Neuroscience, Urban Regeneration, and Urban Health, Biodiversity and Human Health, and Twenty Important Research Questions in Microbial Exposure and Social Equity.

Dr Ash Ranpura is a neurologist and cognitive neuroscientist who has been active in brain research for over 25 years. He received his Bachelor's degree from Yale University, completed an M.D. at the Medical College of Ohio and carried out his Ph.D. research at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience in Queen Square, London. He completed an internship in internal medicine and a residency in adult general neurology at Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, where he spearheaded new initiatives for improving patient transport and reducing the use of sedation for MRI. In addition to his clinical work, Dr Ranpura has made significant contributions in science communication, having been a Co-founder of Café Scientifique at the Photographers’ Gallery in London, a founding editor at 'BrainConnection' magazine in San Francisco and a host of radio programmes for BBC Radio 4, National Public Radio and Audible.com. He is co-author, together with presenter Ruby Wax and Buddhist monk Gelong Thubten, of 'How to be Human: The Manual', a practical guidebook exploring the effects of meditation on the brain.

Ben Clifford is professor of spatial planning and governance at the UCL Bartlett School of Planning. At UCL, Ben has been involved in research on devolution and planning, local authority housebuilding, deregulation and planning (particularly permitted development in England), and outsourcing and the public interest in planning. His research on permitted development was recognised with an RTPI prize for research excellence in 2018, and in 2021, he was named by Apolitical as one of the '100 Most Influential Academics in Government' in the UK. Ben is widely published in academic journals and books. He has held academic visiting positions with the University of Melbourne and Public Health England / the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. In addition to his duties in research and teaching, Ben serves as the programme director for the MSc Spatial Planning and the MSc Spatial Planning Degree Apprenticeship at UCL. He led the design of the MPlan City Planning and MSc Spatial Planning Degree Apprenticeship programmes at UCL. His teaching focuses on governance, operation, politics, reform, and practices of the statutory planning system in the UK. From 2011-2023, he was the departmental tutor with oversight of all taught postgraduate students and courses in the Bartlett School of Planning.

Blake Jackson is an architect working at the nexus of sustainability, wellness and resiliency. He is the Director, Sustainability for NORR, a 750-person architecture and engineering company, headquartered in Toronto, with 14 locations in the US, UK, UAE, and Canada. Blake has 25 years' experience in the AEC industry, holding a Bachelor of Architecture from Kennesaw State University and a Master of Architecture in Sustainable Environmental Design from the Architectural Association Graduate School. He is a prolific author, speaker, and educator on the built environment. Blake is on the Advisory Board for UMass Dartmouth's Interiors Program, taught at the Boston Architectural College (2013-2021), and was Vice President, Advocacy for the Boston Society of Architects (2016-2018). Blake was recognized by BD+C Magazine as a top '40 Under 40' AEC professional (2015), named a LEED Fellow by the USGBC (2021), and received the AIA Young Architect Award (2024).

Brian is an architect and leads HDR’s behavioural health practice. In his work, Brian introduces current research and design trends to improve safety, patient satisfaction, and staff retention for behavioural health clients around the world. He is an active member of the FGI topic group focused on behavioural health and has received national recognition for his contributions to the field. Brian believes all humans have value and strives to promote equity by building stronger connections for patients, family, and staff in mental health environments and communities.

Caglar Koksal is a lecturer in urban planning at the University of Manchester, with expertise in spatial planning; planning practice; housing and infrastructure planning; urban governance and policy; and health creation and inequalities. He has led and collaborated on numerous funded research projects at national and international levels, and he co-leads the environment theme within the Healthier Futures Research Platform at the University. His research is grounded in a commitment to evidence-informed, practically engaged scholarship, using both quantitative methods (such as GIS and spatial analysis) and qualitative methods (including policy analysis and elite interviews). Dr Koksal’s broader research and consultancy work includes leadership on projects examining policy design and implementation, as well as collaborative work with local authorities, national government, think tanks, and private-sector consultancies.

Camilla Sedgwick is a senior project officer at The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney. She holds a master's of public health (chronic disease prevention) and a bachelor's of education and is a registered secondary school teacher with over 21 years of experience in schools across Australia and the United Kingdom. Camilla’s expertise in health-promoting schools and youth wellbeing has informed curriculum design and special projects for students in high school and college settings. Her recent work focuses on the intersection of social determinants of health, educational outcomes and overall wellbeing. She has contributed to research with young people, priority population groups, government stakeholders and policymakers, contributing to the development of health policy and educational programmes.

Carolyn Daher is a public health specialist with over 20 years of international experience connecting research, education and implementation to build healthier communities. Carolyn has a B.A. in Environmental Studies (Brown University), Master in Public Health (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School) and a Master in Psychosocial Intervention (University of Barcelona). Her work centers on how to generate greater impact in policy and society using scientific evidence, and ensure evidence-based practices in the creation and implementation of projects to promote health, especially in urban contexts. She currently coordinates ISGlobal’s Urban Planning, Health and Environment Initiative.

Catrin Lyddon is a public health practitioner working in the Wales Health Impact Assessment Support Unit (WHIASU), which is part of Public Health Wales. She has a background in research, with an interest in the wider determinants of health. Catrin is passionate about understanding and identifying health and wellbeing impacts, and she uses her role within WHIASU to provide advice, guidance and support for those looking to identify the health impacts of their work by using health impact assessment (HIA). She has supported many HIA workshops at both a national and local level in subject areas such as planning, waste and recycling, and screening engagement.

Celen Pasalar, PhD is associate professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, and extension co-ordinator in the College of Design at North Carolina State University. She also holds the titles of University Faculty Scholar and Community Engaged Fellow. Dr Pasalar is actively involved in the Executive Leadership of the Global One Health Academy, where she co-leads the Climate Change and Health Disparities Research Initiative. Her research focuses on creating, translating and broadening evidence for designing smart, connected, resilient and healthy communities. Her work in the realms of urbanism, human behaviour and environment, and community design has profoundly affected the design discipline, addressing the needs in communities at multiple scales. Dr Pasalar collaborates with multidisciplinary researchers, community partners, and practitioners to develop evidence-based design solutions, transforming communities. Her award-winning projects and research have been supported by the National Science Foundation, Federal Emergency Management Agency / US Department of Homeland Security, NC Department of Transportation, the Spencer Foundation, and various non-profits. Her work has been recognised with many awards, including the 2020 Excellence in Service Learning Award from Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture; the 2019 Outstanding Extension Award from North Carolina State University; and multiple national awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects. She has published extensively, including book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, proceedings, and research reports. She is a member of the Environmental Design Research Association Board of Directors, and the associate editor and Executive Board member of the Ekistics and the 'New Habitat Journal'. Dr Pasalar holds a PhD in design from North Carolina State University, an MSc in city and regional planning with a focus on urban design, and a BArch in Architecture from Middle East Technical University. Her impactful work over the years exemplifies her commitment to creating sustainable and resilient communities.

Dr Eriksson obtained her PhD in environmental epidemiology from Karolinska Institutet in 2012. She works at the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine within the Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, and at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet. Her research focuses on urban environments and their impact on public health with a particular focus on traffic noise, air pollution and urban greenness. She is the primary investigator of the Stockholm Environmental Health Program, a six-year research programme with the aim to develop and evaluate strategies for building a sustainable city that promotes good and equitable public health among residents of urban areas.

Cheryl Williams is a principal public health practitioner (policy and impact assessment) in the Wales Health Impact Assessment Support Unit (WHIASU), Public Health Wales. Her work focuses on maximising the connections between spatial planning and health, including the use of health impact assessments. Prior to her current role, Cheryl spent a number of years working in the local public health team in Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, where her role included supporting both Cardiff and Vale local authorities to embed health within planning policy. Early in her career, having initially qualified in town planning, Cheryl worked as a planning officer in Coventry City Council and then Cardiff Council, before having a change of direction, initially going to manage a healthy living project in Cardiff, which then led to a career in public health. In her current role, she is in the fortunate position of being able to combine both a planning and public health background.

Chris is Chief Executive of Unlimited Potential, which specialises in social and economic innovation and in systems change. Originally a social anthropologist, Chris has worked on diverse projects with local people and communities for over 30 years. Chris is a Fellow of the School for Social Entrepreneurs and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Christophe is an architect with over 40 years’ practice experience on local and international projects. In 2004, he joined forces with David West, an urban designer, to co-found Studio Egret West, an award-winning and dynamic cross-platform studio where architecture, urban design and landscape are united to create a working environment where city, public realm and buildings 'speak' to each other. He takes an active role in the practice’s masterplans (e.g., Earls Court; Bratislava Southbank; Digbeth; Mayfield; High Road West; Preston Barracks; and Vicarage Field) and encourage a design by many hands, collaborating with renowned and emerging design practices. One of his main interests has been housing and its juxtaposition with other mixed uses to establish richer urban places (e.g., Clapham Library; New Bermondsey; Caxton Works and The Old Vinyl Factory; Barangaroo; Eastwick and Sweetwater; Cotton Quay; Barking 360; The Rockery; and Bow Common) and he likes to explore new typologies that adapt to our changing housing landscape: how can we combine housing with light industry? How can we adapt existing structures to provide buildings with a ‘second life’? (e.g., Park Hill; Balfron Tower; Smithfield Market and Hayes Park). He is interested in transport hubs, seeing them as natural centres of urban life (e.g., Brent Cross; East Croydon; London Underground – Design Idiom and The Shoals at Stratford). He has been engaged in the design of schools and workplace incubators, (e.g., Erith Primary School and Plus X Innovation, Montpellier’s Maison de la Radio). He has been on many judging panels and teach at the London School of Architecture, frequently lecturing on subjects ranging from architecture to sustainable communities, placemaking and landscape. He also likes to contribute to thought pieces for the architectural and design press, and co-authored “Framing serendipity, an approach to evolving places” – a monograph of Studio Egret West’s work. He moved from Paris to London in 1979 to study at the Architectural Association and spent his formative years working on a number of key projects – notably designing, while a director at Alsop Architects, the Peckham Library (winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize 2000); the Blizzard Building for the Queen Mary Research Laboratory in Whitechapel; the winning design for the Fourth Grace in Liverpool; and the Manchester Millennium Village framework plan.

Claude Hendrickson MBE has been active in the self-build and community-led housing sector for over 30 years. In 1989, he co-founded Frontline Community Self-Build, a pioneering project led by unemployed African-Caribbean men in Leeds. He went on to become a founding member of the Community Self Build Agency (CSBA) in 2000, supporting self-build initiatives across the UK, many involving ex-service personnel. In 2010, Claude became CSBA’s northern director (on a voluntary basis), and in 2015, he was commissioned by Leeds City Council to develop a ten-year strategy for self-build. He continues to champion inclusive housing through roles as an EDI associate at People Powered Homes Leeds, an accredited community-led housing advisor (CIH), and a community land trust ambassador. Claude regularly speaks at national housing events and facilitates workshops focused on diversity and inclusion. With deep knowledge of the systemic under-representation of minority groups in housing, he is a long-standing advocate for greater investment in urban self-build and community-led projects across the North of England. In recognition of his contributions, Claude was awarded an MBE in 2023 for services to community self-build and community-led housing.

Coen van den Wijngaart is manager of real estate development at Anculus and a member of its management committee. He specialises in overseeing the development, redevelopment, and renovation of public-sector real estate projects, primarily serving educational institutions through delegated client management. Anculus provides strategic portfolio management with a focus on sustainable and resilient infrastructure. Coen holds a degree in architectural engineering from Delft University of Technology and an executive MBA from Vlerick Business School, Brussels. With over 25 years of experience as an architect, entrepreneur, and strategic real estate developer, his expertise lies at the intersection of innovative architectural design, health and wellbeing in the built environment, and sustainable development. His research and professional interests include the translation of architectural and strategic concepts into healthy, inclusive, and future-proof environments for living, learning, working, and care. His career is marked by a commitment to advancing knowledge and practice in healthy and sustainable public real estate development.

With a rich foundation in retail, entrepreneurship, and community activism, Cyndi Anafo is a natural fit for her role as Director and majority owner of Peckham Palms. Raised in South London by a single mother who was both a shopkeeper and entrepreneur, Cyndi's connection to business and community began early. She brings a wealth of lived and professional experience to her work—having traded at local markets, co-owned the Black- led lifestyle store United80, and co-founded The Snugg Bar (now Supercute) in Brixton Village, which she managed until 2014. In parallel with her business ventures, Cyndi is a seasoned cultural events producer and social commentator, with a focus on issues affecting her immediate community. Her deep-rooted ties to Brixton and passion for social justice led her to launch Reclaim Brixton, an anti-gentrification movement that mobilized over 3,500 people in a peaceful protest at Windrush Square. The campaign spotlighted urgent local concerns—from housing and business displacement to the decline of public services. Cyndi’s multifaceted entrepreneurial journey, community-first ethos, and dedication to preserving local culture make her a dynamic force behind the continued growth and sustainability of Peckham Palms—and a vital advocate for South London’s creative and cultural future.

My name is Dagmara Wojciechowicz and I live in the L8. November last year I took on the role of Merseyside Polonia’s manager. I am community champion manager focusing on working in partnership with local PCNs, hospital trusts and other health institutions advocating for Polish community. Our partnerships are aimed at bringing down barriers in accessing healthcare and addressing health inequalities affecting our communities. I am a public advisor for ARC NWC based at University of Liverpool on ‘Growing Up Children in Liverpool’ project, and also sit as committee on Health Equality Project Liverpool focusing on addressing low MMR imms uptake amongst children in Liverpool. I have a degree in Business and PR but my focus during my studies was on Corporate Social Responsibility.

Piatkowski is an associate professor of integrated land use and transport planning at OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, in Oslo, Norway. His work is at the intersection of mobility transitions, human behaviour, and technology. He teaches courses in urban mobility and transport policy in the Master's of Transport and Urban Planning programme at OsloMet. Piatkowski's current research centres on the bicycle as a catalyst for urban change, exploring its potential and pitfalls across spatial and socio-demographic contexts. Prior to joining OsloMet, Piatkowski held appointments at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and Savannah State University. He earned his PhD in design and planning as a National Science Foundation fellow in sustainable urbanism at the University of Colorado – Denver and holds a bachelor's in English and a master's in urban and environmental planning (both from Arizona State University).

Danny Crump is a chartered landscape architect, urban designer, and masterplanner with more than 25 years’ experience in placemaking, urban regeneration, and transit-led development. As head of landscape + urbanism at Layer.studio, Danny leads pioneering approaches to creating healthier, more equitable cities – most recently co-authoring PikTOC, a geospatial tool designed to prioritise regeneration around Greater Manchester’s transit hubs through the lens of spatial justice, health equity, and climate resilience. He is also the co-creator of Circ_it, a gamified urban regeneration tool that reverse-engineers success by helping communities, councils and designers create place-based strategies grounded in lived experience and future ambition. A High Street Task Force expert and qualified project manager, Danny brings an interdisciplinary mindset to complex urban challenges, choreographing collaborative teams, co-creating with communities, and embedding innovation into public-sector strategies. He mentors emerging talent through Future GM Leaders Plus and Women in Architecture, and provides professional practitioner guidance on landscape urbanism at the Manchester School of Architecture. Danny’s passion lies in unlocking local distinctiveness through data-informed diagnostics, global trend forecasting, and co-design. He champions ‘complete communities’ and inclusive growth, shaping places that support public life, wellbeing, and sustainable mobility. A proud Northerner and critical thinker, Danny is a vocal advocate for preventive planning, systems thinking, and people-first urbanism – building futures where city design and public health evolve together.

David Cheshire is a director at AECOM, specialising in sustainability and regenerative design in the built environment. David is the author of 'Building Revolutions, The Handbook to Building a Circular Economy' and a newly published book titled: 'Regenerative by Design', which explains how buildings can have a positive impact on the planet, becoming an active part of the ecosystem.

David Rudlin is one of the leading urban designers in the UK, as past chair of the Academy of Urbanism, winner of the 2014 Wolfson Economics Prize, and principal author of the Government’s National Model Design Code. David established Rudlin and Co Urban Design consultancy in 2025, having been a former director of urban design at BDP, and former principal of URBED (Urbanism Environment and Design) – one of the UK’s longest-standing and best respected urban design practices. He is a planner by training and started his career with Manchester City Council. At URBED, he was responsible for a range of city centre masterplans, including Bristol, Wolverhampton, Brighton and Nottingham. He is author of a number of books on urban design, including 'Building the 21st Century Home' (2009), 'Climax City' (2019), and 'High Street' (2023).

Dawn Carroll is the head of the award-winning House of Memories. She leads on the development and delivery of an expanding House of Memories engagement programme, including partnerships, digital training and resources. Dawn has an interest in digital innovation for health, having played a key role in the creation of the ‘My House of Memories app’ and ‘House of Memories On The Road’ a mobile immersive experience for isolated elders in the community. She works with an extensive range of partners, locally, nationally and internationally, and she is a regional representative for the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance.

Elad is AECOM’s director for city masterplanning and urban design. Based in London and working internationally, he offers clients a holistic approach to city development, urban strategy and design, across the company's strategic intervention sectors. Trained as an architect and urban designer, Elad has more than two decades of global experience, specialising in leading, designing and delivering major large-scale and complex urban projects. His integrated and strategic approach to city design helped shape many projects and places in cities across the globe, including Stratford City’s international Quarter, Tottenham Regeneration Framework, and Thamesmead in London; NOMA in Manchester; Zuidas in Amsterdam; Central Renewal District in Sydney; City of Tshwane in Pretoria, South Africa; and the Singapore Sports Hub. Elad is an expert panel member for planning at the NLA and formerly a member of the first cohort of the Mayor of London’s Infrastructure Advisory Panel. He has taught in major universities, including the Architectural Association School of Architecture and UCL. He has published widely, and he is a regular keynote speaker at many international conferences

Elizabeth is a senior fellow HEA, certified management and business educator and fellow CMI. An experienced dean with a demonstrable history of leadership in higher education, she also has professional practice experience as a marketer.

I trained in the North West on the Public Health training scheme and I’m a medical doctor by background. I have also been an academic trainee and have published multiple peer reviewed papers. I am passionate about improving health outcomes and reducing health inequalities through driving collective action to improve the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age within Liverpool. I strongly believe in working with and empowering local communities to improve health outcomes. My current lead areas include wider determinants, addictions (drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling) and research and development, including being the lead for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded Health Determinants Research collaboration Liverpool.

Eman is a research associate at Newcastle University's Population Health Sciences Institute, in the Health Inequalities Team. A geospatial data scientist by background, she has extensive expertise in the use of geographical information systems (GIS) in public health. She is primarily interested in the complex interplay between social, spatial and health inequalities, spatial determinants of health, and climate as an emerging facet of inequalities. 

Enrique Tabone is an artist and data scientist known for her multidisciplinary approach, encompassing both fine art and wearable art under her brand QUEstijl. She explores themes of identity, culture and modernity, often blending traditional and contemporary elements in her work. Tabone is also involved in digital curation, conducting research and teaching at the University of Salford'a Digital Curation Lab. Her work on creative uses of open data in cultural heritage settings has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and various exhibitions.

Eric Parry leads a practice of about 110, delivering high-quality buildings that demonstrate sensitivity to context and meticulous attention to detail. He is known for his intellectual rigour and sensitivity in every project, recognising the importance of art and craft in the built environment. Eric's projects include a broad range of buildings, both in the UK and abroad, ranging from tall offices to residential as well as research and development and cultural buildings. Eric has undertaken a range of wellbeing-led tall buildings, with inclusive and accessible public realm. Projects in the City of London include 1 Undershaft, set to be the tallest building in the City of London; One Fen Court, described by the Guardian as “one of the most well-crafted buildings the City has seen for some time”; and a new headquarters building for the City of London Police. Projects in Oxford include a mental health hospital and university research building, which will be on a site with listed buildings currently in use as a hospital, and which will become a new graduate college. International projects include Kyobashi, a landmark 180-metre tower in Tokyo; an R&D building in Singapore; as well as a five-star resort hotel in Okinawa. Eric has held several eminent posts, including president of the Architectural Association and he was elected a Royal Academician in 2006.

Dr Ffion Carney is a Senior Data Scientist in AtkinsRéalis’ Building Design Research & Innovation team. She specialises in urban analytics, geospatial analysis, and social science research. She holds a PhD in Geographic Information Science, from UCL, where she explored the use of big data to understand urban mobility patterns and transport disadvantage in vulnerable populations. Her primary research focus is on the use of open data and geospatial analysis to address challenges and inequalities in urban environments.

In her position as a senior social scientist and team member supervisor at HDR, Francesqca plays an integral role in the development and integration of human studies that support our clients’ knowledge needs and organizational goals. She is particularly interested in the relationships of built and social environments to human behavior, productivity and well-being. Francesqca’s responsibilities include study design and implementation oversight, developing instrumentation for data collection, writing research plans and protocols, facilitating focus groups and interviews, conducting quantitative and qualitative data analysis, and synthesizing findings and insights that support our clients’ success. With her psychology and human-environment relations background, Francesqca brings appropriate methodologies and rigor to our projects, helping to ensure positive human experiences and outcomes.

Dr. Garett Sansom is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Texas A&M University’s School of Public Health. His research centers on environmental epidemiology and the pursuit of data-driven solutions to environmental health challenges, particularly in communities facing disproportionate exposure to pollution and climate-related risks. Dr. Sansom’s work bridges environmental monitoring, public health assessment, and community engagement to identify and address the health impacts of contaminants such as heavy metals, PAHs, and PFAS in soil, water, and air. He currently leads and collaborates on projects that investigate the links between environmental exposure and chronic disease, with a special emphasis on vulnerable populations along the Houston Ship Channel, in South Texas colonias, and across hazard-prone rural regions. As a core investigator in the Texas A&M Superfund Research Program’s Community Engagement Core and Director of the Together for a Better Tomorrow initiative, Dr. Sansom integrates citizen science, urban planning, and environmental risk communication to develop actionable interventions. His presentation at Healthy City Design will highlight findings from a multi-site environmental and health surveillance project poised to model public health improvements based on environmental and urban development plans.

Dr Gemma Moore is an Associate Professor in Health, Wellbeing, and Communities at University College London's (UCL) Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources. With over a decade of experience as an applied social researcher, her work focuses on the intersections between people, their environments, and decision-making processes. Her research integrates evaluation and learning processes into large, complex transdisciplinary programs, aiming to bridge research, evaluation, and engagement. Gemma is the Faculty Lead for Impact.

George's role involves, among other things, nature recovery, climate mitigation and adaptation, and healthy placemaking. His research and Interests include: • nature recovery and green infrastructure as a means of addressing health and social inequalities in urban conurbations; • nature-based solutions to mitigate risk from poor air quality, flood risk and urban heat islands; • the role of creative engagement approaches in enhancing public opinion and leading the way in policy development; and • community-led solutions as a source of proactive change in local areas/places.

Georgina is the research and impact lead at Re-engage, a national UK charity focused on reducing loneliness and isolation for older people over the age of 75. Together with its volunteers and older people, the charity is growing its research work to better understand and address loneliness as we age. Before joining Re-engage four years ago, she worked in communication and media studies; and an increasing focus on audiences led her to move into applied research in the third sector.

Graham is an urban designer and landscape architect of longstanding. His work spans research and practice from strategy to detailed context of specific regeneration programmes. He has a particular interest in the meaningful involvement of community members in regeneration and the development of lifetime conversations that reconnect people to their places. He is the Chair/Mentor of the Backin' Birkenhead Town Team that is delivering a community-led Place Plan for Central Birkenhead.

Hamde Nazar is professor of pharmacy education and primary care research at Newcastle University. With a strong background in pharmacy education, public health, primary care research and academic leadership, she has significantly advanced pharmacy education through innovative teaching, impactful research, and extensive engagement with healthcare stakeholders. Professor Nazar led the successful transition and re-accreditation of Newcastle's MPharm programme and established the award-nominated Young@Heart student-led clinic, enhancing interprofessional education and public health outreach. Her research, focused on safer care transitions and community pharmacy services, has directly influenced national policy and commissioning in the UK. She has secured over £6 million in competitive funding and supervises multiple PhD students across health services and education research. A principal fellow of the Higher Education Academy and fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Professor Nazar serves on national committees, including the NIHR, General Pharmaceutical Council, and Royal Pharmaceutical Society. She is also a mentor, educational consultant, and advocate for diversity in academia and healthcare leadership.

Hamide is a PhD candidate in design at NC State University, where she has been studying since 2022 as a provost’s fellowship recipient. She has a background in architecture and a master’s degree in architectural design. Her current research focuses on climate-smart campuses and student wellbeing, examining how extreme heat impacts experiences in campus green spaces. Hamide is a student member of the Environmental Design Research Association and has presented her research at international conferences, including the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA).

Hannah is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Global Centre on Healthcare & Urbanisation at Kellogg College, University of Oxford, and a research associate at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing. Hannah is an urban health geographer and planner, with an interest in how social and physical environments influence health and wellbeing throughout the lifecourse. With experience that bridges academia, policy and practice, she is interested in how we can co-design environments and communities that promote a good quality of life, whilst recognising and addressing existing socio-spatial injustices and health inequities. Hannah’s research interests span urban health and social geography, healthy urban planning, and geographies of ageing. She is passionate about innovative methods and methodologies, including the use of qualitative, geo-spatial and community-based participatory approaches to understand lived experiences of place. Hannah previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher and assistant professor in human geography at Dublin City University, a research assistant at Queen's University Belfast, and as a planning policy officer. She completed her PhD at the Department of Geography at Maynooth University, exploring how older people in the Greater Dublin Area define and enact ageing well in place.

Hayley Oleksiak is the founder and CEO of Open Space Sandbox, an award-winning civic tech company that helps communities collaboratively design parks and public spaces through a gamified planning platform. Her work combines community engagement, spatial data, and urban policy to drive more equitable and creative citymaking. She was named a Knight Emerging City Champion and is a recipient of Northeastern University’s Women Who Empower Innovator Award.

Heather Macey is a Director and Trustee at Makower Architects, where she shares leadership responsibilities with Tim Makower, helping to guide the practice’s strategic direction and day-to-day operations. With a background in urban regeneration, supported housing and masterplanning, Heather is committed to creating healthier and more inclusive environments through design innovation. Her work spans public and private sectors, including the adaptive reuse of culturally significant sites, residential schemes, and mixed-use masterplans. At Makower Architects, she is leading the studio’s focus on health and housing - advancing new models of place-based care and shaping projects that integrate wellbeing into the fabric of everyday life. Heather is a Trustee and Co-Lead of Homestead, a pioneering supported-housing model that brings together therapeutic design, health innovation and place-based care to support individuals with psychosis. Through this work, she is helping to reimagine supported-housing as a therapeutic ecosystem embedded in its local context. She is also the founding member of Architects Aware!, a London-based think tank dedicated to addressing housing insecurity through design and policy. She is currently producing a podcast series, Therapeutic by Design, which shares insights from clinicians, policymakers, designers and individuals with lived experience to influence health-centred policy and built environment practice. A confident public speaker and regular contributor to policy and design discourse, Heather champions a holistic, cross-sectoral approach to urban health, social justice and systemic change.

Helen is an architect and urban designer who started at BDP in January 2023, following five years at URBED. She has extensive experience working with Local Authorities, developers and community groups in challenging contexts across the UK. Helen has project delivery experience across all stages of the RIBA Plan of Work, including feasibility studies, town centre masterplans and blueprints, residential and communal architecture and retrofit projects, research and design guidance, and post occupancy evaluation. Helen is a skilled facilitator of community engagement and has co-ordinated engagement programmes on a range of complex projects including Stockton-on-Tees Blueprint, the Liverpool Waterfront Plan, and the Diamond Place ‘Design For Change’ engagement process in Oxford. She regularly delivers workshops on Participation in Architecture and Urban Design, and engages in student design reviews and occasional tutoring.

Helen Pineo is an urban planner, Research Associate Professor in the Department of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington and Honorary Associate Professor at University College London. Her research focuses on how development, regeneration and urban policy can support health and sustainability. She contributes to the evidence base about why and how to do healthy urbanism by using transdisciplinary approaches and amplifying the needs of under-represented communities and the planet.

Hil Aked (they/he) is a writer, investigative researcher and organiser with a background in political sociology whose work has appeared in the Guardian, Independent, Sky News and Al Jazeera, as well as Pluto Press, Bloomsbury, and the journal Bioethics. Their first book Friends of Israel: The Backlash Against Palestine Solidarity, published by Verso, was shortlisted for the Bread & Roses Award 2024.

As Assistant Director within the Regeneration and Inclusive Growth Directorate, Iain leads a multi-disciplinary team with the remit to drive forward the Council’s Borough wide regeneration ambitions with an initial focus on transforming their six town centres through a £200m investment programme over the next few years. Iain leads on town centre redevelopment across the Borough’s town centres, covering large scale regeneration and redevelopment sites, infrastructure schemes, site acquisitions and business engagement & development. Working at Stockton straight from University in 2002, Iain’s early career focused on several brownfield regeneration schemes along the River Tees corridor including the redevelopment of Tees White Water Course, Stockton Middlesbrough Initiative and North Shore redevelopment before going on to manage the Strategic Development Team within the Council, successfully drafting the Borough’s Local Plan and taking it through examination in public in 2018 as well as being the Council’s lead officer on the development and delivery of the 128 bed Hampton by Hilton Hotel scheme.

Isabella Bhoan is a chartered landscape architect with extensive global experience developing a wide range of landscape projects. Her approach emphasises on eco-harmony, fostering collaboration between nature, technology, and humanity. She's passionate about "rewilding" the urban environment and creating sustainable, supportive architecture. As global head of landscape, Isabella champions a holistic approach that integrates social and environmental factors to craft distinct environments, nurturing both people and biodiversity. She collaborates closely with the in-house building information modelling (BIM) team. Together, they developed the Landscape Information Management tool, which integrates quantifiable ecological benefits into digital models. This tool informs landscape design, helping clients and stakeholders to ensure the implementation of high-quality, sustainable landscapes. A passionate advocate for the intersection of technology and landscape architecture, Isabella promotes a holistic design philosophy that balances social, environmental, and technological considerations, creating distinctive environments that enhance biodiversity and improve human wellbeing through digital, technological and innovative solutions.

Jamie Miller is a leader and award-winning specialist in biomimicry and regenerative design, being the first director of biomimicry at B+H. His role represents a pioneering shift in our industry, one that works with nature, rather than against it. Previously, he led sustainability consultancy Biomimicry Frontiers and founded Biomimicry Commons, an education and incubator space that Fast Company named a "World Changing Idea". He holds a PhD in engineering, specialising in urban resilience and systems-based biomimicry. Previously co-director of OCAD University's biomimicry programme, his deep understanding of biomimicry was shaped by Indigenous Elders and Janine Benyus. Jamie advocates for nature-based solutions and collaboration to create cities that not only co-exist with nature but actively contribute to its regeneration.

Jeanette has been a lecturer with the Centre for Planning Education and Research since November 2017 and is a qualified professional urban planner and urban designer. She teaches on the Masters in Planning and Sustainable Development, Postgraduate Diploma in Planning and Sustainable Development, and contributes to undergraduate teaching for the Department of Applied Social Studies, the Department of Geography, and the BSc Public Health. Jeanette co-ordinated and taught the modules awarded Highly Commended by the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) Excellence in Teaching Awards 2019. The award-winning module included a community engagement component with the Glounthaune Community Association. Jeanette has a BA (geography and English) from UCC, a master's in regional and urban planning from UCD and a master's of science (urban design) from UCD. She is a corporate member of the Irish Planning Institute and member of the Urban Design Group. She is currently undertaking her doctoral research on the topic of compact growth, densification and perceptions of densification, under the supervision of Dr Paula Russell and Dr Declan Redmond in the School of Architecture Planning and Environmental Policy, UCD. Jeanette has over ten years' professional experience working as a senior urban designer and senior urban planner in multidisciplinary consultancies in both Ireland and New Zealand. Jeanette's professional work included researching medium-density housing for both the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment and for the Queenstown and Lakes District Council. She has worked on the redevelopment designs of Christchurch City and surrounding towns following the devastating earthquakes in 2011. She has presented expert evidence at New Zealand Environment Court, Council Hearings and Mediation meetings. Jeanette has experience in facilitating public consultation workshop and events in New Zealand and in Ireland and has continued this experience into her teaching. In Cork, Jeanette's experience includes preparation planning applications and environmental impact statements for docklands, mixed-use, and retail projects. She was also in a team who prepared recreational needs studies for Limerick and Galway. This portfolio of professional experiences and skills has informed the design and delivery of her teaching, especially on the MPlan, which is UCC's dual accredited professional planning programme. Jeanette's passion is the education and professional formation of the next generation of planners and creating the best possible educational experience through innovative learning and teaching, assessments, field and site work, classroom-based teaching supported by research, and engagement with the wider profession.

As HDR’s director of social and behavioural sciences, Jeri leads our team of social scientists, researchers, and analysts, who use proven expertise, curiosity, and creativity to design and conduct credible research and evaluation focused on real-world outcomes. Jeri is highly adept at developing and implementing quantitative, qualitative, and multi-method studies, including representative survey research, programme evaluation, longitudinal and time series approaches, and applications of systems science. Jeri’s work generates actionable insights to inform a range of behavioural and experiential interventions in various built and social contexts including communities, organisations and buildings. She is driven to find solutions to the “people side” of complex problems, and to help our clients create highly effective human-centred strategies, programmes, and infrastructure. She has worked extensively with diverse urban and rural communities, and has led local-, regional- and national-scale studies impacting programmatic and built solutions.

Jerryanne Hagan-Tetteh is a communications and research professional passionate about social impact, storytelling, and community engagement. She works at ClearView Research as a senior research executive and in the comms and marketing team, where she heavily works on content strategy, events, and co-creation workshops for clients such as Barnardos, Impact on Urban Health, and the Health Foundation.

Jess is the head of policy, research and consultancy at Re-engage, a leading national charity dedicated to ending social isolation and loneliness for people aged 75 and over. With a deep commitment to understanding the causes of loneliness and the challenges older people face, Jess leads the charity’s research and policy and activities, focusing on data insights and monitoring, evaluation, and learning to inform service development, increase impact, and work towards the overall mission of ending social isolation and loneliness for people aged 75 and over. In addition to her research role, Jess also leads Re-engage's consultancy activities, offering expert guidance to organisations and communities seeking to address social isolation and loneliness among older adults, and improve the services or products they offer. Through her work, Jess helps shape strategic planning, impact assessments, and co-production methods that directly contribute to Re-engage's mission of ensuring that no one is ever too old to make friends. An experienced leader in the charity sector, she is passionate about advocating for those often marginalised or let down by societal infrastructure. Jess specialises in research, consultancy and inclusion, ensuring that the voices of older individuals are amplified and included in all relevant forums and conversations on a local and national scale.

A highly effective, experienced, and insightful higher education manager with wide-ranging experience in operational and strategic management. Joanne has held senior level roles in both central services and Faculty/Schools in a diverse range of further and higher education institutions.

Graduating as a building surveyor, Jon had an early career in construction and has over 30 years’ experience working in local government. As a member of Bolton Council’s Corporate Leadership Team, Jon has a wide-ranging portfolio of responsibilities including planning, highways and engineering, environmental services and regulation. He also oversees the council’s economic development strategy and regeneration plans. Key areas of focus include the delivery of the town centre masterplan and the rejuvenation of the borough’s district centres, alongside wider place making activity designed to make Bolton the ideal place to live, work, study, visit and invest.

Julia is a Partner & Director at Gehl, a global urban design and strategy practice. Julia is skilled at developing multi-sector partnerships that highlight the power of place to impact health and community development. With 20 years of experience working with city agencies and community leaders, she has led engagement projects in communities near and far, supporting urban leaders in ensuring people are visible and heard in the city-making process. Julia works across design, strategy, and research methods to demonstrate the integral role streets play as connective, vibrant public spaces.

Julia Thrift joined the TCPA in May 2013 and manages projects concerning planning and public health, green infrastructure, and planning and social justice. Throughout her career she has been interested in the links between the design of the built environment and the quality of people’s lives. She worked for CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, where she was the founding director of CABE Space, the government’s adviser on policy and practice regarding England’s urban parks and public spaces. She began her career as a journalist, writing about design, architecture and art. She has a degree in philosophy from University College London.

Karen O'Mahony is senior executive planner in Cork City Council and was a member of the HIA team that carried out the assessment on the Cork City Development Plan (2022-2028).

Kasia is a senior transport planner with over 20 years of experience of planning, designing for, and promoting sustainable and active travel while making street environments more inclusive. Kasia is proud to work for Leeds City Council, with its ambition to be a city where you don’t need to own a car, and at the same time work alongside disability groups to bring the lived experiences of disabled stakeholders to inform and influence the transformative public space and transport projects that are happening in the city.

Katie is the director of research and urban health at Future Places Studio. She has over a decade of experience across the public, private and charity sectors on a range of technical urban planning projects with the overarching goal of addressing and challenging health inequalities. A transport planner by training, she has long been focused on the link between infrastructure, air quality and community health outcomes. Prior to joining Future Places Studio, she worked at Momentum Transport Consultancy, leading on the spatial strategy and public engagement around progressive mobility concepts. She has worked closely with a range of central London business improvement districts, local authorities and private-sector clients to deliver strategic placemaking and active travel gains. She also has a strong writing and research background, and is currently working on a book project about the social history of a major highway in New York.

Katja Stille is a director of Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design, and former chair of the Urban Design Group. As an experienced urban designer with a background in architecture and engineering, she works with private and public clients and provides high-level urban design advice to government and placemaking bodies, including on new towns, medium-density development, and how we can create healthier communities. Working collaboratively across professional boundaries, she seeks to unlock the issues that prevent us from delivering good design. She oversees masterplans and development frameworks from concept through to delivery. Katja’s objective is to incorporate principles of sustainability, health and wellbeing into her broad spectrum of work, including town centre strategies, masterplanning new communities, regeneration, and design policy.

Ar. Kavya P Krishnan is an architect who holds an MSc in health, wellbeing, and sustainable buildings from University College London’s (UCL) Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources and works as an accessibility and universal design expert at Mobility Mojo. She is dedicated to creating more inclusive and equitable built environments through design and research. Having practised architecture across various Indian cities, she has designed projects and homes focused on improving accessibility and wellbeing. Her research bridges architecture, human psychology, and inclusivity, focusing on enhancing accessibility and cognitive support for diverse communities, particularly dementia and ageing populations in urban and residential settings. Her award-winning funded dissertation at The Bartlett reflects this commitment, building on extensive research since 2019, and has been presented at international conferences, including the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. Kavya continues to advocate for environments that promote health, equity and inclusion through both academic inquiry and professional practice.

Kayla's research draws on sociological, human geography, and science, technology and society (STS) theory to explore engagement with emerging mobile apps, sensors and other digitally enabled sources of real-time air quality information. Methodologically, she specialises in participatory approaches to research, and how to blend quantitative and quantitative data to support more equitable air quality governance.

(to follow)

Dr Kenny Imafidon MBE is an entrepreneur, author and social commentator. He is the co-founder and managing director of ClearView Research, an agency that specialises in research and strategy projects focused on diverse and underrepresented communities. Kenny has led impactful projects across the UK and globally with FTSE 250 companies, global brands, charities, and public institutions. In 2022, Kenny featured in Forbes' annual 30 under 30 list, and his debut book, 'That Peckham Boy', was published by Penguin in 2023. He has over a decade of non-executive board experience and currently serves as a trustee for BBC Children in Need.

Kevin O'Connor is senior planner in Cork City Council and was a member of the HIA team that carried out the assessment on the Cork City Development Plan (2022-2028).

Dr Leah White is currently the Clinical Director for adult mental health in Tower Hamlets, East London NHS Foundation Trust. Her clinical background is in Older Adult Psychiatry where she works in the CMHT for Older Adults in Tower Hamlets. Dr White studied at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, graduating in 2009, and has spent the majority of her career working and training in East London. Dr White's area of interest is returning the focus of mental health care to the community, working alongside third sector/voluntary organisations as well as the residents we serve to deliver a robust neighbourhood centred mental health offer. In collaboration with NHS England and third sector organisations Tower Hamlets have launched what will be 1 of 6 pilot sites nationally. These are based on the Trieste model and have already begun to truly transform the mental health care offer.

Lidia is a Chartered Civil Engineer with a passion for designing places that put people first. With over a decade of experience in sustainable transport and urban design, she has led the development of Mobility Hubs across the UK and Ireland helping communities rethink how they move, connect, and thrive. At AECOM, Lidia brings together engineers, urban designers, ecologists, and local voices to deliver projects grounded in Healthy Streets principles and a commitment to Active Travel and Sustainability. Whether transforming neighbourhoods into walkable, liveable spaces or guiding councils through complex regeneration schemes, her work is rooted in collaboration, creativity, and a firm belief in the power of thoughtful design to shape healthier, more resilient futures.

Dr. Lindsay Sansom is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Texas A&M University School of Public Health. Dr. Sansom earned her M.A. from Boston University in International Relations and Environmental Policy. She further received her doctorate in Ecosystem Science and Management from Texas A&M University, where she delved deep into understanding complex ecosystem functions. Dr. Sansom’s research interests include water security, socio-ecological systems modelling, the role of trust in conflict and cooperation, and the association between health and greenspace access, with a focus on promoting community engagement strategies to ensure meaningful research.

Lucy is a senior active travel consultant working for AECOM's Streets Team in Manchester. She has a background in masterplanning and has a breadth of technical experience working nationally on projects with an active travel and placemaking focus, including active travel masterplans; mobility hub designs; street design coding / guidance; Mini-Holland feasibility studies; network audits; and concept designs. She is identified as one of AECOM's inclusive streets subject-matter leads, whereby she co-leads an internal action group advocating for the recognition of people, movement and place within street design.

Lynn Donkin is Director of Public Health in Bolton, Greater Manchester, where she leads strategic efforts to improve the public’s health and reduce inequalities. With a background in public health policy, systems leadership, and community engagement, Lynn champions place-based approaches that address the wider determinants of health. She has played a pivotal role in shaping Bolton’s response to health challenges through integrated partnerships across local government, health services, and the voluntary sector. Lynn is particularly passionate about creating healthier, more inclusive urban environments that support wellbeing across the life course. She brings a strong commitment to equity, sustainability, and co-production, ensuring that local voices are central to decision-making.

Maddie is a Senior Engineer in AECOM’s Streets Team based in Leeds. She is passionate about promoting sustainable transport choices and has contributed to a wide range of active travel projects across the UK during her career to date. Maddie takes pride in delivering innovative solutions that enhance walking, wheeling, and cycling infrastructure, tailored to meet client needs and encourage modal shift. Maddie is especially committed to improving her local area, working closely with Leeds City Council to deliver inclusive and accessible infrastructure improvements in and around Leeds City Centre.

Marc is the Head of Insight and Impact at Horizons. Marc blends psychological and sociological theory with an extensive background in research and evaluation. Marc holds a PhD in sociology and has published more than 15 academic papers in peer-reviewed journals. These publications span areas such as behaviour change, programme implementation, motivational theory, gamification, alcohol and substance use, physical activity promotion and research ethics. Marc has a passion for applying quantitative and qualitative research methods to real-world settings and using the results to create actionable insights which drive behaviour change. Marc is personally driven to address health inequalities. He grew up in the South Wales Valleys, where fewer people engage in health promoting behaviours and where people live fewer years in good health. Marc aims to use data, research methods and theory to help address these stubborn inequalities which are prevalent in many communities throughout the UK.

Professor Maree Teesson is director of the Matilda Centre, director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Prevention and Early Intervention in Mental Illness and Substance Use (PREMISE), and an NHMRC leadership fellow at the University of Sydney. Prof Teesson is a national mental health commissioner, an Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences fellow, a fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences, and a member of the National Health and Medical Research Council. Prof Teesson has made a major contribution to Australia’s health and medical research effort in the field of mental health and substance use. In particular, she is known nationally and internationally for her research on the co-morbidity between mental health and substance use disorders.

Dr Marie Ryan is an applied economist with 15 years of experience in higher education, research, and policy development. She was awarded the prestigious President's Individual Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, UCC, 2023. Her research portfolio spans 55+ academic works in health economics, education innovation, and entrepreneurship, with particular focus on wellbeing and policy, supported by significant competitive funding. Dr Ryan's current research focuses on three complementary areas: healthcare workforce dynamics and wellbeing, with recent publications in Radiography (2025) and the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences (2025); policy development, notably through her work in Cities (2024, IF: 6.0) and the Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy; and AI integration in higher education, pioneering approaches to maintain academic integrity while leveraging emerging technologies. She leads a competitive SATLE-funded initiative on ethical AI integration. She is PI applicant on a digital inclusion and regional policy analytics (RADIUS) project and is a co-PI applicant on HRB and Horizon healthcare grants. Her research has also been featured on Advance HE, QQI and HEA National Forum websites, extending impact beyond traditional academic channels. Her international research network spans three continents through active supervision of PhD and Master's students from Saudi Arabia, France, and China. Dr Ryan's international experience includes five years of teaching in Middle Eastern institutions, including DCU@PNU Riyadh and Alasala Colleges in Saudi Arabia. She has secured over €1 million in competitive funding and conducted numerous economic analyses for public bodies, including Cork City Council's Local Economic and Community Plan. Her collaborative health impact assessment work has influenced Cork City planning decisions affecting 295,000 residents. Acknowledged in media coverage (Irish Examiner, 2024), her work led to an invitation as keynote speaker at Prince Mohammad University (2024), Saudi Arabia. As programme director overseeing approximately 500 students across two major undergraduate programmes, she has doubled Erasmus exchange capacity at Deusto University and drives an innovative peer-assisted learning programme. She established the Mná buddy system supporting more than 130 participants and she serves on key committees, including CUBS Athena Swan and the University Social Research Ethics Committee. She contributes to academic excellence as a reviewer for high-impact journals, including Review of Educational Research (IF: 8.3), and the All-Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, among others. She has also presented at the European Learning & Teaching Forums and European Health Conferences.

Mark is an experienced practitioner and researcher with 20 years’ experience. He works across the fields of public health, urbanism, and architecture. His work addresses the wider determinants of health, focused on promoting holistic wellbeing, and reducing health inequities. His doctoral research, Healthy Streetlife, undertaken during the Covid-19 pandemic, highlights the important role of streets as health settings. Mark is a practitioner and founded Urban Habitats in 2018, putting research into action in local places. He is a board member at Green Squirrel, a social enterprise with a vision for caring communities. Mark has 20+ years’ experience in industry, having contributed to the delivery of over $2 billion of social infrastructure. Now his passion is to fuse practice and research with evidence-informed, co-created, and community-based interventions for human and planetary health. Happiest while on a bicycle, Mark is an optimistic gardener and lives in Cardiff, Wales with his family.

Mark is senior lecturer and deputy research lead at Manchester School of Architecture. His research focuses on the intersections between architecture and urban ageing in the home, community and city, with a specific interest in housing inequality and spatial justice. Mark’s research employs participatory and design research methodologies, working with communities of older people to develop ‘age-friendly’ initiatives. Mark also works extensively with local government on policy-engaged research, including a two-year secondment at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (2018-21), where he worked with the GM Ageing Hub to develop policy and strategy around urban ageing. Mark is currently principal investigator on ‘Co-creating Age-Friendly Social Housing’, a three-year design-research programme investigating how older people and social housing providers can collaborate to develop innovative housing and community models. Other recent research projects include: • ‘Manchester Age-Friendly Neighbourhood’ – a four-year programme that engaged more than 4000 people in the creation and delivery of community action plans across Manchester, and which led to £300,000 of investment in programmes to support older people in four neighbourhoods in Manchester (w/ Southway Housing Trust). • ‘Rightsizing’ project – funded by the Centre for Ageing Better, this uses large-scale data, spatial analysis and workshops to support policymakers to better plan for the diverse needs of older people within neighbourhoods. • ‘Age-Friendly Northern Gateway/Victoria North’ – a study of older people’s experiences of 20 years of failed urban regeneration in Collyhurst, Manchester, and their hopes and concerns about future plans for their neighbourhood (w/ University of Manchester and Newcastle University). • ‘A Design for Life’ – developed as part of his secondment to GMCA, this free ebook challenges urban design professions to find new ways to better address the increasingly diverse needs and aspirations of older people (w/ Pozzoni Architecture). Mark is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and is currently Year 2 lead for the architecture atelier in the Master of Architecture programme.

Mark is a senior MEP director at Stantec. He has worked in construction for 40 years, more than half of which has been dedicated to leadership and design in healthcare engineering. With the industry’s urgent shift towards climate adaptation, he has increasingly concentrated on change management and implementation strategies in pursuit of decarbonisation targets. He has a keen interest in the digital estate for smart operation and maintenance, as well as reducing energy and carbon emissions. Mark is a registered authorising engineer for medical gases with the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estates Management (IHEEM) and is the current chair of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineering (CIBSE) specialist healthcare group. This June, he assumes the prestigious role of vice-president of CIBSE. He is a CIBSE board member and a trustee.

Dr Bower is an exceptional early career academic with a research focus on the broader social determinants of mental health, particularly in understanding loneliness and isolation among marginalised individuals and how this relates to the built environment. Dr Bower is also the founder and convenor of the multidisciplinary Network for Research in the Built Environment and Mental Health, which connects international researchers and practitioners in mental and physical health, housing and planning through shared agenda-setting, education and sharing ideas.

Mary Rouse is a dedicated community development professional with over 20 years of experience across health, education, housing, and social care. As Community Development Manager at Ebbsfleet Development Corporation, she ensures residents and stakeholders actively shape the future of Ebbsfleet Garden City through co-design and inclusive placemaking. Mary leads initiatives such as a network of 14 community gardens, a behaviour-change app with nearly 4,000 users, and the development of a volunteer network and training programme. She also supports the Development Corporation’s strategic planning through research and evaluation. Previously, she developed a proposal for a pioneering Health and Wellbeing Hub, collaborating with NHS Trusts and ICBs to create integrated service models. Mary holds an MSc in Healthcare Management, a BA in Philosophy from Cambridge, and is PRINCE2 certified. Beyond her role, she is a charity trustee, former CIC founder, and youth worker, committed to equity and community empowerment through inclusive leadership.

Dr Matt Cooper is a research associate in the Newcastle Patient Safety Research Collaboration (PSRC), deputy director of equality, diversity, and inclusion for the PSRC and School of Pharmacy, a trainee health psychologist, and an honorary research associate at the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He is an expert in behaviour change methods, qualitative enquiry, and evidence synthesis. He has a developing record of research in health and social care, particularly focused on the integration, transitions from hospital to home, and community-based care. In his role as deputy director for EDI, Matt supports the development of policy, education, and research practice to ensure equitable provision, inclusive approaches, and diversity in academia.

Matthew is head of healthcare at TODD Architects. He is a highly experienced and well-respected architect who is dedicated to the creation of quality healthcare environments. Matthew is responsible for leading TODD’s healthcare strategy across all studios in the UK and Ireland to deliver a growing portfolio of transformational healthcare projects.

Matthew Morgan is the Director and co-Founder of the Quality of Life Foundation. He is responsible for setting strategy with the Board of Trustees, overseeing the Foundation’s commercial services and delivering lasting impact with the Quality of Life team, itself focused on highlighting the impact of the built environment on people’s lived experience. With over 20 years’ experience in writing and communications, Matthew has previously worked with architects, engineers and developers; in book and magazine publishing; and with charities and start-ups. He is a participant on a number of advisory boards and chairs a multi-stakeholder group that advises on community engagement as part of the UKRI-funded CCQOL (Community Consultation for Quality of Life) project. A published author and mental health advocate, Matthew is particularly interested in how communities are formed and their effects on people’s physical, social and psychological wellbeing, an interest he developed while growing up in an intentional community in Kent.

Maud is co-founder and CEO of BYCS, an Amsterdam based not-for-profit organisation, guided by the belief that bicycles transform cities, and cities transform the world. In this role, she leads company strategy, partnerships, global business development and network expansion. As a highly entrepreneurial individual, her programmes have led to multi-sectoral global partnerships, garnered vast international media attention, and the organisation's Bicycle Mayor Network has grown to more than 150 cities in more than 35 countries. A creative strategist by training, she holds over two decades of experience working with large companies and municipal governments on social impact projects, in the fields of community building, public relations, media and communications.

Dr. Mina Sufineyestani is a social and urban planner with a PhD in Urban Studies from Heriot-Watt University. She has a strong interdisciplinary research background that spans planning, architecture, sociology, public health, housing design and policy, and environmental psychology. Mina specialises in exploring people-environment interactions in both built and natural settings, using mixed-methods approaches. Her work focuses on the health and wellbeing impacts of home, housing and neighbourhood quality, adaptive reuse, Permitted Development Rights, and planning regulation. She is currently a Research Fellow at University College London, contributing to a national NIHR-funded study on the health impacts of office-to-residential conversions. With professional experience across local government, industry, and academia in the UK, Italy, and Iran, she combines international insight with a commitment to policy-relevant, inclusive research. Mina’s work promotes participatory approaches to planning and design for healthier, more equitable urban environments.

Dr Monica O'Mullane is the PI on the HIA-IM project, co-hosted in University College Cork between the School of Public Health and the Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century (ISS21). The HIA-IM project is funded by the Health Research Board in Ireland to create a HIA implementation model based on the undertaking of two HIAs, one on the Cork City Development Plan and the second on the national Climate Action Plan. https://www.ucc.ie/en/iss21/researchprojects/researchprojects/hia-im/

Nadine is a senior lecturer in people management and holds the role of subject group head for the HRM team. She is also equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) head for people and culture in Salford Business School. It is in this role that she sits on the project board for the new SBS Building. She leads the People Workstream and oversees the EDI requirements in the project.

Dr Natalie Grinvalds is a health behaviour researcher, certified health education specialist, and National Board certified health coach with over a decade of experience spanning the UK and US public health sectors. She specialises in exploring how individual behaviours, workplace environments, and broader social and environmental systems interact to influence health and wellbeing outcomes in urban communities. Natalie holds a PhD in health behaviour from Indiana University, where her doctoral research focused on co-located models of healthcare and leisure to promote physical activity and improve health outcomes. She also holds a master's in public health and is a certified health education specialist (CHES). Early in her career, she designed and delivered grant-funded health promotion programmes in local health departments in the US. Since relocating to the UK, she has worked across academia, local government, and community settings, focusing on integrated, evidence-based approaches to health promotion and disease prevention. She is the founder of Resilience Fitness + Wellbeing, a workplace wellness consultancy that delivers behaviour change programmes, fitness classes, and organisational wellbeing strategies to diverse populations, including remote workers, health professionals, and startup teams. Natalie’s current research at the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) at Sheffield Hallam University focuses on Sport England’s place-based funding models, aimed at reducing inequalities in physical activity participation. Her work explores how community-driven and partnership approaches can increase access to physical activity and promote sustainable health behaviours in urban environments. Passionate about translating research into practice, Natalie regularly presents on behaviour change, mental health, and workplace wellbeing, advocating for inclusive, community-centred strategies that promote long-term resilience and health equity.

Neil Walmsley is a dual-qualified engineer and planner with more than 25 years of broad urban development project experience covering strategy, policy, planning, design and delivery across UK, Middle East and South East Asia markets. Throughout his international career he has been at the centre of large, complex and fast-paced major projects with a common theme of multi-modal transport and land use integration. High-profile examples include Dubai’s 2020 Transport Master Plan, Abu Dhabi’s 2030 City Plan, Dubai's successful bid to host World Expo 2020, Indonesia’s New Capital Master Plan, and Singapore’s Sentosa 2040 Growth Plan. In 2021, Neil was appointed to the Singapore Government’s 12-member Design Advisory Council in recognition of his extensive experience as a trusted advisor to public- and private-sector clients. He is currently based in Manchester and leads Hatch’s Urban Solutions team in UK/Europe, which focuses on helping clients to maximise the socio-economic impact of urban regeneration investments through a holistic understanding of local needs and the application of place-based interventions.

Nichola is an associate landscape architect with 18 years' experience. Nichola has a portfolio of UK and international projects, from the detailed design of public spaces to the spatial planning of cities. Her project experience comprises a wide variety of sectors, including masterplanning; public realm design; education; sports and leisure; science and research; transport; and healthcare. She has a passion for creating spaces with a strong sense of place that inspire people, have true purpose, and are user centric.

Nicola is programme manager for Wellbeing Matters Salford at Salford CVS. She has worked in the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector for over 15 years, driven by a passion for community-led approaches to health and wellbeing. With a background in exercise and health sciences from the University of Salford, she has focused her career on prevention and supporting people to take control of their own lives. Across Salford and Greater Manchester, she has delivered and led projects in behaviour change, social prescribing, domestic abuse prevention, and community development. She currently leads the Wellbeing Matters programme at Salford CVS, which connects health, care, and VCSE partners to support people in a more holistic and preventive way. What drives her is seeing the impact of community-led change and being part of a sector that champions people, relationships, and local strengths.

Director at Pozzoni Architecture Nigel Saunders has extensive design expertise in the housing sector across all age groups, with a particularly keen interest in multi-generational living. Nigel is also chair of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s ‘Housing, Planning & Ageing Group’, which aims to address the city region’s housing options for older people, including creating balanced communities in our towns and cities.

An exceptional leader, Nuala has amassed more than two decades of experience in development and placemaking internationally and is also currently a board member of Limerick Twenty Thirty, a property development company. Her previous roles include Head of Regeneration for the London Borough of Newham, Director for Economy of Place at Bristol City Council and Director of City Centre Development at Belfast City Council. Nuala has also spent time working in New York, leading on sustainable urban development and teaching at Columbia University. She is a registered architect and a graduate of Columbia University with a Masters in Urban Design. She will work closely with the Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson, interim Chief Executive Theresa Grant and the Government Commissioners to continue the transformation of the City Development directorate.

Oisín N. Kavanagh is a pharmacist and senior lecturer in pharmaceutics at the School of Pharmacy, Newcastle University, and a fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. He received the Gold Medal from the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland in 2017 and completed his clinical training in his hometown of Derry before moving to the University of Limerick to undertake his PhD, where he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to the School of Pharmacy, University of Michigan. His research interests are centred around the relationship between drug physical properties and their pharmacokinetics.

Oliver is the executive director at London CLT and has oversight of all our live projects and campaigns for new housing sites. His background as an architect with specialist knowledge in housing and low-energy design provides invaluable technical expertise and practical knowledge to all our work. He has worked on a wide range of award-winning projects, from large-scale masterplans and housing developments right down to individual homes, with projects in many London boroughs, including Iroko House for Coin Street Community Builders and Somerleyton Road community housing for Brixton Green/LB Lambeth. Having previously designed and constructed a home and studio in Shoreditch, he now lives in north London in a self-built zero-carbon family house that is so well insulated it has no need for a heating system. He believes that community-led housing, coupled with excellent professional input from an understanding design team, has the potential to create homes and places that are beautiful, long-lasting and respond positively to the climate emergency.

Olivia is a public health researcher at the University of Cambridge, specialising in environmental interventions to promote health and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Her research focuses on evaluating large-scale policy interventions, such as London's Ultra Low Emission Zone, aimed at reducing car use and enhancing urban air quality. She is particularly interested in applying systems approaches to evaluate population health interventions, with a focus on understanding the intersection between health co-benefits and urban climate policies. This includes exploring how to integrate health considerations into urban climate planning and policymaking. With a strong commitment to health equity and social justice, her research is informed by insights from her PhD, for which she examined how socioeconomic factors influence young people's physical activity and long-term health outcomes.

Orla is a Project Manager at Unlimited Potential, a community benefit society based in Greater Manchester. Following an academic background in Criminology and Social Work, Orla has experience of working with diverse groups and communities to understand and address inequalities. Orla's work has been focused on developing solutions for system change and working alongside local people and agencies to achieve this.

Dr Axelsson obtained his PhD in environmental psychology from Stockholm University in 2011. In 2013 and 2014, he was a Newton international fellow at the School of Architecture, University of Sheffield, sponsored by The Royal Society. Since 2022, he has been employed as a statistician at the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Medicine within the Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm. He is also affiliated as a researcher with the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet. Dr Axelsson has a particular interest in spatial analysis and optimising urban form with respect to public health.

Paul is a social entrepreneur & artist working variously as a Creative & Commercial Director or CEO across the businesses he has cofounded. He is a cofounder, Director and part owner of Peckham Palms, Mission Kitchen, Makerversity (BCorp), 50m and the art & social practice Something & Son. In 2024 he cofounded two new businesses – Setlist and Camden Urban Farm which will open in 2025 and 2027. Together these businesses support over 600 small entrepreneurs - working across food, design, art, fashion, engineering, innovation and in the case of Peckham Palms - Black hair styling, retail and creative practices. The businesses have a combined turnover of £2.5m and operate 35,000 sqft of workspace, making and retail space. The group of impact driven organisations all enjoy long term partnerships with a range of third sector organisations to provide support, free and subsidised workspace and training. Alongside Cyndi Anafo, Paul is a co founder of Peckham Palms and part of the team that tendered to support Southwark Council to reimagine the site in 2014. Together they have developed the space from some empty garages to the mission driven community organisation that The Palms is today. Providing London’s only business retail and workspace designed from the bottom up to support Black women in business and to safeguard the future of Black hair styling in Peckham. We aim to present an alternative to displacement via gentrification and safeguard a vital community space and local service. Paul has 18 years of experience in founding and operating social businesses that support small businesses - with a passion for supporting everyday, hands-on, making and creative businesses - where people need tools, facilities and a supportive community to bring a business idea to life. His first job at 16 was running his own handyman business and the belief in the power of entrepreneurship and hands on work to give meaning and joy to life remains core to his work. The creation of new organizations through co-founding allows each organisation to work authentically and purposefully with its community and allows co-created ownership models that are led locally, sensitive and appropriate to each social and placemaking challenge. As an artist (working as one half of Something & Son) Paul has shown work at Tate Britain,Tate Modern, V&A, Somerset House, Gwangju Biennial and Salt, amongst other galleries and institutions. From 2014-2017 Paul was a Trustee of London Gypsy & Travellers - a charity working to represent and support this community within London. Paul has also cofounded and exited three organisations - Crepe City, Europe’s largest sneaker and lifestyle festival, FARMshop a small high street cafe and urban farming educational space that operated in Dalston from 2008 to 2016 and Cocreate a cooperative sustainability consultancy founded in 2009. Prior to leaving work to start his own businesses at the age of 25, from 2007-2010 Paul worked for sustainable building companies Beyond Green and Inbuilt. Paul holds a Masters in Engineering Design and Sustainable Technology (MEng) from the University of Warwick. He grew up in Portsmouth and now lives in Peckham, London with his young family.

Started LA Career as a planner and with 40 years of LA experience, with a focus throughout on Place making and making a difference both locally and regionally to influence positive change. Currently responsible for the Regeneration and Economic development functions of the Council, including Town Centre and district centre master planning and delivery of key regeneration schemes together with the delivery and implementation of the economic growth and resilience plan. Bolton has a big ambition, has suffered as many towns have with changes to retail but the people of Bolton remain proud and support place shaping and planned intervention at scale. Paul is responsible for driving the ambition and bringing to life the delivery through strategic sites and a mayoral development corporation.

Peter leads all areas of our work at Impact on Urban Health. Peter has been our Executive Director for Impact on Urban Health since 2023. Peter brings together our programmes’ funding and partnerships, as well as the work of our data, evidence and innovation teams in support of our urban health work. Peter brings a range of experience in senior leadership roles, in organisations including the Youth Endowment Fund and The Social Innovation Partnership. He also previously served as a Councillor in Southwark Council and as Chair of Blagrave Trust.

Dr Murekatete obtained her PhD in urban planning and environment, with a specialisation in geoinformatics, from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, in 2022. She currently works at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet. Her research focuses primarily on the application of GIS in sustainable spatial planning and environmental justice.

Former Clinical Psychologist turned placemaking thinker and do-er! After a career journey in healthcare, spanning clinical psychology, service improvement, innovation, and project management roles, with a smattering of property development, Vice Chair of a charity, and all kinds of creative courses in between(!), I ventured into the world of design and urban planning. I co-created Healthy Happy Places which is about using creative participation to nudge and inspire the design of places and spaces that are good for our mental health and wellbeing. Acting as a bridge between sectors, exploring ways of putting tactical urbanism (‘where top down meets bottom up’) into action in places with deep inequalities and using a set of evidence based 'ingredients' to guide possibilities in place. Based in a small corner of North East England, a place that holds my home, heart, and heritage - ever curious about the connections between wellbeing, planning, design and the community as equal partners.

Rebecca is senior research fellow working in the Groundswell consortium based in the University of Liverpool. She has a particular interest in the involvement of community members in decision-making focussed on urban green and blue space. She is leading an evaluation of the community involvement processes in the regeneration of Central Birkenhead.

Rhiannon is a researcher and practitioner active in the field of health/wellbeing-focused and socially based urban regeneration, placemaking and place-keeping. She works across disciplines to support improved place-based wellbeing outcomes. Her current work is exploring and implementing bottom-up processes to enable the development of community-led regeneration plans. She is working in the trailblazer neighbourhood of Central Birkenhead, helping to run the community sessions that form the basis of the Place Plan.

Robert studied architecture at the University of Cambridge and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He joined Eric Parry Architects in 1989 and was made director in 1997. Currently Robert is working on several consented City of London office developments and the innovative reuse of a 1950s office building in Belgrave Road, Pimlico. Since 2011 he has directed the design for major residential buildings, including the Phase 3 Heart of Doha project in Qatar and five apartment buildings in Phases 4 & 6a at Chelsea Barracks. He has led on projects such as prestigious office buildings at 8 St James’s Square and 23 Savile Row; refurbishment works for Selfridges & Co; and the innovative 4 Pancras Square building at Kings Cross Central. In the City, he was involved in the planning stages of London Stock Exchange at Paternoster Square and 120 Fenchurch Street, as well as the current joint venture for the complex Crossrail oversite development at 1 Liverpool Street. Robert was involved on many of the practice’s earliest award-winning schemes, including Foundress Court, a residential and teaching building for Pembroke College at Cambridge University, and the office building at 30 Finsbury Square, which won numerous awards on its completion in 2003. He was also responsible for the successful delivery of the £36m Renewal of St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square. The project consisted of the refurbishment and conservation of James Gibbs’ Grade I listed church and crypt, including reconstruction of the below-ground spaces, the extension of a Grade II listed John Nash terrace, and the reordering of the publicly accessible spaces. Robert led the redesign of the 1 Undershaft project from EPA’s consented 2016 design. Working closely with the client, development managers and engineering team, the updated scheme focuses on sustainable construction, increased urban greening and an emphasis on occupier wellbeing and amenities, all with an increase in massing needed for commercial viability. The City of London Planning Committee approved the revised application in December 2024. The project is currently on site. Robert has taught in architectural design studios at the University of North London and the University of Cambridge.

Rosalie is policy and project manager at the TCPA, focusing on the Campaign for Healthy Homes and healthy places, including research with UCL on the health impacts of permitted development housing. She is a visiting research associate with the University of Bristol on 'Tackling the Root causes Upstream of Unhealthy Urban Development' (TRUUD). Rosalie has a background in sustainability and health standards, masterplanning and green infrastructure. She is a full member of CIEEM, affiliate RTPI member, a 'Building with Nature' assessor and 'BREEAM Communities' assessor.

Rukun Khalaf is a PhD student based at the University of Liverpool. Her work focuses on Green and Blue Spaces (GBS) and their relationship with maternal health, newborn health, and health inequalities. Her work is funded through a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Public Health (SPHR) PhD studentship. Rukun has a background in infectious disease epidemiology and has an MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Moreover, she has worked as an epidemiologist with the World Health Organization (WHO) Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rukun aims to conduct research that utilises data to answer complex public and environmental health questions.

Sally joined the TCPA in April 2022 and works on the Healthy Homes campaign and healthy place-making workstream. This includes working with local authorities to achieve healthy and sustainable places. Prior to joining the TCPA, Sally worked in sustainability consulting for the built environment and homebuilding industry. She holds a Master’s degree in Environment and Sustainable Development from University College London, and preceding that she studied geography, sustainability and geology at Hofstra University in New York. As a part of her studies, Sally completed an internship at Nature Connect in Cape Town that focused on conservation and environmental education.

Mrs Campbell has worked at the city council since Autumn 1999 and has risen through the ranks of the Planning Department to hold various posts such as Principal Planning Officer, Deputy Team Leader of Urban Design and Heritage Team and City Centre Co-ordinator. Her 19 year career at the council has led Samantha to take a lead planning role in a number of major regeneration schemes from Kings Dock to Liverpool Football Club’s stadium expansion to the development of the £2bn Knowledge Quarter and overseeing the growth of the Baltic Triangle. The mother of two, who has a Masters in Environmental Planning from Liverpool John Moores University and Post Graduate Diploma in Urban Design at Salford University, has also played a key role in refreshing the strategy for Liverpool’s World Heritage site, liaising closely on projects such as Liverpool Waters and a new Cruise Terminal. As Head of Planning her brief will be to also oversee the development of emerging growth zones in the city such as Ten Streets, the Fabric District, the new Beatles Quarter and the implementation of the Local Plan to build 35,000 new homes across the city over the next 15 years.

Sam Jarrett leads marketing and communications for the regeneration team of Landsec, one of the UK’s foremost real estate companies. For the last decade, he has been focused on helping shape some of the country’s most ambitious projects, including the transformation of Manchester’s Mayfield district. With a background in broadcast and print, Sam brings a creative storytelling lens to the creation and communication of new places.

Sarah is an associate professor and Australian Research Council future fellow with the Centre for Urban Research at RMIT University in Melbourne, where she is the associate director of the ‘Planning and Transport for Healthy Cities’ theme. She leads a programme of applied research designed to influence policy and practice to create healthier built environments. This includes ‘The High Life Study’, which examines the interplay between apartment design policy standards, the design of contemporary apartment buildings, and residents’ health and wellbeing. She is a member of the West Australian State Design Review Panel and senior assistant editor of the journal ‘Environment and Behavior’.

Since 2021, Sarah has worked for Latin Elephant, a London-based charity that works to support migrant and racialised communities and sole traders impacted by planning, regeneration and gentrification. She began her work by directly supporting traders who were displaced by the regeneration of the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre. Since joining, she has also contributed to the organisation’s research projects and policy responses. From 2023, Sarah has facilitated Protect Our Places (POP), a coalition of London-based campaigns, each fighting to preserve the vibrant essence of their beloved town centres, markets and affordable retail spaces in the face of encroaching gentrification. Sarah is also pursuing a PhD in planning at the UCL Bartlett School of Planning, where she is studying the relationship between ‘official’ and grassroots planning stories to investigate how the gentrification of London’s affordable retail spaces and markets represents the racialised displacement of social and cultural infrastructures.

Dr Smout has built an interdisciplinary programme of research that focuses on adolescent mental health, public health policy, and the social determinants of health. Her research investigates both the behavioural drivers of mental health, and the socio-political environments that shape these drivers, with an overarching goal of promoting population mental health and wellbeing. In particular, she has built a national and international reputation for her research and demonstrated exceptional thought leadership in the prevention of mental disorders in adolescents via lifestyle behaviour change.

Sean is a UK-based designer interested in ideas that involve cities, urbanism, architecture, objects, graphics and design. He has been involved in urban planning and master projects for over 12 years, working on concept and detail design proposals for urban extensions, city regeneration, and strategic and regional framework plans ranging in scale from 10 to 5000ha. He has experience of working in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia as well as the UK, successfully delivering good design with transformative change. He has a background in architecture with a master's degree in urban design, for which he received a distinction with a first for his thesis project on the regeneration of Margate's seafront; this augments a bachelor's degree in architecture and experience working for several London practices on award-winning retail, office, and mixed-use schemes. His interests and expertise are in urban analytics, smart cities, research-driven design and emergent processes, and he strongly believes in design's ability to shape and better the future of the environment we live in.

Sem Lee is an urban strategist and social entrepreneur with over 11 years’ experience managing sustainability, communications, and design projects. Sem founded OURI Labs in response to the pressing need to understand how to link public health and urban planning. OURI Labs is a health innovation research lab committed to shaping healthy and equitable cities that better serve communities and the planet. The practice specialises in participatory research, evaluation, and design, bridging urban planning policy and public health. Key organisations they have collaborated with include Health Innovation North East North Cumbria, Greater London Authority, University College London (Bartlett), and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.

Shannon is a responsible residential developer and advisor, creating and supporting sustainable schemes that feel welcoming to all ages and positively support the wider neighbourhood. She is also a: • Women in Property Board director; • member of the GMCA Housing, Planning and Ageing Steering Group; • senior advisor, Housing Growth Partnership; • Chorlton CLT Board member; • GM Future Leaders mentor; and • guest lecturer at LJMU and Sheffield Hallam University.

Shaun is a senior urban planner and Director of UK Planning at Prior + Partners. He draws on his extensive experience in both the private and public sectors, with Shaun’s expertise spanning the delivery of complex regeneration projects including new communities, formulating strategic planning documents, and crafting masterplans that shape the future of neighbourhoods and urban centres. Shaun is passionate about championing built environment principles and practices that prioritise the creation of healthy communities and places. He is a co-author of ‘The Healthy City’ on behalf of Key Cities, which seeks to embrace the full potential of our urban landscapes to ‘create health’. A Planning Expert to the Government’s High Streets Task Force, Shaun is also collaborating with the Quality of Life Foundation to advise the Local Government Association on a holistic resource for councils to understand and leverage their powers in promoting public health through planning.

Dr Shelley James is a strategic lighting design consultant, TEDx speaker, author, and member of the WELL Light Advisory. She is also a trained electrician and visiting lecturer at UCL Bartlett and the Royal College of Art.

Dr Sheraz Ahmad is a consultant psychiatrist and clinical lead for Barnsley Street neighbourhood mental health centre in Tower Hamlets, London, for East London NHS Foundation Trust. He has been a consultant psychiatrist for 15 years and believes freedom is therapeutic.

Sigrid comes from the tradition of environmental psychology. Her PhD is about cargo bikes’ place in the urban landscape, especially focusing on the user perspective and the sustainability aspect. Her focus is on using the built environment and the complex systems organising them in combination with psychology to attain more sustainable cities and sustainable behaviour.

Sophie is a chartered town planner and was recognised as one of the The Planner Magazine’s Women of Influence in 2025. Sophie is a Senior Manager within the unique Regeneration and Infrastructure team at NHS North East London Integrated Care Board where she leads the ICB’s planning programme which focusses upon ensuring that the healthcare infrastructure within the area is sufficient to meet current and future population needs. This work includes engaging with senior stakeholders to influence the policy agenda around planning for health which transcends a number of areas including conventional town planning, health master planning, public health, net zero & sustainability and estates. Prior to joining NHS North East London, Sophie worked in a range of public and private sector roles in planning and regeneration within Central, North and East London.

Love Ssega is a musician, artist and founder of acclaimed arts-led clean air organisation LIVE + BREATHE. His work, including LIVE + BREATHE, blurs the lines of civic engagement, understanding, activism and hope. As an artist has performed on stages, from Glastonbury to Tokyo, with music premieres across BBC Radio 1, 3 to 6Music. Love Ssega’s multi-arts works have been commissioned by the National Gallery, Royal Shakespeare Company and Serpentine amongst others, with visual art exhibited internationally at MoMA PS1 and MIT Museum. He was founding frontman and songwriter of Clean Bandit and is currently Southbank Centre Associate Artist 2024-2027. He was an official host for UN COP26 and is a Trustee of Brian Eno-led music and climate charity EarthPercent. LIVE + BREATHE is a Black-led non-profit that uses the power of art and culture to champion under-represented voices and community calls for clean air. As an organisation LIVE + BREATHE commissioned work has been performed in the Houses of Parliament, collaborated with Philharmonia Orchestra, shown in global superstar Billie Eilish’s Overheated at The O2 and featured as part of London College of Communication (UAL) Design School taught syllabus. Free community summer events across Southwark and Lambeth have received coverage in local newspapers and also BBC Radio 4, ITV London News and BBC London. Through LIVE + BREATHE local residents become educators and artists act as resonators, centring community-first empowerment, positive futures and joy. LIVE + BREATHE was nominated for the very first national Creative Change-makers Award by Sheila McKechnie Foundation in 2024.

Prof. White will present preliminary findings from the latest research into understanding and creating age-friendly cities. This interdisciplinary research identifies the key challenges for policymakers, practitioners and communities when trying to make their local neighbourhoods better places to grow older in. It supports approaches to improving the health of local older residents through place-based initiatives, urban planning and housing developments. His research is developing new conceptual models, implementation tools and evaluation processes, helping make place-based public-health interventions more effective. The research is led by the Architectural Research Office (ARO) at the Manchester School of Architecture (MSA), working collaboratively with 30+ healthy ageing researchers across disciplines at Manchester Metropolitan University (HealthyAgeing@MMU).

Stéphanie Pereboom is a master’s student and researcher at the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, Department of Urban Systems and Real Estate at Eindhoven University of Technology. She specialises in urban systems and real estate within her Master of Science programme. Stéphanie’s research focuses on the intersection of urban development and real estate, emphasising user-centred and practical solutions to complex challenges. Her approach is analytical, creative, and solution-oriented, aiming to contribute to sustainable and resilient urban environments. During her recent research internship at Anculus, Stéphanie investigated the adoption of circular economy principles in primary school buildings. Her work involved a comparative case study analysis of renovation versus new construction, evaluating sustainable strategies for the educational building sector. This project enhanced her understanding of sustainable design and circular practices in the built environment. Stéphanie combines strong analytical skills with a critical perspective, striving to translate theoretical insights into realistic, user-focused outcomes. Her work supports the development of future-proof urban systems that balance innovation with practicality and sustainability.

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Dr Tara Kenny is the postdoctoral researcher on the HIA-IM project, co-hosted in University College Cork between the School of Public Health and the Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century (ISS21).

Dr Toni Sant is the director of the digital curation lab at MediaCityUK and associate professor in the School of Arts, Media, and Creative Technology at the University of Salford. Between 2014 and 2020, he was the artistic director of Spazju Kreattiv, Malta’s national centre for creativity. He has written widely about digital curation and media archaeology, starting with his book 'Franklin Furnace & the Spirit of the Avant Garde: A History of the Future' (Intellect, 2011). Other recent books include 'Documenting Performance: The Context and Processes of Digital Curation and Archiving' (Bloomsbury, 2017), 'The Spazju Kreattiv Art Collection' (Fondazzjoni Kreattività, 2020), and 'Enrique Tabone: Catalogue Raisonné' (Kite Group, 2023). In 2021, he was awarded the National Book Prize of Malta for literary non-fiction for a book of Facebook posts called Jien-Noti-Jien (Klabb Kotba Maltin, 2020), which he co-authored with EU Literature Prize winner Immanuel Mifsud during the first Covid pandemic lockdown. He is also an associate editor of the International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media.

A story teller, development critic, and aspiring farmer, Wangu has more than 20 years' experience in supporting organisations to critically analyse how they are contributing to a more equitable and sustainable world, and to communicate this effectively to different audiences. Her specialties include: strategic communications; knowledge management; capturing lessons from development practice; linking research, policy and practice; web content management; and capacity development.

With a background in human geography and urban planning, William brings both technical expertise and a systems-thinking approach to sustainable urban design. Since 2019, he has worked as a sustainability consultant in the built environment, specialising in whole-life carbon assessments and net-zero strategies. His work is grounded in a deep interest in the circular economy, nature-based solutions, and the 15-minute city concept – principles he applies to help shape urban environments that are fairer, healthier, and more climate resilient.

Dr. Yonette Felicity Thomas is the founder and president of UrbanHealth360, an organization of multidisciplinary thinkers centered on a people-oriented, community-focused approach to urban health. Dr. Thomas is a globally acknowledged thought leader, urban health champion, and an advocate for valuing the health of women and girls as an economic imperative. A social epidemiologist/medical sociologist by training, she has served as the chief of Epidemiology at the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the National Institutes of Health, held academic positions at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Howard University, and as a vice president for research. She founded Borjoner International and Strategic Transitions to influence the progress, health, and wellbeing of individuals and communities across the world. As a founding board member of Women’s Economic Imperative (WEI), she leads the organization’s focus on the health of women and girls as an economic value. Her work as global advisor for Evidence for Sustainable Human Development Systems in Africa (EVIHDAF) and the Centre for Urban Health and Development within the Asian Institute of Poverty Alleviation (CUHD-AIPA) extends her focus on the global south and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals in this last decade. She is the Associate Editor for Women and Girls for Cities & Health. She is a founding board member of the International Society for Urban Health (ISUH) and recently led the organization into sustainability by serving as the inaugural executive director (as a board member) and has served as a science advisor for urban health to the New York Academy of Medicine. She is a founding board member and former vice president of the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS) and served on the Steering Committee of the National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse for more than a decade. She served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Revisions to the Common Rule for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research in the Behavioral and Social Sciences. Her primary research and publications have focused on the social determinants of health, health disparities, the health of women and girls as an economic value, the social epidemiology of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS and the link with geography, including edited volumes: Geography and Drug Addiction, Crime, HIV, and Health: intersections of Criminal Justice and Public Health Concerns.

Zak is a principal climate adaptation consultant within AtkinsRéalis’ Sustainable Futures practice. Zak has extensive climate risk experience from his work in consulting, academia and the public sector. He has worked with a range of clients to help them prepare for a climate-resilient future. He is passionate about using his expertise to translate climate change information into a form that is useful and actionable. In addition to his advisory work, he has published his climate science research in scientific journals and has presented his work at international conferences.

Zoë is part of the delivery team at NHS Horizons, focusing primarily on programs on physical inactivity. She has a highly interdisciplinary and varied background starting with her degree in Human Sciences through to joining Horizons. Zoë has a background in mental health, working as a Support Worker for the NHS/Mind in West Essex during the pandemic. She then followed her interests in sustainability to work in a small agri-tech start-up where her role stretching across business, HR, marketing, grant writing and more. Through this she delivered various projects at the forefront of technology and transformation both internally and externally with funding from UKRI. Her experience led to a keen interest in system change and taking a proactive preventative approach to sector issues as well as in the interaction between health and sustainability issues.

Dr Abdul Waheed is the head of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at NUST, Islamabad. He holds a PhD in sustainable urban development from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, and has more than 15 years of academic and professional experience in urban planning. His work spans sustainable development, spatial policy, and infrastructure planning, with a strong emphasis on applied research and urban resilience in developing contexts. Dr Waheed has worked with both national and international organisations and remains committed to shaping evidence-based, inclusive planning practices in Pakistan and beyond.

Adam sees himself as a design activist – someone who motivates others to take control of the power inherent in design and transform the world. As part of a dynamic team of multidisciplinary professionals, Adam works to create a culture of community leadership and to advance the principles of urban design and community design. Urban design focuses on people, casting the architect or designer as the translator of people’s needs. Through professional and volunteer activities, Adam has been a passionate advocate for quality design in the built environment – to be better at translating the needs of a community. In addition to architectural projects across numerous commercial and residential types, Adam has worked in urban planning and design, community engagement, community development, affordable housing development, economic development, and process design.

Adrian tries to be a disruptive influence where necessary. He tries not to let over 25 years’ experience in public health impact too much on what he does for the future. He has worked at local regional and national levels in the field of obesity, which is where the place-based multi-determinants of an outcome approach that he now tries to take originated. As penance for too long focusing on individual responsibility for behaviour change he now focuses his time more on creating healthier environments. Adrian’s interests include delivering a broader determinants of health approach in practice not just talking about it, and deconstructing linear cause and effect assumptions. He looks to good jazz improvisation for inspiration in music and public-sector commissioning.

Aize Han, the presenter, is the second-year graduate student majored in architecture, Tianjin University. He is interested in applying computational design in healthcare architecture and his thesis is regarding the optimization of the specialized hospital based on empirical data. The poster is part of the initial thesis outcome.

Alanis Burgess is a Part II Architectural Designer at P+HS Architects in Newcastle and Research Assistant to Dr Jiayi Jin at Northumbria University. She holds a Master of Architecture with Distinction from Northumbria University and was nominated for the 2024 RIBA President’s Medals. At P+HS, her project portfolio includes social housing, children’s homes, and large-scale residential masterplanning. Alongside practice, her research explores inclusive and socially responsive design, with a particular focus on feminist placemaking and designing for neurodiversity. Her research output has been presented at multiple conferences and events, and her writing has been published by RIBA Knowledge and The RIBA Journal. Alanis also serves as Co-Chair of the RIBA Young Architectural Practitioners Forum and represents early career architects on RIBA North East's Regional Council. As a passionate advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion across the built environment, she actively contributes to national EDI initiatives for the architectural profession.

Alessio Russo, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in Landscape Architecture and Study Area Coordinator at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Prior to joining QUT, he held senior academic positions at the University of Gloucestershire, UK (Senior Lecturer, 2019–2024), RUDN University, Moscow (Associate Professor, 2018), and FEFU, Vladivostok (Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Urban and Landscape Design, 2016–2018). A recognised expert in urban ecosystem services and green infrastructure, his research focuses on their intersection with human health and climate change. He emphasises improving health and wellbeing in cities through access to high-quality, biodiverse green spaces, stronger human–nature connections, and support for mental health. His current and past research explores nature-based solutions that deliver multiple benefits, including thermal comfort, food production, pollution reduction, and stormwater management. This work supports the creation of healthy, inclusive urban environments by incorporating participatory approaches and addressing community needs in the face of climate and biodiversity challenges.

Ali Saleh R A Habona is an experienced mechanical engineering professional currently completing his academic studies at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom. With a solid background in the energy sector, Ali has been with Qatar Energy since 2015, where he began in the Operation Engineering Department under the Inspection Section. From 2017 to 2021, he served in the Asset Integrity Department, focusing on total asset management, inspection management systems (IMS), and risk-based inspection (RBI). In addition to his technical responsibilities, Ali was the Department’s safety focal point, actively promoting safety and environmental awareness among both staff and contractors. He has been a contributing member of the RBI committee and the Focused Results Delivery (FRD) initiative, and is a certified coach in General Electric’s asset performance management (APM) software. Upon graduation, Ali will return to Qatar Energy, where he will join the engineering services and projects division, continuing to build on his commitment to operational excellence and asset integrity.

Amber Nyoni is a dedicated public health professional who champions equitable health outcomes for all. She holds a master's in population health from University College London, with a focus on health and wellbeing in the built environment, and an undergraduate degree in environmental and public health from Middlesex University. Amber is a registered public health practitioner with UKPHR. Amber's professional journey has contributed to her passion for the intersection of health and the built environment. She has worked in roles supporting a health-in-all-policies approach across various disciplines, including town planning, which led to the development of the Essex Livewell Development Accreditation for Housebuilders. Currently, as a strategic planning and public health lead at Essex County Council, Amber supports the integration of public health and town planning to address and embed the wider determinants of health into planning processes. Her role involves providing public health expertise on health impact assessments for strategic planning applications and building capabilities and capacity within Essex. Amber is also currently a member of the Urban Land Institute Health Leaders Network for Cohort 8. Amber's commitment to creating healthy and sustainable communities has been a driving force in both her professional and academic pursuits.

Amy is a senior lecturer in public health and programme lead for the UWE’s MSc Public Health. Her research interests include community development, social justice, health promotion, public health evaluation, and health and wellbeing at different stages of the life course. Amy’s methodological expertise is in qualitative research and the evaluation of community-based health promotion interventions. Amy’s doctoral thesis, entitled 'An exploration of community development initiatives as a tool for promoting social connectedness’, examines a range of projects that share a symbiotic relationship across a range of community approaches, all of which have the potential to promote social connectedness within communities and therefore reduce social isolation and loneliness.

Dr Amy Jones (PhD) is Research Programme Manager, Māori Health, Te Whatu Ora Waikato, Health NZ. She has been managing Indigenous health equity research for the past 8 years. She is currently, or recently, managed multiple large health research projects that use Whiri (an extension of Harti Hauora Tamariki) to improve health outcomes for Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand. These have covered a range of important groups including: pregnant women, Māori with chronic conditions, Māori with cancer, and tuberculosis.

Amy serves as design director of Stantec’s NYC landscape architecture studio. She brings over 15 years’ experience with a focus on design of large-scale public parks, event spaces, urban landscapes, and their intersection with other city systems, from mobility to resilience. She is a careful problem-solver and an enthusiastic proponent of multidisciplinary collaboration, particularly as the challenges of urban development demand it. With a background in architecture, she brings a sensitivity to the design fundamentals of space and light, and her work across the US and internationally has attuned her to the need for diverse community voices in the design of the public realm. A WEDG-certified professional, her recent work is focused on addressing uncertainty to create adaptable, resilient landscapes in challenging urban environments.

I am passionate about urban agriculture, sustainable architecture, and circular urbanism. I search for holistic solutions to the growing number of challenges that cities face due to linear economies, growing populations, resource scarcity, and the climate crisis. Typically, this manifests as carefully considered design solutions focusing on resource synergies and the interconnectedness of food, water, and energy, to slow and ultimately reverse ecological damage, to generate capital, and to create jobs to provide a better interface between nature, technology, and human development. My key aim is to make cities healthier, happier, and more engaging places to live and work through the (re)introduction of blue and green infrastructure, inclusive of urban agriculture. Producing food in cities provides a new palette for architectural design, a new pathway for resilient urbanism, and critical infrastructure to assist in working towards bio-circularity in the built environment.

Anna Watkowska is an investor and strategist with over 20 years of leadership in Poland and internationally. As Member of the Management Board at OKAM Capital and OKAM City, she spearheads large-scale, sustainable urban transformations, including F.S.O. PARK and F.S.O. ENERGY HUB. Her investment approach blends ESG principles with social innovation, focusing on projects that enhance community well-being, ecological performance, and climate resilience. In the From Industrial Legacy to Urban Health initiative in Łódź, she brings an investor’s vision to the adaptive reuse of historic industrial sites, creating senior living communities integrated with healthcare, green spaces, and intergenerational meeting points. Renowned for building organizations from the ground up, shaping culture, and managing complex business growth, she bridges strategic investment management with a human-first design ethos. Her mission is to reimagine post-industrial urban areas as healthy, inclusive, and future-proof places to live.

Annalise Johns is a built environment and health expert. She develops evidence-based designs to improve social determinants of health by combining epidemiological data and population health profiles with cutting edge urban innovations (IOT, biomimicry, circular economy, etc.) to facilitate resilient population health outcomes. Her experience spans public health, transportation, regeneration, urban design and housing innovation. She has produced national policies for the National Health Service, UK, as part of the Healthy New Towns programme, and has developed cutting edge pilots for housing and health for Innovate UK and local authorities across London. She is a co-chair of the Urban Land Institute’s New Housing Paradigm and advises the Women’s Budget Group on gender inclusive transport strategies.

Annamae Muldowney is a PhD researcher at TUDublin, exploring how AI-driven simulation tools can support inclusive architectural design. With a background in inclusive design, she also works as an inclusive design researcher at the Global Disability Innovation Hub at University College London, on research into inclusive infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries.

Anosh is a dedicated educator, researcher, and designer with over eight years of international experience in both academic and professional settings. His research interests include transdisciplinary collaboration, nature-based design approaches, pedagogies in architectural design and urbanism, sustainable built environment, and urban resilience. He holds a PhD in architecture from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, University of Strathclyde. His doctoral research focused on multidisciplinary approaches, specifically the development and testing of a transdisciplinary collaboration framework for the nature-based design of a sustainable built environment, aligned with the RIBA Plan of Work 2020. Previously, he completed a master of architecture in architectural design (international) with distinction (2018-2020) from the University of Strathclyde, where he developed his expertise in architectural design, sustainability, and research methodologies. His academic career has spanned both the UK and Pakistan, and he demonstrated leadership in research and teaching across various roles. With a strong foundation in both teaching and research, he is committed to advancing sustainable architectural practices and transdisciplinary collaboration in the built environment. He looks forward to further contributing to the development of innovative solutions that address global environmental and societal challenges. Information on his research outputs and professional activities is available at: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9662-9473

A practising architect and urban designer holding a master’s degree in urban design from Aalborg University, Denmark and a bachelor’s degree in architecture from GITAM University, India. Her passion lies in designing spaces for people that improve urban quality, enhance liveability, value heritage, and contribute to natural environment. Researching theories and concepts that support design of such spaces is one of her key interests.

Barbara Benesh is an architect, strategist, and the founding principal of B. Grace Design—a boutique consultancy that helps organizations align the built environment with human health, business performance, and long-term community impact. Her work sits at the intersection of wellness, real estate strategy, and urban design. A Virginia Business Top 40 Under 40 honoree and 2025 ULI Global Health Leader, Barbara advises developers, institutions, and public-private partnerships on leveraging space to catalyze economic resilience and wellbeing. With over a decade of experience across the U.S. and internationally, she has presented at global forums including Rice University, Auburn University, and the AIA International Conference. Her mission is to translate invisible drivers—health, culture, and equity—into spatial clarity that empowers people and places to thrive.

Blake Jackson is an architect working at the nexus of sustainability, wellness and resiliency. He is the Director, Sustainability for NORR, a 750-person architecture and engineering company, headquartered in Toronto, with 14 locations in the US, UK, UAE, and Canada. Blake has 25 years' experience in the AEC industry, holding a Bachelor of Architecture from Kennesaw State University and a Master of Architecture in Sustainable Environmental Design from the Architectural Association Graduate School. He is a prolific author, speaker, and educator on the built environment. Blake is on the Advisory Board for UMass Dartmouth's Interiors Program, taught at the Boston Architectural College (2013-2021), and was Vice President, Advocacy for the Boston Society of Architects (2016-2018). Blake was recognized by BD+C Magazine as a top '40 Under 40' AEC professional (2015), named a LEED Fellow by the USGBC (2021), and received the AIA Young Architect Award (2024).

Carola Groenen is a health researcher, who obtained her PhD in December 2021 on the topic of cross sectorial collaboration. At the Radboudumc, she is currently working on a research project about healthy living environments through participatory action research within municipalities. She combines this work with a position as an educational manager.

Catherine is on a personal mission to help leaders create the kind of environments where young people can truly thrive – with the support, skills, and connection they need to grow into capable, compassionate citizens of a complex world. Her work is shaped by lived experience within the SEND and education systems, alongside a deep understanding of relational parenting and trauma-informed practice. With a background in strategy, change leadership, and creative facilitation, she supports individuals and organisations through a coaching-led, collaborative approach rooted in trust, curiosity and care.

Chandkiran is a Senior Consultant at AECOM’s People Place & Advisory team, with over 10 years of design strategy experience including a PhD in Urban Design and Regeneration. Working across scale and sectors, she is passionate about using an evidence-based human-centred approach to complex problem solving. Her approach especially focuses on helping clients rationalise decision making whether campus level design strategy or local authority asset optimisation by balancing space optimisation and user experience.

I am a Trauma-Informed Design Consultant and founder of Metamorphia. I combine neuroscience, psychology, and design to create spaces that support healing, connection, and empowerment. My work is rooted in lived experience and academic research, driven by a vision to humanise the built environment. I'm currently developing The Adaptive Classroom, with Werk Solutions a scalable model that integrates trauma-informed and restorative practices with innovative classroom design to improve behaviour, engagement, and wellbeing in schools.

Consultant and campaigner focusing on healthy homes and places, working at the intersection of planning, building and health. Started career in planning & construction in the 1990s as director at Boris Construction, where she led the company in developing PFI (Private Finance Initiative) projects within the NHS and focused on designing, building and operating hospitals through a Bovis- led consortium. Over the last 15 years she has worked directly in healthcare through a series of entrepreneurial businesses focused on medical imaging and mens' health. 2 years ago Clare set up her blog “Listen to Locals” where she writes about communities, health and planning, leading to a number of initiatives including a challenge to the development industry to recognise the impact it has on local health. This has culminated in a long awaited report which Clare initiated with the Marmot Institute of Health Equity at UCL called "Building Health Equity- the role of the property sector”.

Dan has over 13 years of professional planning and land development experience, working as a community planner, a public land developer, and currently as a leader for the campus planning team at George Brown College. Dan obtained his MES degree from York University. Dan has advanced housing development programmes, including the City of Toronto’s Housing Now affordable housing programme and the Mass Timber Affordable Housing Pilot Programme, to capitalise on underutilised public real estate. Dan is currently focused on the important growth prospects and future for George Brown College, preparing a campus masterplan, addressing the current and growing housing crisis, and expanding George Brown’s academic spaces and career-oriented learning opportunities to meet the needs of a progressive 21st-century post-secondary urban campus.

Matthew Dennis is a Senior Lecturer in Geographical Information Science at the University of Manchester. His research applies spatial‑ecological modelling and GIS to green infrastructure, nature‑based solutions and social‑ecological systems.

Eleanor Albin-Clark is currently pursuing an MPhil in anthropocene studies at the University of Cambridge (Murray Edwards College), where her research explores climate urbanism and low-carbon gentrification in Holt Town, Manchester – a neighbourhood undergoing rapid transformation under competing pressures of regeneration and sustainability. In October 2025, she will begin a DPhil in geography and the environment at the University of Oxford, funded by the ESRC Grand Union DTP and based at St John’s College. Her doctoral project, Sensing the Neurodiver(City), investigates how urban rhythms and walkability are differently experienced by neurodiverse and neurotypical individuals, using comparative, sensory, and participatory methods. Her research intersects with key Healthy City Design 2025 themes, including inclusive transport and mobility, community-led urban transitions, and the design of public realms that support diverse sensory and cognitive needs. By centring neurodivergent experience in urban planning, her work contributes to emerging understandings of health equity, environmental justice, and the role of lived experience in shaping resilient, inclusive, and healthy cities.

Dr Eleanor Ratcliffe is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Psychology at University of Surrey, and a recent British Academy Innovation Fellow (2024/25). Ellie’s research focuses on connections between the physical environment and human wellbeing, and especially the role of nature and nature soundscapes in supporting positive psychological outcomes. During her British Academy Fellowship she worked with Tranquil City to co-develop, together with communities in UK cities, inclusive tools for the monitoring and evaluation of urban greening interventions that support tranquillity, wellbeing, and sustainable behaviour.

Ellie Barker is a PhD student at the University of Manchester. Her research focuses on understanding the barriers to working-class youth climate activism, exploring the intersection of class, place, and young people’s agency in shaping socially and environmentally just urban futures.

Ewan is a partner at Hawkins\Brown, a large design-led architectural practice working on a variety of projects ranging in scale and by sector. His experience and expertise spans a variety of sectors but generally his work has been on large, complex project briefs, with and around historic buildings in dense, inner-city sites to deliver healthcare, science and research buildings. He thrives on making key strategic, technical and aesthetic decisions and driving direction into projects. Collaboration and co-ordination is at the heart of every project he works on – be that in their realisation or project culture.

In her position as a senior social scientist and team member supervisor at HDR, Francesqca plays an integral role in the development and integration of human studies that support our clients’ knowledge needs and organizational goals. She is particularly interested in the relationships of built and social environments to human behavior, productivity and well-being. Francesqca’s responsibilities include study design and implementation oversight, developing instrumentation for data collection, writing research plans and protocols, facilitating focus groups and interviews, conducting quantitative and qualitative data analysis, and synthesizing findings and insights that support our clients’ success. With her psychology and human-environment relations background, Francesqca brings appropriate methodologies and rigor to our projects, helping to ensure positive human experiences and outcomes.

Gail Shillingford, a seasoned urban planner with over 30 years of experience, is passionate about creating inclusive, sustainable communities. Her expertise in masterplanning, urban design, and landscape architecture has led to award-winning projects worldwide. Gail's collaborative approach prioritises community engagement, particularly for underrepresented voices. She believes in pushing the boundaries of design to create resilient, equitable, and thriving communities. Gail’s experience encompasses a variety of streams, including all scales of city masterplanning, landscape design, and urban design. She has developed award-winning visions, design frameworks, policies, guidelines, and detailed designs for various projects, including community improvement and secondary plans, post-secondary campus masterplans, heritage conservation districts, LEED ND neighbourhoods, downtown and waterfront plans, and open space and streetscape designs. Gail’s focus on her projects is entrenched in building resilient communities in a rapidly changing world. She thrives on pushing the frontiers of design and enabling new ways of thinking.

Georgina Blix is the Director of Blix Architecture, a research-led design studio with a focus on design for wellbeing. In 2025 she released her Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarship research based on travels around the world exploring how we can design for wellbeing and measure it in housing. Her research covers intergenerational design, design for trauma and how to improve housing for social connection. With the rising challenges of mental health and loneliness, her research outlines the correlation between housing design and improved mental health outcomes particularly at the scale of the neighbourhood. This was launched in July 2025 in Australia with the NSW Minister for Housing and Mental Health and the NSW Commissioner for Mental Health. As a practising Architect and pracademic Georgina has taught at Sydney University, been published in Bulletin Magazine, regularly speaks at conferences, and has co-authored research into wellbeing with Sydney University.

Arch. Giulio Felli is general director and senior principal at CSPE. After graduating, in architecture from the University of Florence, he began collaborations with several studios in Europe, participating in the conceptualisation and design of international projects and competitions on an urban scale, and dealing with issues relating to environmental and energy sustainability. In 1996, he began his professional activity at the CSPE and in 1999 he became a principal, dealing with the co-ordination of the design in the various phases, from the concept to the realisation of the projects. Since 2006, he has held the role of principal and technical director. He works on various international projects and competitions as project manager, also in collaboration with renowned British and American design firms. Many of the projects he has worked on have received awards and accolades for the environmental-friendly solutions adopted. He held the role of Adjunct Professor at the Department of Architecture at the University of Ferrara focusing on the "Design of Building Systems" and Architectural Construction courses for 10 years.

Grant Waters is the CEO of Tranquil City, an environmental research and innovation company, with a mission to bring people in cities closer to nature and to create healthier urban environments. He has extensive experience in co-ordinating multidisciplinary innovations that bridge gaps between research, practice and positive impact. He has a background in acoustic consultancy with specific expertise in urban soundscapes, and he has led projects for governmental bodies, including Defra, Natural England, Transport for London, European Commission, as well as high-profile projects with architectural and urban planning practices, local authorities, NGOs, business improvement districts, and technology companies.

Hadiya J. Khuwaja is an architect and urban planner currently engaged in graduate research at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad. Her work explores the intersection of urban design, public health, and social equity, with a particular interest in fostering inclusive and resilient cities in the Global South.

Hakimeh Shams is an urban planning student at Bu-Ali Sina University with a creative perspective on the intersection of design, urban health, and human experiences in public spaces. She has participated in poster-based and graphic design projects focused on socio-urban themes. Her main interest lies in leveraging the power of design to create healthy, interactive, and human-centered urban environments. Her academic and creative endeavors aim to enhance the quality of urban life by bridging artistic approaches with evidence-based urban research.

Professor Badland's vision is to create a more inclusive society, where everyone, regardless of their circumstances, can flourish. To do this, she investigates how the built environment is connected to health, wellbeing, and inequities in both adults and children internationally, with an interest in in populations disadvantaged by the system and inadequate policies. Her interdisciplinary, mixed-methods research programme engages with end-users, typically policymakers and non-government organisations, to influence on-the-ground change. She is currently working on two major research themes: one is enhancing the social determinants of health for those with disability; the other focuses on reducing inequities in early childhood development.

Heather Macey is a Director and Trustee at Makower Architects, where she shares leadership responsibilities with Tim Makower, helping to guide the practice’s strategic direction and day-to-day operations. With a background in urban regeneration, supported housing and masterplanning, Heather is committed to creating healthier and more inclusive environments through design innovation. Her work spans public and private sectors, including the adaptive reuse of culturally significant sites, residential schemes, and mixed-use masterplans. At Makower Architects, she is leading the studio’s focus on health and housing - advancing new models of place-based care and shaping projects that integrate wellbeing into the fabric of everyday life. Heather is a Trustee and Co-Lead of Homestead, a pioneering supported-housing model that brings together therapeutic design, health innovation and place-based care to support individuals with psychosis. Through this work, she is helping to reimagine supported-housing as a therapeutic ecosystem embedded in its local context. She is also the founding member of Architects Aware!, a London-based think tank dedicated to addressing housing insecurity through design and policy. She is currently producing a podcast series, Therapeutic by Design, which shares insights from clinicians, policymakers, designers and individuals with lived experience to influence health-centred policy and built environment practice. A confident public speaker and regular contributor to policy and design discourse, Heather champions a holistic, cross-sectoral approach to urban health, social justice and systemic change.

Huzaifa Sarfraz is the co-founder and CEO of Neosyss – a US-based software company operating at the intersection of AI, web, mobile, GIS, and blockchain technologies. The journey of this startup began with a project, where he and his team tackled the challenge of boosting the electric vehicle infrastructure in Pakistan. To address this issue, they designed an EV battery swapping station and conducted a comprehensive analysis of EV charging stations in Islamabad, including solar-powered charging solutions. Since then, he began exploring new domains, diving into marketing, learning non-tech concepts, and coding for fun, which eventually led to Neosyss. The team’s first product was Guidly, an AI-powered EdTech platform designed to tackle career challenges faced by students and job seekers. Now he is focused on Eco Muhafiz ("Muhafiz" meaning "protector" in English), which is a climate tech solution that combats deforestation using AI and IoT-based sensors. Through these ventures, Huzaifa has helped address various real-world urban problems and remains committed to the mission of enabling communities to thrive through innovation.

Illyana is a talented architectural designer with a strong attention to research, visualisation, and design solutions. These skills have been developed during her six-year journey in healthcare design. Illyana envisions a path where she is a community design architect working to improve the social, mental, and behavioural healthcare experience of communities through sustainable design.

Jack S. Benton is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Manchester. His research focuses on understanding, monitoring and evaluating how urban environments influence human health and wellbeing using natural experiment methodology.

Jack Wilkinson is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester. His research relates to evaluation of health interventions and methodology for this purpose. He has a particular interest in reproductive medicine, and an international portfolio of clinical trials in this field.

Jacquelyn (Jax) is a project architect from the Philadelphia office working on variety of healthcare and K-12 education projects for clients including Jefferson Health, Mayo Clinic, UPMC Pinnacle, and Goochland County Public Schools. In her role, Jax has supported projects from programming through construction administration. Her passion for designing spaces that help people heal and grow is what drives her every day. Her commitment to design goes beyond the walls of Stantec. Jax is a member of the PHDC Percent for Art Committee and an adjunct professor at Thomas Jefferson University’s College of Architecture and the Built Environment.

Interdisciplinary researcher, exploring multiple perspectives surrounding different narratives of national infrastructure planning to identify areas for proactive policy reform

James O'Connell is a public health doctor working in the health service in Ireland. He has a strong interest in creating healthy places. He has a master's in public health and a diploma in planning and environmental law. He is an affiliate member of the Irish Planning Institute.

James Rothwell is a Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Manchester. He researches environmental pollution, hydrology, and soil processes in peatlands and urban catchments, advising on nature‑based resilience strategies for built environments.

Jamie Anderson is a Research Fellow at the University of Manchester and Senior Sustainability Consultant at Buro Happold. His research focuses on sustainable city and neighbourhood design in relation to wellbeing.

As HDR’s director of social and behavioural sciences, Jeri leads our team of social scientists, researchers, and analysts, who use proven expertise, curiosity, and creativity to design and conduct credible research and evaluation focused on real-world outcomes. Jeri is highly adept at developing and implementing quantitative, qualitative, and multi-method studies, including representative survey research, programme evaluation, longitudinal and time series approaches, and applications of systems science. Jeri’s work generates actionable insights to inform a range of behavioural and experiential interventions in various built and social contexts including communities, organisations and buildings. She is driven to find solutions to the “people side” of complex problems, and to help our clients create highly effective human-centred strategies, programmes, and infrastructure. She has worked extensively with diverse urban and rural communities, and has led local-, regional- and national-scale studies impacting programmatic and built solutions.

Dr Jiayi Jin is an Assistant Professor at Northumbria University whose research explores digital urban technologies and creative participation to promote equitable and sustainable cities. She leads several British Academy and UKRI-funded projects, including “Gender-Inclusive Cities”, “Participatory Neighbourhood Planning for the ‘Brown to Green’ Transition in Tyneside”, and “Navigating Urban Ecologies”. Her work focuses particularly on how urban design and planning are conceptualised and experienced through a gender lens. Beginning with an investigation of Newcastle’s City Centre Transformation Plan back in 2021, her research has expanded to explore feminist urban environments, masculinity in urban design, and gendered dynamics in urban politics. She works closely with external partners including community organisations, architects, urban planners, artists and local government, employing methods such as gender equity walks, interviews, documentaries, counter-mapping, and GIS/PGIS analysis to foster interdisciplinary exploration and promote more inclusive urban futures.

Dr Litt is currently leading the Re-imagining Environments for Connection and Engagement: Testing Actions for Social Prescribing in Natural Spaces (RECETAS) Consortium, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020. This consortium aims to develop and test nature-based social prescribing interventions to address loneliness through the deployment of three randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and three pre-post studies. This project involves 13 partners across six cities in Latin America, Europe, and Australia. She received her PhD in environmental health and public policy from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has experience in the area of urban environmental health, working over the past decade in the neighbourhoods of Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, and Denver and, more recently, Barcelona, Spain and Marseille and Montpellier, France on a variety of issues related to the built and natural environments and health, including urban brownfields clean-up and redevelopment; lead poisoning; residential demolition; environmental justice; chemical risk assessment; housing; green spaces; community gardens; and local food systems.

Enhancing people’s experience of public spaces through the strengths of technology and data has been at the heart of Jo’s work for 20+ years. By embracing inclusive participatory practices, such as co-design and community engagement, she hopes to create healthier neighbourhoods for all. Project partners have included the NHS, National Trust, City of Edinburgh Council, University of Plymouth and the Arts Council England. * Co-Founder and Co-CEO of the Association of Collaborative Design * Fellow of Royal Society for Arts * Fellow of Institute of Place Management * Fellow of Higher Education Academy * Industry Champion for Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre.

Joel is a researcher who first joined Social Life through the field team in 2023. He has since supported the Southwark Estates Health and Wellbeing project, and helped facilitate the second round of research into public space interventions in the OPDC area along the Grand Union canal. Joel also lectures in fine art at Chelsea College of Arts (UAL), where his work explores how the university can strategically utilise its resources to support housing campaigns in the local area. He has an MSc in urban development planning from UCL, and sits on the board of trustees at community land trust RUSS, which recently completed a project of 36 mixed-tenure, permanently affordable homes in Lewisham, south London, whereby the homes were partly self-built by volunteers.

Jon was a senior civil servant in UK Government until 2014 working in the Cabinet Office and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Roles included Director of Homelessness and Housing Support; Director of a Regional Government Office; and Deputy Director of the Government’s Neighbourhood Renewal and Social Exclusion Units. Since leaving the Civil Service, he has been CEO of a local Citizens Advice service and contributes to training programmes for overseas civil servants. He is also a Trustee of a charity that focusses on neighbourhood planning and community development and is a coopted member of his local council planning committee. He has written 3 books, the most recent ‘Modern Management and Leadership - People, Places and Organisations’ was published in 2023.

Jon is an experienced healthcare designer with more than two decades of expertise improving the design and functionality of large-scale behavioural health spaces. He has demonstrated success at using design as a catalyst to improve the delivery of behavioural healthcare for private, public and government clients nationwide. Jon is passionate about leading the field in this specialised and dynamic service line and equally engaged in mentoring the next generation of behavioural healthcare designers. His work is repeatedly published and presented at national conferences.

Junyan Ye is a PhD researcher at the University of Manchester. Her thesis focuses on the disruptions of nature-related practices among Chinese students in the UK and investigates how infrastructural and cultural expectations are renegotiated in transcultural urban settings.

Katarzyna Lewoc is a designer, lecturer, and researcher who bridges creative vision with strategic urban development. She holds a PhD in Design from the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, where she leads the Studio for Universal Space Design, exploring exhibition design, scenography, and the psychology of space. As Director of Development at OKAM Capital, a leading residential and commercial real estate developer, she integrates a design-driven approach with investment strategies to deliver large-scale, health-oriented urban projects. Her current work includes reimagining a former textile factory site in Łódź into a mixed-use community where healthcare, senior living, housing, and public spaces are interconnected – restoring the social fabric of the post-industrial city. Co-founder of 2x3 Studio, she has designed for major cultural institutions in Poland and internationally. Her practice focuses on creating places that enhance well-being, strengthen community ties, and respect urban heritage.

Building on a distinguished career as a landscape architect, Katharina’s PhD research led to the development of globally applicable guidelines for integrating purposefully designed therapeutic gardens into hospital environments. She established the term therapeutic hospital gardens (THG), spaces that are “purposefully designed and well-integrated within the hospital grounds or hospital building, which medically, spatially and culturally support patient care and visitor and staff wellbeing”. This definition does not replace previous research or alternative terminology; rather, it establishes a robust foundation for interdisciplinary inquiry, design innovations, and evidence-based advancements. Katharina’s groundbreaking work first appeared in Health Environment Research Design (HERD) (Nieberler-Walker et al., 2023), followed by THG guidelines for healthcare decision-makers in Sustainability (Nieberler-Walker et al., 2024) and for healthcare designers in Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE) (Nieberler-Walker et al., 2025). Katharina’s guidelines empower healthcare professionals, designers, decision-makers, and clinical practitioners to implement therapeutic gardens in hospitals as an integral part of care environments. Beyond academia, Katharina is dedicated to mainstreaming therapeutic gardens in hospitals and urban settings by collaborating with healthcare professionals, policymakers, architects, and investors. Her signature projects as a landscape architect include the ‘Healing Gardens’ at the Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane (Nieberler-Walker et al., 2019), and the ‘Therapeutic Landscapes’ at Meir Medical Center, one of Israel’s largest hospitals. Katharina is a registered landscape architect, a fellow of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA), and the recipient of the 2022 Australian Health Design Council scholarship, which supported her research over three years.

I am an ex-police officer from Zimbabwe and also worked as a PCSO for Greater Manchester Police. I am now a lecturer in policing and my research interests are in artificial intelligence and witchcraft. The friendship bench initiative is a hobby.

Dr Kevin Raaphorst is an sssistant professor at the Center for Urban and Regional Research, at the Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment at Radboud University. He has an extensive academic background in spatial planning, GIS, landscape architecture, human geography, visual and qualitative research methods, and visual semiotics. Trained as a spatial planner (BSc) and geo-information scientist (MSc), his primary research interests lie in the ways that space and place are digitally and visually represented, and how those representations influence the shaping of the built environment (PhD). Specifically, he investigates how visual and digital representations of planned and designed spaces, as spatial knowledge products for planners and policymakers, influence participatory processes of placemaking in relation to health and climate adaptation. Previous and current research projects funded by NWO-NWA (BENIGN: blue and green infrastructure in relation to Heat Stress), ZonMw (Space2Move: walkability and physical activity friendly environments) as well as the Radboud Institute for Management Research (useability of climate services) all contribute to the body of knowledge that surrounds these topics. Additionally, Dr Raaphorst teaches various courses at the BSc and MSc level on cartography, GIS, planning scenarios, and research methodology.

Kristine Mourits is a senior researcher at the Academic Collaborative Center AMPHI at Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. She obtained her PhD in October 2024 on the topic of how health can be integrated into spatial planning developments within Dutch municipalities. This research focused on four key questions: what is a healthy living environment?; How does a spatial planning process work?; How can cross-domain collaboration be strengthened?; And how does the public health policy advisor fulfil the role of boundary spanner in this issue. Within the Academic Collaborative Center, she is currently working on establishing the research line about healthy living environments and follow-up research through participatory action research within municipalities. She combines this work with a position as a senior policy advisor for health / healthy living environment at the municipality of Nijmegen.

Dr Gunn is an interdisciplinary researcher and lead investigator of an ARC-funded Discovery grant on the role of liveability for healthy ageing, and chief investigator on an Ian Potter Foundation grant looking at cycling. Her research uses quantitative techniques to explore relationships between the built environment and liveability, and health and wellbeing outcomes. This includes active and public transport research, and investigating how planning, health and economic evaluation of infrastructure can support decisions around growth area development and transport, and infrastructure delivery. Research collaborations involve the Victorian Department of Transport and Growth Area Councils.

Luke Engleback, CMLI FRSA, is a Chartered Landscape Architect and Ecourbanist based in the UK. He founded Studio Engleback in 1999 and brings nearly 40 years of experience in landscape architecture and ecourbanism. Since 1984, Luke has taught at the university level and regularly presents on ecourbanism, biodiversity, climate change adaptation, and health, both in the UK and internationally. A former member of the INTEGER Intelligent & Green think tank (1999–2005), he currently works with ‘Our Green Group.’ He stays updated through Nature and Science, integrating insights into design practices. He became a Fellow of the RSA in 2022.

Marta Czachorowska is an architect dedicated to creating caring environments, from hospitals and therapeutic facilities to spa and wellness centres. She believes in the healing power of good design and the role of thoughtfully planned spaces in enhancing both physical and emotional well-being. As founder and creative lead at m+design, she applies this philosophy to diverse healthcare and wellness projects. In From Industrial Legacy to Urban Health, she shapes the architectural vision for senior living and community facilities, integrating health, social connection, and heritage within a revitalised post-industrial site. Her work has earned prestigious recognition, including the Red Dot Design Award (2023) for a maternity ward project, and the Designed for People award from Gazeta Wyborcza. She regularly publishes in architectural and medical journals, including OPM, RZUT, and other healthcare design reviews, and is featured at leading design festivals, where she champions health-promoting architecture.

Mary Rouse is a dedicated community development professional with over 20 years of experience across health, education, housing, and social care. As Community Development Manager at Ebbsfleet Development Corporation, she ensures residents and stakeholders actively shape the future of Ebbsfleet Garden City through co-design and inclusive placemaking. Mary leads initiatives such as a network of 14 community gardens, a behaviour-change app with nearly 4,000 users, and the development of a volunteer network and training programme. She also supports the Development Corporation’s strategic planning through research and evaluation. Previously, she developed a proposal for a pioneering Health and Wellbeing Hub, collaborating with NHS Trusts and ICBs to create integrated service models. Mary holds an MSc in Healthcare Management, a BA in Philosophy from Cambridge, and is PRINCE2 certified. Beyond her role, she is a charity trustee, former CIC founder, and youth worker, committed to equity and community empowerment through inclusive leadership.

Mat Jones is professor of public health and community development at the Centre for Public Health and Wellbeing at the UWE Bristol. He has an academic background in social anthropology, social and political science applied to public health, and a practice background in community development. Mat is currently working on eight research projects in the areas of nature, food systems and health; community capacity building; and inequalities in urban health. These include the EU-funded RECETAS nature-based social prescribing programme. With a track record of research with 48 projects, and producing 77 reports, 55 conference papers and 47 peer-review publications, Mat is a leading UK specialist in participatory methods for the evaluation of complex health and social change programmes. Methodologically, he focuses on the pragmatic application of co-production, realist evaluation, outcome harvesting, social return on investment, and theory-of-change methods alongside the use of quantitative pre-post and quasi-experimental methods. He sits on a number of funding selection committees, including the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s DLAF and ESRC/UKRI Evaluation Development Fund.

Matthew Morgan is the Director and co-Founder of the Quality of Life Foundation. He is responsible for setting strategy with the Board of Trustees, overseeing the Foundation’s commercial services and delivering lasting impact with the Quality of Life team, itself focused on highlighting the impact of the built environment on people’s lived experience. With over 20 years’ experience in writing and communications, Matthew has previously worked with architects, engineers and developers; in book and magazine publishing; and with charities and start-ups. He is a participant on a number of advisory boards and chairs a multi-stakeholder group that advises on community engagement as part of the UKRI-funded CCQOL (Community Consultation for Quality of Life) project. A published author and mental health advocate, Matthew is particularly interested in how communities are formed and their effects on people’s physical, social and psychological wellbeing, an interest he developed while growing up in an intentional community in Kent.

Maya Ljubojevic is a dynamic and multidisciplinary researcher known for her work at the intersection of geography and public health. With a background in geography, public health, health policy, and development, Maya brings a systems-level approach to solving complex challenges and creating inclusive, innovative, and sustainable solutions for urban health. Presently, she is an academic based at the University of Strathclyde focusing her research on urban wellbeing and mental health in the context of loneliness and connection. She has published peer-reviewed pieces on Thriving City Initiatives and the novel concept of 'bumping places' as a tool and feature to improve population and individual wellbeing in cities.

Michael Hamilton currently works with the Ubele initiative, a black led community organisation that works with communities on several levels including training, systems change initiatives, finance and leadership development. With over thirty-five years of experience working for the health and well-being of local marginalised communities, Michael Hamilton has worked with young people from ground level to executive directorship. With over forty years’ experience of community development Michael states that no matter what his job title has been, no matter what the focus of engagement has been, he has only ever had one role. That role was to create spaces for people and communities to define their own needs and enabling communities and people to work together to meet those needs.

Michael Rigby is the Data Partnerships Manager at Impact on Urban Health. Since October 2022, he has managed and created data partnerships to improve Impact on Urban Health's evidence and knowledge by utilising the latest data-driven approaches available. Michael has worked within the not-for-profit sector as a 'data for good' expert for over 20 years and was previously ‘Head of Digital’ at the Football Foundation – the UKs largest sports charity – where he was responsible for a successful digital transformation to enable the delivery of a ten year National Football Facilities Strategy.

Dr Michelle Howarth is a professor in health and special care at Edge Hill University with a specialist interest in social prescribing and the use of nature-based, person-centred approaches to promote health and wellbeing. Michelle is passionate about promoting personalised care to support people with long-term conditions and leads the National Social Prescribing Network Special Interest Group for Nursing and chairs the national PerCIE group, through which she is actively campaigning to raise awareness of social prescribing and salutogenic, personalised approaches among nurses, social care, allied health professionals and medics through research, curriculum development and placement opportunities.

As a parent to two brilliant neurodiverse children, I am deeply committed to creating a kinder, fairer, more inclusive world for my children and yours. My motivation for the Adaptive Classroom has been shaped by my children's personal experience of mainstream education. As a qualified teacher, trainer, and restorative conference facilitator, with over 20 years' experience in UK education, I'm frustrated by the broken system and channelling my frustration into practical action. Since 2017 my team and I have supported thousands of young people, families, and educators through restorative practice, trauma-informed approaches, and inclusive strategies leading to meaningful and lasting change.

Natasha Reid is founder of MATTER SPACE SOUL, a progressive spatial design lab and practice shaping places for health, wellbeing and social sustainability. Building on her experience at award-winning architecture studios, she began innovating new approaches at the intersection of design, human sciences and the arts from 2013. The studio now specialises in Human-Centred Design and Neuroarchitecture, and works closely with a network of collaborators across disciplines. Natasha’s Compassionate Places Method is an experience-led approach for design that responds the complexity of human needs. Developed as a “Place Quality Model”, it was implemented in the first London borough’s planning standards in 2023. This will be featured by the World Health Organisation as a case study in 2025. Natasha an advocate for the power of design to create change that matters, recognized in international publications such as Wallpaper* and Elle Decoration, as a “Groundbreaker” and “Women to Watch”.She is a fellow of the Centre for Conscious Design and design review expert for two London councils. She often speaks at conferences on her work in architecture and design innovation. She is also an artist.

Dr Nina Scott (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whātua, Waikato) is a public health physician in New Zealand. She holds leadership roles as Co-Chair Hei Āhuru Mōwai (Māori Cancer Leadership Aotearoa), and Interim Chief Medical Officer, Hauora Māori Services, Health NZ. Her research uses Kaupapa Māori methodologies and focusses on redesigning health care to maximise health gain for Māori.

As managing director of Werk Solutions, I'm driven by a simple belief: every child deserves a learning environment that works for them, not against them. Watching too many students struggle in rigid, outdated classrooms sparked a personal mission in him to do better. He says he is on a mission to create learning environments that respond to the needs of every child. Our adaptive, inclusive furniture supports movement, choice, and neurodiverse ways of learning. Made with sustainable materials and designed for longevity, it's much more than furniture.

Peter completed his PhD in Design Engineering at Imperial College London. The focus of Peter’s research and work is “design for human connectivity” – that is, supporting organisations to improve human connectivity outcomes through design. Prior to completing his PhD, Peter worked in creative, innovation, and strategy roles across the globe helping large organisations communicate and tell their stories in more compelling ways. Peter is a graduate of the THNK School for Creative Leadership.

Dr Polly Atatoa Carr is Associate Professor at Te Ngira (Institute for Population Research), University of Waikato, New Zealand. Her research focuses on broader determinants of population health and wellbeing equity, particularly for children within the context of whānau and community. Polly is a Public Health Physician within Child and Youth Health at Te Whatu Ora Waikato, Health New Zealand.

Pouya Molaei is a PhD candidate in the Centre for Urban Research and Social and Equity Research Centre at RMIT, where he will be examining and testing urban variables for healthy ageing and promotion of physical health among older adults. Pouya completed a Bachelor of Architecture at the University of Guilan and received his Master’s degree in Architectural Engineering from TIAU in Iran. He has a ten-year history working for a company and academic centres as a draftsperson, architect, research assistant, and teacher assistant. Pouya’s research interests include ageing in place, age-friendly cities, healthy and walkable cities, transport behaviour, and housing.

David P. French is Professor of Health Psychology at the University of Manchester and NIHR Senior Investigator. He aims to develop and evaluate interventions with reach that change behaviours that impact on health.

Dr Rakesh Kumar is an accomplished researcher in public health and population studies, with over a decade of experience specialising in urban health, nutrition, migration, and geospatial analytics. He currently serves as a senior consultant at the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), New Delhi, where he contributes technical expertise and research leadership to projects addressing health inequalities, child malnutrition, and urban development. His work is conducted in collaboration with leading organisations, including UNICEF and the TATA Trusts. Dr Kumar holds a PhD in population studies from the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, where his doctoral research examined the spatial dynamics of tourism flows across India. He also holds an MPhil. and MA in population studies, along with a master’s degree in geography, grounding his expertise in spatial demography and urban research. His research has been widely published in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of Global Health, SSM–Population Health, Demography India, and Springer Nature. In addition to scholarly publications, Dr Kumar has co-authored numerous policy reports and data-driven tools, including the Parliamentary Constituency Factsheets on nutrition and health, and evaluation studies for major national programmes, such as ICDS and Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB). Dr Kumar has presented his work at prestigious international conferences, including the Population Association of America (PAA) Annual Meeting and the International Geographical Congress. His contributions have been recognised with full travel grants and fellowships from institutions, such as TATA Trusts, MERH, and the Government of India. He possesses advanced proficiency in statistical and geospatial software, including STATA, ArcGIS, and GeoDa, and plays a pivotal role in developing interactive dashboards and analytical frameworks to support real-time monitoring and policy decision-making.

Saleha Ansari is an accomplished architect, urban planner and project management professional with more than seven years of experience working at the intersection of architecture, urban development, and sustainability. Her academic journey reflects a deep commitment to spatial justice, climate resilience, and design innovation. Saleha’s work spans architecture, real estate projects, planning consultations, and academic research focused on post-pandemic learning spaces, sustainable urbanism, and revitalisation of urban spaces. She has published several peer-reviewed articles and has presented at various international conferences. Her work now focuses on the socio-political implications and financial risks associated with climate change, and she is therefore working with Neosyss as a sustainability consultant on “Eco Muhafiz” – a climate tech solution that combats deforestation using AI. Saleha is driven by the belief that thoughtful design and strategic planning can transform lives, and she is committed to entrepreneurial ventures in the built environment.

Sapna is a chartered engineer and academic researcher at UCL. She has a background in delivering technical designs for non-domestic and domestic buildings across the UK. Her experience also includes masterplan and urban designs for new developments and regeneration across councils. She has a detailed understanding of the complexities of building design and energy systems to deliver climate mitigation and climate adaptation. In addition, Sapna has experience in a policy advisory role. Her experience includes supporting local authorities with their decarbonisation strategies. She has also been seconded to the civil service to support on policy development to decarbonise non-domestic buildings. Through her doctoral research, Sapna has honed her knowledge of policy development across multiple governance levels and the role of different actors to drive forward regenerative solutions.

Scott is founder and CEO of Innatify, a healthtech company focused on reducing the administrative burden on healthcare staff through data-driven innovation. With over 15 years of experience leading large-scale digital transformation programmes across government, enterprise, and healthcare sectors, my goals are to bring a deep understanding of system design, workforce dynamics, and scalable technology deployment. Holding an Advanced Master’s in Biotech & Medtech Ventures from Solvay Brussels School in Brussels, Scott has dedicated the past three years to applied research into the root causes of healthcare workforce shortages across hospitals, aged care, and community nursing services. His research is focused on public-backed healthcare and covers seven countries, with the NHS central to the work. His research involves 700-plus interviews and collaborations with healthcare leaders, frontline staff, and policymakers, leading to the development of practical solutions already delivering measurable results in European hospitals. Scott is passionate about aligning healthcare innovation with community needs, co-creating with healthcare solutions and better systems to support those who care for others.

Sem Lee is an urban strategist and social entrepreneur with over 11 years’ experience managing sustainability, communications, and design projects. Sem founded OURI Labs in response to the pressing need to understand how to link public health and urban planning. OURI Labs is a health innovation research lab committed to shaping healthy and equitable cities that better serve communities and the planet. The practice specialises in participatory research, evaluation, and design, bridging urban planning policy and public health. Key organisations they have collaborated with include Health Innovation North East North Cumbria, Greater London Authority, University College London (Bartlett), and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.

Simon Battisti is executive director of the Relationship Center (Qendra Marrëdhënie, (QM)), a non-profit research and design agency, based in Tirana. QM provides technical assistance for local governments to deliver mobility and public space projects that centre on the needs of children and caregivers. Since 2020, QM has supported the Municipality of Tirana’s city-wide school streets programme. Simon is also the creative director of the Start with Children Summit, an annual convening on urban childhoods, held in Bratislava. He holds degrees in architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture, and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. https://www.qendra-m.org/en https://www.instagram.com/qendra_marredhenie/ https://startwithchildren.com/

Sonja is a Professor of Architecture and Sustainability Design Innovation with over 20 years of experience in sustainability and design research. She has led complex, multidisciplinary projects valued between £200k and £29 million, both in the UK and internationally, serving as an associate architect, senior manager, and principal investigator. She founded the Radical Architecture Practice for Sustainability (RAPS) network, collaborating with design experts from across Europe, including Sweden, the Netherlands, Portugal, Austria, Serbia, and France. Sonja serves as a Thought Leadership Specialist Advisor to the UK Design Council and is a board member of the World Green Building Council (Serbia). She is also an advisor on several scientific and industry panels, including ARENA and the New European Bauhaus Collective. Her work is highly interdisciplinary, connecting architecture with computer science, psychology, environmental science, and sociology. Her recent research on socially responsible housing design was recognized in the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee’s report Off-site manufacture for construction: Building for change, and presented at the Westminster Social Forum in 2020. With a background in architecture, construction management, and engineering, Sonja brings a unique systems-thinking approach to addressing climate change and complex environmental challenges in the built environment.

My name is Sophia Rostaminia and I am an undergraduate student at Bu Ali Sina University majoring in Urban Studies. My main interest lies in advancing sustainable and resilient urban development through practical and research-based approaches. To contribute actively in this field, I have recently founded a company focused on expanding green energy solutions, aiming to support cities in their transition toward cleaner and more efficient systems. Alongside my academic work, I am conducting ongoing research on sustainable cities, with particular attention to strategies that balance growth with environmental responsibility. Through my studies and professional efforts, I seek to promote practical frameworks that strengthen urban resilience and sustainability. I value opportunities for knowledge exchange and collaboration with peers and professionals who share a commitment to future-oriented urban practices. I hope to contribute constructively to discussions that shape more livable, adaptable, and environmentally conscious urban environments for the generations to come.

Sruti Samhita Malladi is a final year student at FLAME University, pursuing a bachelor's degree in public policy. She aspires to work in urban policy and planning, and especially loves mobility, civic administration, and generally creative solutions.

A dedicated behavioral health planner and mental health design subject matter expert, Stephen is a proponent of “architect as advocate” for colleague, client, and community alike, and he believes strongly in leadership through service. A Practitioner of the Trauma-Informed Design Society & an RIBAJ Rising Star, Parker was elevated as an Associate to the Board of the UK-based Design in Mental Health Network. Stephen has served a diverse client base, including the Cleveland Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, helping to develop the VA’s Inpatient Mental Health Design Guide. He has volunteered as a pro-bono medical planner in the US and abroad is an accomplished design researcher and advocate of mental health worldwide.

Swaleha is a development practitioner and global mental health enthusiast with an academic background in psychology and a strong commitment to advancing health equity. Over the years, she has designed, implemented, and evaluated community-based mental health programmes that centre the voices and needs of marginalised and underrepresented populations, including women, refugees, low-income groups, and survivors of trauma.

Dr Tamanda Walker is the director of Roots & Rigour CIC, a research and consultancy organisation focused on community-led research, systems change, and storytelling. Trained as a sociologist and facilitator, Tamanda has spent over 15 years working across the UK and globally to centre the lived experiences of Black and racially minoritised communities in research, strategy, and public discourse. Her work supports communities to generate and/or interpret their own data, shape their own narratives, and influence systems that have long excluded them. No matter the focus – whether maternal health, policing, or mental health – her role has remained the same: to walk alongside communities as they define their own priorities and reimagine what justice, equity and care looks like for them. Tamanda also co-directs AiAi Studios, a BAFTA-winning media production company and storytelling studio, and co-hosts Rigour & Flow, an award-nominated podcast bringing research, storytelling, and entertainment into deep cultural conversations.

Dr. Dora Mavridou is a Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for the BEng Engineering Management Top-Up program in the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, within the Faculty of Technology at the University of Portsmouth. Her teaching expertise includes Engineering Practice, Sustainable and Environmental Management, and Design. Her research interests focus on Building Optimisation, Inclusive Design, Sustainability, Environmental Design, and Social Sustainability. She is particularly passionate about exploring ways to maximize value while minimizing waste. Dr. Mavridou has over a decade of industry experience as a chartered engineer, specializing in engineering design and project management. She graduated from the School of Architectural Engineering at Democritus University of Thrace, Greece, in 2006. She later earned an MA in Lighting Design from the School of Applied Arts and Sustainable Design at Hellenic Open University in 2017 and a PhD from Democritus University of Thrace, where her research focused on optimizing industrial buildings through sustainability and lean thinking. Additionally, she holds a PGCert Diploma in Higher Education from the University of Portsmouth. Throughout her career, she has worked on engineering projects across various European countries, including the UK, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Greece.

Tinghui Yang is a master's candidate at the School of Architecture and Planning, Shenyang Jianzhu University, at Shenyang Key Laboratory of Performance Enhancement Technology for Healthy Human Settlements (SJZU). Her supervisor is Prof. Yao Fu and her research focus is inclusive and accessible space design.

Tobias Fellows, OAA, MRAIC is an architect and Principal with NORR Ottawa, with over twenty years’ experience delivering quality, award-winning projects across Canada, with a focus on the National Capital Region. He has garnered a reputation as a strong leader, applying his unique skill set of creative design and technical acumen to proactive project management approaches. He currently leads a multi-disciplinary team of architects, engineers, planners and designers, through a highly collaborative process, developing solutions for complex, purpose-driven designs, from recapitalization projects to new construction at every scope and scale – and across multiple sectors. He is also an avid outdoor enthusiast, drawing deep inspiration from time spent in union with the natural environment.

Vanessa Macintyre is a Research Associate at the University of Manchester. Her main research interests are in suicide and clinical applications of Perceptual Control Theory.

Wendy Wu is a registered landscape architect with deep empathy and a passion for designing public outdoor spaces that resonate with users, reflect community values, and prioritize sustainability and climate resilience. Her work combines a holistic understanding of site and context with artistic expression, resulting in creative, place-specific designs that are both meaningful and functional in the built environment. Wendy collaborates closely with multidisciplinary teams and brings strong design sensibility and technical expertise to guide projects from early concept through construction. She is committed to delivering high-quality, implementable solutions that elevate everyday experiences while responding thoughtfully to environmental and social challenges.

Weston is senior professor in the Dyson School of Design Engineering at Imperial College London, where he leads the Interaction Foundry — an interdisciplinary design research group working at the intersection of behavioural science and design. His expertise includes human-centred design and behavioural change through digital and physical product, service and experience design. A particular area of focus is on developing design tools and methods to support the creative design of behavioural interventions.

William Joe is assistant professor at the Population Research Centre, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. Dr Joe has a PhD in economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University with research interests in health economics and demography. He is engaged in research, monitoring and evaluation work for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India. Dr Joe also leads the UNICEF-IEG collaboration on Anemia Mukt Bharat technical support activities for the MoHFW. He is a member of the NITI Aayog working group on strategy for improving nutrition in India. He is also a member of the Technical Advisory Groups on Nutrition and Anemia for the Government of Karnataka, Government of Jharkhand and the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).

Xinlei Wang is a master's candidate at the School of Architecture and Planning, Shenyang Jianzhu University, at the Shenyang Key Laboratory of Performance Enhancement Technology for Healthy Human Settlements (SJZU). Her supervisor is Professor Yao Fu and her research focus is inclusive and accessible space design.

Yao Fu is professor at the School of Architecture and Planning, Shenyang Jianzhu University, at the Shenyang Key Laboratory of Performance Enhancement Technology for Healthy Human Settlements (SJZU) Her research focus is architectural design and theory; urban renewal and healthy city design; green building performance enhancement; and modern architectural theory.

Dr Yilin Song is an associate professor of the School of Architecture, Tianjin University, China. Before joining Tianjin University in 2018, she received her doctorate and master's degrees from Texas A&M University, having focused on healthcare architecture design and research. She continues working on evidence-based design, children and infants’ healthcare facilities, and the equity of healthcare resources; she has written more than ten papers and spoken at several international and national conference presentations. She has completed two research projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China as the principal investigator.