Keynote Address: Designing Resilient Cities: Nature-Based Solutions for an Urban Planet
Wednesday, September 23; 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Ross Hall
Featuring Dr. Timon McPhearson
Four out of five U.S. residents already live in cities. Globally rapid urbanization means two thirds of all humanity will live in cities in the next two decades. If the human species is going to maintain deep connection to nature, it must happen in urban areas. Nature in cities provides enormous benefits for climate change adaptation, human physical and mental health, and biodiversity. And yet, most urban growth still follows a 20th century model of infrastructure development that paves over nature. With global biodiversity in crisis, and climate change threatening nearly every city in the world, designing cities with nature is critical to advance resilience, adaptation, and more livable urban environments. The first global assessment of nature-based solutions in cities shows ongoing challenges for financing, implementing, and prioritizing nature in urban design and development. Yet bright spots of innovative planning and design with nature point the way toward a positive future with potential to improve life for both human and non-human species on our urban planet.
About the Speaker
Dr. Timon McPhearson, Professor of Environmental Studies and founding Director of the Urban Systems Lab at New York University, is an urban ecologist taking an interdisciplinary systems approach to advancing urban resilience, equity, and sustainability. He is Chapter Lead for The Nature Record, a Lead Author for the IPCC and IPBES, and Co-Chair of the NYC Panel on Climate Change. He has received numerous awards including the Ecological Society of America’s (ESA) Sustainability Science Award (twice) and Innovation in Sustainability Science Award, as well as the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity for IPCC and IPBES contributions, the Biodiversa Prize (twice), and was named an NYC Climate Hero in 2020. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Stockholm Resilience Centre, and the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics at The Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences. In addition to over 250 scientific articles, books, and writing for popular press, his books include the Global Roadmap for Urban Nature-based Solutions (2026), Nature-based Solutions for Cities (2023), Resilient Urban Futures (2021), and Urban Planet (2018). His research is regularly in the press including in The New York Times, The Guardian, Science Friday, NBC, PBS, Voice of America, and the New Yorker.
Location Ross Hall