In this Cyber Agora, we will hear from women in planning on how they are leading the climate action that is desperately needed around the globe. Perspectives will be shared on urban and spatial planning addressing climate change, as well as reflections on women participation and leadership in diverse geographical and cultural contexts, for climate action and radical transformation our cities need. There is both urgency and opportunity for action, and for accelerating change for a just, equitable and sustainable tomorrow.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals call for combating climate change under SDG 13, making cities sustainable and resilient under SDG 11, and for promoting gender equality under SDG 5. These three goals are interrelated, with climate change disproportionately affecting women and girls, and cities at the forefront of climate risk. Women and girls represent the majority of the world’s poor, are more dependent on threatened natural resources, and continue to face structural inequalities and inequalities in socio-economic opportunities.

The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that gender inequalities are further exacerbated by climate-related hazards, and in practice, climate solutions are often gender-blind. On the other hand, women are active and effective agents and promoters of adaptation and mitigation with innovative visions benefiting all. Cities offer critical unique opportunities and planning can deliver radical and systemic change, but women are underrepresented in climate action and in leadership in planning and the built environment – much more needs to be done to change this.

We invite you to join this discussion on climate action, for a sustainable tomorrow for all, led by women in planning!

Agenda:

Welcome & intro: Elisabeth Belpaire, ISOCARP Board Chair, Women in Planning

Speakers Panel

• Antonia Coraro, ITACUS Co-chair, Lecturer ETH – Underground urbanism as part of urban planning for climate action
• Lubaina Rangwala, Program Head Urban Development, WRI India Ross Center for Sustainable Cities – on Mumbai Climate Action (India’s first of this type, launched in March’22) and women participation/leadership/gender    
• Prof Olusola Olufemi, Ph.D MCIP RPP – a perspective on ‘Liveability and health of  Women and Girls in the frontlines of Climate Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa’
• Urara Takaseki, PhD Candidate University of Tokyo, Dept Urban Engineering – on Planning for/and climate action in Japan, participation/leadership of women, challenging the status quo

Group photo. Moderation by Juanee Cilliers, ISOCARP Board Member; Women in Planning Network Chair, CAP

Reflections

• Prof Hope Magidimisha-Chipungu, SARCHI Chair Inclusive Cities
• Dushko Bogunovich, Chair Scientific Committee, Board ISOCARP

Open Cyber Agora Discussion

Closing

Speaker Bios:

Antonia Cornaro, MA Urban Planning (1996), studied at New York University and then gained valuable experience working for the City of New York’s Planning Department in their Transportation Division on bicycle and pedestrian schemes. She has 25 years of working experience as an urban and transport planner from the public and private sector from New York City, London, Vienna, and Zurich, having worked for NYC Department of City Planning, Parsons Brinckerhoff (now WSP), the Austrian Institute of Regional Planning (ÖIR), and the Zurich based multi-disciplinary engineering consulting firm EBP. In her current work as Expert Underground Space for Amberg Engineering, an internationally active Swiss firm specializing in underground infrastructure design and management, she focuses on urban underground space with the aim to increase mobility, livability, and resilience of urban areas (since 2010). This is also central to her work as Co-Chair of ITACUS, the International Tunnel and Underground Space Association’s Committee on Underground Space. Antonia is passionate about cities, global and sustainable development, and has presented and published extensively on this subject.  She co-authored the book “Underground spaces unveiled: planning and creating the cities of the future,” which was published in 2018 and has received the ISOCARP Gerd Albers award on best book. She also teaches part time at the Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich. The course is a Semester lecture Planning of Underground Space and is taught to Master students in architecture, spatial development and civil engineering. 

Lubaina Rangwala is Program Head, Urban Development and Resilience with the Sustainable Cities and Transport team at WRI India. She has been associated with the institute for nine years. Her current work focuses on green infrastructure projects, nature-based solutions to address long-term climate risk in Indian cities, and working with vulnerable communities to build their resilience capacities. She is currently involved in climate action plans, disaster management and flood mitigation measures in Indian cities. At WRI, Lubaina led the development of a global tool called the Urban Community Resilience Assessment, and continues to address issues of gender, equity, diversity and inclusion in city resilience plans. Lubaina started her career as a researcher and visiting lecturer at two architecture schools in Mumbai. She worked with the KRVIA design cell on projects affiliated with the Mumbai Transformation Support Unit (MTSU) and the World Bank. During her short stint at the City of Emeryville, California, United States, she helped set up the online building approvals portal, and worked with the City of Berkeley on local economic development strategies in low-income neighborhoods of South Berkeley. Lubaina is an Urban Planner and Architect from Mumbai, with over 14 years of work experience in India and the United States. She earned her undergraduate degree in architecture from the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture (KRVIA), Mumbai University, and a dual master’s in Architecture and City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley, United States, with a focus on housing, community, and economic development. 

Prof. Olusola Olufemi, Ph.D, MCIP, RPP:  Over the last 30 years, Olusola worked as a planning educator and researcher in Nigeria, South Africa, and Canada. As a young planner, Olusola was a recipient the International Competition funded by IKEA/ISOCARP in 1990/1991 and, the ISOCARP Gerd Albers 2005 Award. Olusola was the Coordinator of Women in Planning Network of the Commonwealth Association of Planners from 2000-2004. Olusola is a lifelong member of ISOCARP, Freelance Consultant, Mentor and Facilitator and a member of the Planning Knowledge Exchange of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute, Canada since 2018.  As a Research Associate with the Society for Good Health, Sustainable Development and Environmental Awareness, Ibadan, Nigeria, Olusola works with people residing in slums and marginalized communities. She is also involved in mentoring young urban and regional planners specifically in the areas of Urban Management and Planning; Health and Housing; Homelessness; Gender; and Food Security.  

Urara Takaseki, researches sustainable and inclusive urban planning at The University of Tokyo, School of Engineering, Department of Urban Engineering and is currently a PhD Candidate. She is the CEO and Co-founder of Omotete, Inc., which is developing a service that makes menstrual pads retrievable in bathroom stalls via smartphones. She is also the President and Co-founder of nonprofit organization Anchor which provides SGDs project based education programs to middle and high school students in Japan. She has been the Vice President of nonprofit organization Your School which trains medical students and works with hospitals to provide better access to education and social support to children under medical care primarily in Tokyo. Urara is a 3-time One Young World Ambassador who is changing the status quo in several areas in desperate need of leadership.