World Economic Forum: Andreas Kipar appointed member of the Expert Taskforce of the ‘Nature-Positive Cities’ initiative
The CEO and co-founder of the international landscape consulting company LAND will work for a year alongside worldwide professionals in order to guarantee a sustainable approach to urban planning
The architect and landscape architect Andreas Kipar joins the initiative launched by World Economic Forum’s Centre for Nature and Climate and Centre for Urban Transformation, which will face pivotal environmental challenges with the aim of recalibrating cities’ relationship with nature.
Ready to contribute with his over thirty years of experience in the field of urban development and sustainability, Andreas Kipar will meet other 17 “champions for nature in cities” every five weeks for a whole year. Financial and insurance professionals, policymakers, ecology practitioners, architects and urban planners will share their insights and best practice experiences to develop an international framework by fostering public-private cooperation and contribute with their own specific knowledge and leadership.
“I have been working for over 30 years to design and build urban environments in harmony with nature and landscape”, says Andreas Kipar. “I am thrilled to interact with other peers and amplify the concept of biodiversity as an asset for the urban fabric of the future. LAND owns several cutting-edge projects that are already proving how nature-based solutions represent the only way cities can thrive in the next years. I am sure our know-how can be very useful to the development of more resilient, equitable and prosperous cities by 2030+”.
The Expert Taskforce will cooperate with the Global Commission, composed of the mayors of the first five Nature-positive cities in the world and important personalities from the private sectors and civil society. Together, the two international communities will provide technical input and contribute to creating and adopting sustainable and net-zero cities globally, by increasing investment, crafting policy models and devising innovative ways to integrate nature into the built environment.
The Taskforce will gather soon on the occasion of the “Net-Zero Nature-Positive Built Environment”, hosted by World Economic Forum next December 6th, in view of the COP28 in Dubai.
“LAND’s vision is ‘reconnecting people with nature’”, adds Kipar. “We all strongly believe in the necessity for urban leaders and decision-makers to prioritize nature in their investment decisions and involve their citizens into the transformation of urban landscapes for the common wellbeing. All together we can implement solutions I consider extremely urgent, in order to reduce the impact on the environment by ensuring people worldwide the possibility to live and work in more lively and resilient urban quarters”.
