speakers

ICUH 2025 has the honor of hosting prestigious thought leaders from around the world to convene in Wellington to tackle some of the most prevelant issues in global urban health. We are proud to host five distinct plenary sessions throughout the conference week that will feature expert panels, poignant keynote moments, and interactive discussions that follow our five conference themes.

This year, we have developed an additional important moment: a unique government roundtable that will convene national and local government leaders from across Aotearoa New Zealand and their international counterparts to explore together how urban policy and governance can drive health, equity, and climate resilience in our cities.

Together, these sessions will highlight diverse perspectives, showcase innovative solutions, and spark dialogue across disciplines, sectors, and regions to inspire actionable strategies that bridge local experience with global impact.

Additional speakers to be announced soon!

PLENARY 1

HEALTHY BUILT ENVIRONMENTS: BUILDING EQUITABLE, CLIMATE-RESILIENT CITIES

  • Skye Duncan is the Executive Director of the Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI). Skye and her team produced the award-winning Global Street Design Guide and its recent supplement, Designing Streets for Kids. In support of these global resources, GDCI has provided technical assistance to more than 60 international cities on transforming streets and mobility to support safe, sustainable, equitable, and healthy cities for everyone.

    Skye is an urban designer with 20+ years of experience in architecture, urban design, planning, and transportation, and has been recognized as one of TUMI’s Remarkable Women in Transportation. Previously, she was a Senior Urban Designer at the New York City Department of City Planning, an International Urban Design Consultant, and an Associate Professor at Columbia University in New York City, where she studied as a Fulbright Scholar.

  • Sindhu Ravishankar is the Vice President of Global Health Strategy at the Fast-Track Cities Institute the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care. For the past decade, she has worked on the Fast-Track Cities initiative which is global partnership between over 550 cities around the world and four core partners, including IAPAC, UNAIDS, UN-Habitat and the City of Paris, aimed at accelerating local HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and viral hepatitis (HBV and HCV) responses to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.3 by 2030. Sindhu has lived and worked in the United States, South Africa, India, and the UK, and has primarily focused on HIV and intersecting health issues including mental health, substance use, reproductive health, and more recently, environmental health. She holds an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Oxford and is currently a PhD candidate at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.  

    He is former director of the US Collaborating Center on healthy housing for WHO. He previously was appointed Director of the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Housing at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. For more than a decade, he has served as board president of Lincoln-Westmoreland Housing, a non-profit housing provider for more than a hundred low-income families in Washington DC.  He is principal author of the US lead poisoning prevention strategic plan in 1999 and a Report to Congress that launched the nation’s Healthy Homes Initiative. Many of his publications are here. 

    His book, "Fifty Years of Peeling Away the Lead Paint Problem: Protecting Our Children's Future with Healthy Housing," was published in 2022. He holds degrees in Environmental Engineering, Technology and Science Policy, Environmental Health, and Political Science.

  • Mike Davies is Professor of Building Physics and Environment at University College London (UCL). His research interests lie in the provision of healthy and comfortable built environments in the context of a changing climate.  

    He was the founding Director of UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering and has been the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on over 60 research projects.  The outputs of this body of work have impacted on a range of key national and international policy formulations. 

    For over 15 years he has led an extensive programme of research aimed at informing the scientific understanding of the systemic nature of a sustainable built environment.  This work is founded on intimate collaboration with researchers from health and other disciplines, and has sought to understand the complex relationship between the built environment and health.   

    Through such transdisciplinary research, a highly productive, multi-skilled team has been developed which has sought innovation in responding to the world’s urban health challenges. They have helped articulate the multiple underpinning connections and opportunities for healthy sustainable development. 

  • David E. Jacobs, PhD, CIH is Chief Scientist at the National Center for Healthy Housing & Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health. With over 120 peer-reviewed papers and more than 20 book chapters, he has conducted studies on lead poisoning prevention, health and other effects of green healthy housing, ventilation, asthma, indoor environmental quality, and relationships between science and policy.  

    He is former director of the US Collaborating Center on healthy housing for WHO. He previously was appointed Director of the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Housing at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. For more than a decade, he has served as board president of Lincoln-Westmoreland Housing, a non-profit housing provider for more than a hundred low-income families in Washington DC.  He is principal author of the US lead poisoning prevention strategic plan in 1999 and a Report to Congress that launched the nation’s Healthy Homes Initiative. Many of his publications are here. 

    His book, "Fifty Years of Peeling Away the Lead Paint Problem: Protecting Our Children's Future with Healthy Housing," was published in 2022. He holds degrees in Environmental Engineering, Technology and Science Policy, Environmental Health, and Political Science.

PLENARY 2

NOURISHING LANDSCAPES: NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS & FOOD SYSTEMS

  • Connie is a passionate advocate for food, community wealth building, and inclusive entrepreneurship, with over 25 years of experience in placemaking, hospitality, and local economic development.

    In 2025, she was named one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Top 50 Women in Food & Drink by Cuisine.

    Connie spent the last 15 years in Auckland’s urban regeneration landscape at Auckland Council working to balance economic benefit and public good outcomes. Connie played a key role in curating and managing waterfront destinations including North Wharf, Queens Wharf, Shed 10 and The Cloud. She championed Eke Panuku’s priority location town centre and local business resilience covering the Waterfront, North, South and West Auckland.

     In 2018 she created and continues to lead Auckland Council’s food incubator programme The Kitchen Project, supporting emerging food entrepreneurs-particularly Māori, Pacific, Indigenous, and women-led ventures-with a focus on mentorship, sustainability, and customer-driven growth. At the core of TKP is the strong belief that we all have a responsibility to ensure our kai reflects the communities we serve and supports the life of our planet. Success should be driven by opportunity, ability, determination, vision and by being brave.  

    Her work also includes developing food education and engagement programmes at Peter Gordon’s Homeland, the Franklin Local Board, and the University of Auckland-connecting local food stories across Aotearoa.

    An experienced awards judge, Connie sits on the panels of The NZ Outstanding Food Producers, The NZ Ice Cream, Top 100 Iconic Eats, Metro Restaurant of the Year, Onehunga Proud Business and 2 Degrees Auckland Business Awards.  For the last 24 years, Connie chaired and has served on the governance board of Auckland’s hospitality Oscars The Lewisham Awards.

  • Dr. Gayle Souter-Brown is an award-winning urban health consultant whose pioneering work combines research, policy and practice. Taylor Francis named her a 'global thought leader' for UN Sustainable Development Goals #3 Good Health and Wellbeing, #11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, #13 Climate Action and #15 Life on Land. Her innovative multidisciplinary approach bridges landscape architecture, public health and ecology.

    As a practicing Landscape Architect and Community Wellbeing consultant, Souter-Brown serves as Special Envoy to International Society for Urban Health (ISUH) from International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), CoDirector of IFLA’s Urban Health Working Programme, and Founder + Director of Greenstone Design UK and Greenstone Design NZ. Recognized as a visionary pragmatist, she authored the text Landscape and Urban Design for Health and Wellbeing – Using Healing, Sensory and Therapeutic Gardens, establishing her as a leading authority in the field.

    Her research and practice examine human-nature interaction and its effects on chronic stress and non-communicable disease, physical activity, diet, and wellbeing. Interested in addressing health equity, climate change and biodiversity loss, she is a holistic systems thinker. Using robust methodology and with statistically, clinically and socially significant results, Souter-Brown’s work supports decision-making, enhances service delivery, and addresses community priorities.

    Souter-Brown’s professional background spans diverse scales, environments and sectors, from sub-arctic to tropical, healthcare to tourism, and public to private space, within varied cultural tradition and economic circumstance. Her academic research connects her with organisations ranging from the World Health Organization to international universities, local authorities to workplace wellbeing initiatives. Through CPD and teaching programmes in landscape architecture and public health, she shares knowledge with the next generation.

    Dr. Souter-Brown researches, writes, speaks, advises organisations, and teaches globally. Dr. Souter-Brown operates both remotely and in-person, maintaining bases between London, England, and her farm in rural Canterbury, New Zealand.

  • Hanaa A. Hamdi, Ph.D., is a systems scientist and equity architect dedicated to strengthening social, economic, and community relationships that promote equitable health and well-being. With more than two decades of experience in research, practice, and policy, she has developed transformative approaches to equity for historically socially and economically disadvantaged communities.

    Hanaa is Co-Founder and Principal of Healthy Resilient People and Places (HRPP), a consulting firm working at the intersection of health, climate, and community development finance. HRPP partners with communities, philanthropic institutions, and financial actors to strengthen civic infrastructure, mobilize capital, and design systems that sustain long-term wellbeing.

    Dr. Hamdi also serves as a Visiting Scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where she collaborates with local partners to build community health strategies centered on the vital conditions for wellbeing. She leads efforts to expand access to integrated capital, strengthen local food systems, and foster multisector collaboration, with a focus on enterprises led by historically disadvantaged communities.

    Her career spans academic medicine, public agencies, financial institutions, and environmental organizations, where she has advanced strategies that embed equity into the systems shaping daily life. Across these roles, her work has consistently aligned capital, civic infrastructure, and multisector partnerships to create conditions for health equity and resilience. She extends this systems perspective through service on the Board of the Children and Nature Network and the Investment Committee of Potlikker Capital.

    Hanaa divides her time between New York City and the Bay Area, California.

PLENARY 3

PLACE MATTERS: LOCAL & CULTURAL INSIGHTS FOR URBAN WELLBEING

  • Ethan Kent works to support public space organizations, projects, and leadership around the world to build a global placemaking movement.

    He has traveled to more than 1000 cities and 65 countries to advance the cause of leading urban development with inclusive public spaces and placemaking.

    In 2019 he co-founded PlacemakingX to network, amplify, and accelerate placemaking learning, leadership and impact globally. He builds on more than 20 years of working on placemaking projects and campaigns with Project for Public Spaces.

    Ethan has been integral to the development of placemaking as a transformative approach to economic development, environmentalism, transportation planning, urban health, governance, resilience, social equity, design, digital space, tourism and innovation.

    Ethan has keynoted well over 100 of the top urbanism conferences and has helped organize dozens of placemaking conferences

  • “I te taha o tōku Papa ko Ngatokimatawhaorua te waka, ko Panguru ki Papata ngā maunga Teitei, ko Whakarapa te awa, ko Ngati Manawa te hapū, ko Ngati Manawa te marae, ko Te Rarawa te iwi. I te taha o tōku Mama, ko Ngāti Mahanga, ko Ngāi Tāmanuhiri rātou ko Ngāti Kahungunu ngā iwi.

    Kaye-Maree Dunn, co-founder of Making Everything Achievable, is a renowned Māori tech entrepreneur. Leading Ahau NZ and Indigital Blockchain, she's involved with North Hokianga Development Trust and Āhau Tātai Hono Trust and is a Sir Edmond Hillary Fellow.

    Dedicated to Māori and community development for over 24 years, her roles span Child, Youth, and Family, the Department of Labour, Māori Land Court, and NZ Maori Tourism.

    Active in Te Whare Hukahuka, she uplifts transformative capabilities in New Zealand's economic landscape. Recognised as Māori Entrepreneur of the Year in 2023, her recent pursuits include Social Enterprise Development and Governance Training.

  • Tumu Whakarae - CEO 

    Helmut is an experienced director, executive, and consultant with specialist skills in implementation and change management, business, and economic development, strategic analysis and planning, public policy, and finance. Helmut has extensive consulting experience in a wide range of private and public sectors (particularly health). 

    Helmut’s work over the last 16 years has focused on executive leadership of mergers, turnarounds, and business improvement initiatives, including inaugural CEO of the education sector’s largest systems integrator (TTS Limited), a post-merger industry training organisation (Connexis), the CEO of health sector IT companies (Patients First & Conporto Health), and now CEO of Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira. 

PLENARY 4

LIFELONG WELLNESS: ENSURING INCLUSION FOR ALL IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

  • Rangimahora Reddy, KSM (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato Tainui, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Rangitāne) has led the Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust as Chief Executive since 2010, drawing on more than 30 years’ experience in health, education, and community leadership. Grounded in kaupapa Māori principles and kaumātua-led research, she works alongside partners including the University of Waikato and Te Rūnanga o Kirikiriroa on national science initiatives such as Ageing Well and Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities.

    Her leadership has delivered pioneering innovations including Te Puna o Te Ora, a 1941 build that is transforming into a dementia and age-friendly, digitally enabled, kaumātua-led facility; Rauawaawa Enterprise for Kaumātua Aspirations (R.E.K.A.); and the introduction of gerontechnology through partnerships with QuantumTX (Singapore) and Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, advancing cognitive health tools and BIXEPS technology.

    Her ongoing work with kaumātua housing toolkits and a social enterprise toolkit, led by the University of Waikato, and co-developed with Te Rūnanga o Kirikiriroa and Awarua Ltd, exemplifies whānau-centred solutions that enhance dignity, belonging, and healthy ageing.

  • Thiago Herick de Sa holds a degree in Sports Science, and Masters and PhD degrees in Public Health. He started his career as a physical educator, working with older people at hospitals, primary care settings and households in Brazil. From 2010, Thiago worked as a researcher in Brazil and in the UK, with a track record of scientific publications in high-impact journals.

    Thiago joined WHO in 2017 to support the work around urban, transport and health, including the development of WHO’s Urban Health Research Agenda (2022), the Sourcebook on Integrating Health in Urban and Territorial Planning (2020) and the adaptation for global use of the HEAT tool (2021).

    In 2022, Thiago joined the Department of Social Determinants of Health to lead the work on Age-friendly environments, including the coordination of WHO’s Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities, the development of the guide for National Programs of Age-friendly Cities and Communities and the technical support on age-friendly environments to WHO Member States.

PLENARY 5

REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT: INDIGENOUS SOLUTIONS TO URBAN HEALTH CHALLENGES – STRATEGIES, RIGHTS, ACTIONS & EXPERIENCES

  • Associate Professor Emi Kiyota is an internationally recognized expert in environmental gerontology, participatory design, and inclusive urban development. With over two decades of experience, she is dedicated to creating age-inclusive, resilient communities that promote dignity and well-being across all stages of life. Dr. Kiyota is the founder and director of Ibasho, a non-profit organization that facilitates the co-creation of community spaces by and for older adults in diverse cultural contexts, including Japan, the Philippines, Nepal, and the United States.

    Her academic work bridges research and practice, focusing on the intersection of social infrastructure, design innovation, and community empowerment. Currently serving as an Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore, she collaborates with urban planners, architects, and policymakers to advance sustainable and equitable approaches to urban and regional development. 

    Dr. Kiyota has served as an advisor to various international agencies, including the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). Her participation in the jury panel for the Singapore Institute of Planners reflects her commitment to recognizing transformative planning efforts that build inclusive, sustainable communities for future generations. 

  • Professor Emeritus, Keio University 

    President, Institute for Built Environment and Carbon Neutral for SDGs 

    Dr. Toshiharu Ikaga was educated at the graduate school of Architecture, Waseda University. He was working for the world largest architectural design firm "Nikken Sekkei Ltd." as a mechanical engineer for 22 years, also working for the University of Tokyo as an associate professor for 2 years, and then working for Keio University as a professor for 18 years.

    His research focuses on sustainable engineering of building and cities, such as residents’ health, workplace productivity, low carbon and resiliency. He was a vice-president of the Architectural Institute of Japan from June 2020 to May 2022.

    He is now working at Institute for Built Environment and Carbon Neutral for SDGs as a President. 

    Institute for Built Environment and Carbon Neutral for SDGs 

    HB Hirakawacho bldg. 2-8-9. Hirakawacho, Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo, 

    102-0093 Japan 

    TEL: +81-3-3222-6681　FAX: +81-3-3222-6696 

    E-mail Address: ikaga@ibecs.or.jp / ikaga@sd.keio.ac.jp

  • Professor James Ward is a Pitjantjatjara and Narungga man, and Director of the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health at The University of Queensland, a centre focused on Indigenous health research and home to around 60 staff and 20 PhD students.

    He is an infectious diseases epidemiologist and a national leader in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research.

    With over 25 years of experience, Professor Ward has served on numerous national and international committees including the Communicable Diseases Network of Australia, the Australian National Council on Alcohol and Drugs, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Protection Sub-Committee and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander COVID-19 Taskforce.

    He has published more than 180 peer reviewed papers, currently leads several large-scale public health and infectious disease studies and has an emerging program centred on the health and wellbeing of urban Indigenous Peoples.

  • Pengjun Zhao, PhD 

    Prof. Pengjun Zhao is a Full Professor and the Dean of School of Urban Planning and Design of Peking University. He obtained his PhD degree in Spatial Planning at University of Groningen, the Netherlands. His research mostly focuses on urban and transport planning, spatial planning, and sustainable mobility.

    He is the Principle Investigator (PI) for 60 research projects which were funded by international and domestic organizations, such as EP7 (EU), EPSRC (UK), NSFC (CN), etc. He has more than 300 research outputs, including 11 books, and 160 international peer-reviewed papers in SCI/SSCI journals, including PNAS, Nature Cities, Nature Communications.  He was ranked as one of Most Cited Chinese Researchers by Elsevier for 9 Years from 2014-2024 consecutively.

    He is now a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of UK (FAcSS), a Senior Departmental Fellow of Department of Land Economy at Cambridge University, the Editor-in-Chief, Cities (Elsevier), the Vice Chair of the IGU Commission on Transport and Geography, the Deputy Chair of New Urbanisation and Urban & Rural Planning Committee of Chinese Society of Urban Studies (CSUS), and a committee member of Urban Planning Society of China (UPSC).   

ICUH 2025 GOVERMENT ROUNDTABLE

LOCAL & GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES ON PRESSING ISSUES IN POLICY & GOVERNANCE

  • Paris Kirby, MDes (Dist), PGDipFA, BFA  

    Paris Kirby is a Senior Placemaking and Activation Specialist at Auckland Council’s Urban Development Office, driving initiatives that elevate cultural identity, wellbeing and people’s experience of Auckland’s city centre. 

    Prior to this, for more than a decade Paris directed Social Ritual, a placemaking studio that delivered projects across the public and private sectors—ranging from community-led initiatives and place strategy to landmark programmes such as Summer on Queens Wharf and Love Your Maunga with the Tūpuna Maunga Authority. 

    Paris holds a Master of Design from the University of Auckland, where her research examined human-centred design as a strategy for inclusive planning, narrative building and place leadership. She has also served as a Professional Teaching Fellow in creative entrepreneurship, regenerative design and visual arts, and is an award-winning artist and writer. 

    Paris is a strong advocate for equitable development, grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and focused on generating lasting social, cultural and economic impact. She is recognised by her peers as a thought leader in urban regeneration, envisioning cities that not only grow, but heal—fostering equity, creativity, wellbeing, resilience and civic pride.