Keynote Speakers— More Updates Coming Soon

Riccardo Valentini

Riccardo Valentini is the Director of the Division of Climate Impact at the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Changes. He received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his activities within the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Valentini was researcher at the University of Tuscia, the Department of Plant Biology of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and at the Joint Research Center of the European Commission. Since 2000, he is a Professor at the University of Tuscia in the Department of Science of the Forest Environment and its Resources and has been Director of the department since 2002.

His research activity focuses on subjects in ecology, in agricultural-forest systems, and problems connected with implementing international conventions for global environmental protection. He is a pioneer in research that is relative to the role of agricultural-forest systems in climate change and the greenhouse effect and has been published multiple times in prestigious scientific international publications including Science and Nature.

Hong He

Director of the Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering

Prof. He received his Ph.D. in Science from the University of Tokyo in 1994 and subsequently spent over a decade studying and working in Japan, the United States, and Canada. Since returning to China in 2001, his research has focused on environmental catalysis and its applications in air pollution control. His work has yielded a series of achievements in diesel vehicle emission control, catalytic indoor air purification, and the mechanisms and control of atmospheric haze.

As the primary contributor, Prof. He has been awarded the Second Prize of the State Technological Invention Award, the Second Prize of the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award, the Second Prize of the State Natural Science Award, and the Outstanding Achievement Award in Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Furthermore, Prof. He received the Prize for Scientific and Technological Innovation (Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation) in 2017 and the National Award for Excellence in Innovation in 2020. Prof. He was elected as an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2017.

Prof. He has authored three monographs, including Environmental Catalysis: Principles and Applications, and published over 730 academic papers with more than 47,000 total citations. He is recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher by both Clarivate and Elsevier. He holds over 110 authorized domestic and international invention patents, many of which have been successfully transferred to industry for practical application. Currently, Prof. He serves as Associate Editor for the international SCI-indexed journals Environmental Science & Technology and Journal of Environmental Sciences.

Hehua Zhu

Distinguished Professor at Tongji University; Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering

Prof. Zhu received his Ph.D. in Engineering from Tongji University in 1989. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at the Geo-research Institute of Osaka in Japan and at Kyoto University. He has also held visiting professorships at several leading universities in the United States, Germany, and Singapore, establishing a robust background in international academic exchange and collaborative research.

Prof. Zhu’s research interests encompass rock mass strength theory and geotechnical numerical methods, life-cycle design theory for tunnels and underground engineering, fire safety in underground spaces, and intelligent engineering systems and applications.

Prof. Zhu has been awarded two Second Prize of the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award and one Second Prize of the National Teaching Achievement Award, along with three Special Prizes and ten First Prizes for scientific and technological achievements granted by provincial and ministerial authorities and national professional societies. He was elected as an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2021.

Prof. Zhu has authored eight monographs—including Shield Tunnelling Method and Fire Protection and Safety of Urban Underground Space (which includes a popular science comic edition)—and published over 380 SCI/EI-indexed journal papers. He is the founder of the academic journal Underground Space. Additionally, Prof. Zhu has contributed to the compilation of five technical standards and holds over 50 authorized invention patents. Currently, he serves as Chair of the Joint Technical Committee on Representation of Geo-Engineering Data in Electronic Form (JTC2) under the Federation of International Geo-Engineering Societies (FedIGS) and Executive Chair of the China National Group of the International Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, among other professional appointments.

Charles Karangwa

Charles Karangwa is the Global Head of Nature-based Solutions Centre at IUCN. He was recently appointed to advise Her Excellency Razan Mubarak, IUCN President and COP28-COP 29 High Level Climate Champion on Matters related to Nature-based Solutions.

Before joining IUCN Head Quarter in Switzerland, He served as Regional Head of Land Systems, Covering Forests, Drylands, Nature Based Solutions, Sustainable Agriculture at IUCN Africa Region. In 2020, he joined the COP26 High Level Champion team as the lead for land restoration in Africa and worked to engage private sector and other Non-State Actors for an ambitious climate action to Race to Zero and Race to Resilience by 2050.

With more than 20 years of Experience in interface between sustainable development, conservation and sustainable finance, Charles focused his work on Climate Change, sustainable agriculture, biodiversity conservation, nature-based solutions, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable finance.

Nathalie SEDDON

Professor of Biodiversity and Founding Director of the Nature-based Solutions Initiative in the Department of Biology at the University of Oxford

In 2021, Nathalie Seddon co-founded the Oxford University Social Venture, Nature-based Insights of which she is non-executive Director. As a University Research Fellow of the Royal Society, she developed broad research interests in understanding the origins and maintenance of biodiversity and its relationship with global change. Her work now focuses on determining the ecological and socioeconomic effectiveness of nature-based solutions to societal challenges, and how to increase the influence of robust biodiversity science on the design and implementation of climate and development policy. Nathalie advises governments and the private sector on nature-based solutions. She is a member of the Adaptation Committee of the UK Climate Change Committee, leading on nature; sits on the Science & Knowledge Committee of the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions and is Trustee of the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance.

Charles WALDHEIM

John E. Irving Professor of Landscape Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; AIA, ASLA (Hon.), FAAR

Charles Waldheim is a North American architect and urbanist. Waldheim directs the school’s Office for Urbanization. His research examines the relationships between landscape, ecology, and contemporary urbanism. Waldheim is author, editor, or co-editor of numerous publications on these topics, including Landscape as Urbanism: A General Theory and The Landscape Urbanism Reader. Waldheim developed the theory of landscape urbanism in response to the industrial economies and emergent ecologies of the American city.