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Urban Planning • Programs & Research • Climate Resilience
Urban Planning • Programs & Research • Climate Resilience
I am an urban planner and researcher working at the intersection of climate, migration, and urbanization. I have spent the past 15 years working with local governments, international institutions, NGOs, grassroots movements, and consulting firms across East Africa, Latin America and the US. My work focuses on integrated & inclusive urban planning, urban resilience and locally-led adaptation, urban upgrading, local integration of displaced people in cities, stakeholder engagement, and community-led research & planning. I excel at managing complex research projects and development programs, building strategic partnerships, and connecting the dots from the big picture to the details.
Three common threads tie my interests together: (1) rapid urbanization, displacement, migration, and inclusive climate action; (2) cities as frontline actors confronting spatial inequalities and climate change; and (3) the opportunity for cities to serve as centers for collaboration and innovation in governance and the co-production of knowledge and policy by local governments, civil society, academia, and grassroots social movements.
Expertise at a glance
Expertise at a glance
East Africa • USA • Central America • Caribbean • Southern Cone
integrated, interdisciplinary & pro-poor planning • urban resilience & locally-led adaptation • urban upgrading & informality • displacement, urban migration & local integration • housing, community development & land use • local & multilevel governance • institutional & grassroots capacity building • urban social movements and community-led research & planning • NbS • climate finance
program management • stakeholder engagement • partnership building • project development • field research • qualitative & participatory methods • GIS, data science & analytics • multi-stakeholder dialogues • knowledge product development • policy analysis • workshop design & facilitation • event organization • strategic communications • writing, storytelling and multimedia
Interests & Expertise
Interests & Expertise
Topics
Topics
Urban climate justice
Place-based social movements; urban governance and grassroots partnerships; co-produced responses
Urban adaptation and resilience
Locally-led action; informal settlement upgrading of infrastructure and basic services; urban design and placemaking; green infrastructure and nature-based solutions; urban forestry
Urban mitigation
Land use; buildings and transport; integrated mitigation–adaptation responses
Urban migration
Rapid urbanization; rural–urban links; climate displacement; protracted displacement in cities
Urban planning
Inclusive, integrated planning and policy; community development, housing, transit and land use; GIS and spatial planning
Climate finance
For urban adaptation and devolved planning & investment
Multilevel governance
Linking local climate action to broader national and regional processes
Modes
Modes
Cross-sector collaboration
Research, relationships and impact. Multi-stakeholder facilitation between grassroots organizations, local governments, civil society and academia for: co-design and co-research; co-production of knowledge, plans, policies and budgets; co-implementation; stakeholder mapping
Applied and academic research
Community-based participatory action; qualitative methods & ethnography; analytics, scenario modeling, data science and GIS; participatory MEL and outcomes mapping
Cross-disciplinary research
Comparative research; learning exchanges and capacity development
Management and communications
Managing projects, programs and partnerships and dissemination of research and programs
Proposals
Developing proposals, work plans and budgets for tenders, grants and research partnerships
Writing
Technical, analytical and lay writing; knowledge material production, information design and storytelling, in various styles and for multiple audiences (academic articles, research summaries, case studies, best practices synthesis, blogs, instructional documentation, educational materials, video scripts, journalism)
Creative methods
Narrative and cultural strategy for inclusive advocacy, planning and policy. Understanding your audience from the start, not as an afterthought, and speaking directly to them. Poetry, stories, films and multimedia projects to bring research and policy to life.
Capacity building
Facilitation, grassroots capacity building, learning exchanges and peer-sharing workshops
User research and usability testing
For infrastructure and services design as well as educational and capacity-building materials
Google Sites
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