Global Urban Greening Strategies: From policies to community action.
BCNM alum Eleni Oikonomaki participated in Global Urban Greening Strategies: From policies to community action in Placemaking Week!
The session started with an introduction on the potential of greening historic city centers, sparking discussions on introducing more green spaces, enhancing biodiversity, and reconnecting with nature within these urban areas. Although historic city centers pose unique challenges due to their architectural and cultural significance, there remains an opportunity to incorporate green elements. Numerous cities have already implemented incentives to motivate citizens, property owners, and tenants to transform underutilized lots and spaces into vibrant green spaces. These measures empower individuals to actively contribute to the city's visual appeal and encourage the utilization of private spaces for public and ecological purposes. However, when it comes to monitoring those initiatives, it gets challenging to quantify and monitor the dedication and efforts of individuals or businesses in promoting urban greening.
Eleni is an Architect, Urban Designer, and Analyst, currently pursuing a Ph.D. specializing in smart cities, innovation ecosystems, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence within urban environments. She graduated with distinction from UC Berkeley, California, holding a master’s degree in Urban Design, and from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, with a master’s in Architectural Engineering. As a visiting Ph.D. Student at Northeastern University in Boston, Eleni conducted research on innovation ecosystems, machine learning and data mining using urban informatics. As an Architect, Urban Designer at SmithGroup, she has gained experience in a range of projects, from architecture, urban design and planning including civic, mixed use, transit-oriented, open space, to community engagement, and campus planning projects.
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