The Polish Green Roofs Association invites you to participate in an international conference

Greening Modern Cities

19 - 21 MAY 2026 Bialystok & ON-LINE

Green roofs and living walls in the context of urban adaptation to climate change

CONFERENCE DETAILS

We would like to invite you to the international conference “Greening Modern Cities”.

The Polish Green Roofs Association (PSDZ) is an expert scientific and technical organisation supporting the implementation of new technical solutions in engineering and economic practice. We specialise in the topics of green and green-blue infrastructure and climate change adaptation.

We operate throughout Poland.

We are federated and actively cooperate within the World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN), the European Federation of Building Greening Associations (EFB) and the Federation of Scientific and Technical Associations ‘NOT’

The conference will be held in English.

The conference programme will include presentations of the latest research results on greening buildings, an overview of innovative green roof and living wall projects, and a discussion of national, regional and municipal policies supporting the development of greenery on buildings.

The event is aimed at representatives of public administration and local government, the scientific community, architects and landscape architects, developers, construction companies, industry experts, the media and students.

The conference is the largest regular platform for the exchange of knowledge and experience in Poland in the field of green infrastructure in urban areas.

Conference objectives:

Presentation of the latest research findings on greening buildings and developing green and blue infrastructure in urban environments.
Promotion of good practices through the presentation of inspiring examples of green roofs, living walls and other nature-based solutions.
Exchange of experiences between practitioners, scientists and administrators, supporting the development of cooperation for sustainable urban transformation.
Discussion of national, regional and local policies and regulatory and financial tools supporting the development of greenery on buildings.
Raising awareness of the importance of green infrastructure in adapting cities to climate change, improving the microclimate and enhancing the quality of life of residents.
Promoting innovation and industry standards that support the professionalisation of the green roof market and nature-based solutions.

Our Speakers

Dhiru A. Thadani

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Dhiru A. Thadani is an architect and urbanist who has been in practice since 1978. As a design principle and partner for more than thirty years, he has completed projects the world over, and he continues to provide a broad range of consulting services in architecture and urban design.

Dhiru A. Thadani, AIA, APA, FCNU, ISOCARP, NOMA, is an architect, author, educator, and urbanist who has been in practice since 1980. He has worked to disseminate principles and techniques of traditional town planning on five continents by sharing research, lecturing, mentorship, and working on projects. He has been the principal designer of new towns and cities, urban regeneration, neighborhood revitalization, academic campuses, and infill densification projects.

Dhiru Thadani is the author of books that are also used as textbooks for architecture and urban planning students at some Polish universities. To date, he has been invited to deliver over 150 lectures in 28 countries around the world.

More information can be found at https://dthadani.com/hh/

Tanya Muller-Garcia
Mexico City, MEXICO
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Tanya Müller García is is a global climate leader and former Secretary of Environment of Mexico City, where she led the development and implementation of pioneering public policies on climate change, air quality, urban resilience, green finance, and sustainable mobility .With more than 25 years of experience, she has held senior international roles including Head of Climate Action Planning for Latin America at C40 Cities, coordinating 12 major cities to align their climate strategies with the Paris Agreement . She has also chaired the Environment Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce in Mexico. Tanya is an international keynote speaker focused on scalable, gender-responsive, and results-driven solutions that accelerate climate action and sustainable development across cities and regions.

Ewa Burszta-Adamiak
Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences
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Founding member and first president of the Polish Green Roof Association, her scientific activity is related to the subject of sustainable rainwater and snowmelt management in urban areas, with particular emphasis on the hydrological benefits of green roofs in research; cooperating with the municipalities by condacting tasks aimed at improving the management of urban water resources and promoting solutions for dispersed retention and infiltration in urban areas

Marek Cyunel
University of Agriculture in Krakow, POLAND
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Luigi Petito
Head of European Chapter at World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN)
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Luigi Petito, 50, father of two, is an expert in European public affairs. He is based in Brussels, cross- roads for international affairs and the European Institutions. In 2019 he was invited to establish and lead the European Chapter of the World Green Infrastructure Network. Since then, he follows EU policy and regulatory developments related to green infrastructure and advocates for a systematic integration of green infrastructure in urban areas. In the field of green infrastructure, he represents WGIN in the EU Biodiversity Expert Group and in the European Commission expert group on the implementation of the Nature Restoration Regulation. He is a member of the Impact Board of the EU funded project GoNaturePositive! and is a member of the editorial board for the magazine Living Architecture Monitor, a Green Roof for Healthy Cities publication. Luigi is very committed to sustainability. Among other things, he serves as Head of Secretariat at the European Alliance to Save Energy and Secretary General at European Childhood Obesity Group.

Marloes Gout
City of Rotterdam, KINGDOM of the NETHERLANDS
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Magdalena Jabłońska
Municipal Greenery Management in Wrocław, POLAND
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Vera Enzi
European Federation of Green Roof and Wall Associations
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Vera Enzi is a trained landscape planner and self-employed NbS consultant with a background in research and innovation related to green buildings and nature-based solutions. She pursued her academic career at the University of Life Sciences BOKU Vienna, was involved in founding the spin-off Green4Cities and initiated and set up the Austrian innovation laboratory for greening cities GRÜNSTATTGRAU. Vera is active in various non- profit organizations and currently supports the European Federation of Green Roof and Wall Associations – EFB as Vice President. Her personal interest lies in measurable benefits and nature-positive aspects of nature-based solutions and green infrastructure. She is a leading expert in green wall technology with a strong interest in biodiversity and buildings, as well as conservation and restoration in general.

Tetiana Konchenko
European Federation of Green Roof and Living Wall Associations – EFB
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Tetiana Konchenko has been serving as General Secretary of the European Federation of Green Roof and Living Wall Associations (EFB) since 2023. In this role, she oversees organisational operations, supports stakeholder coordination, and contributes to research, knowledge exchange and policy-related activities. Previously, she worked in project management in the fields of sustainable development and energy efficiency, coordinating training and capacity-building initiatives for professionals and institutions in Ukraine. She has educational background in Ecology, Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, as well as in Management.

Tetiana Tkachenko
Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture
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Dr Hab., Professor, Head of the Environmental Protection Technologies and Labour Safety Department, member of the Technical Committee for Standardization TC-82 «Environmental Protection», Permanent Workgroup on Preparing Amendments to State Building Norms of the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, Expert of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, An expert, standardiser, and populariser in the fields of green construction, green structures, the sanitising phytodesign, phytoremediation, climate change, climate service, and land reclamation. Contacts: tkachenkoknuba@gmail.com; Viber/TLG/WhatsApp: +380673533877

Ferre Maes
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, BELGIUM
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Steven Peck
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, CANADA
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Viktor Mileikovskyi
Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture
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Dr Hab., Professor, Professor of the Heat-Gas Supply and Ventilation Department, member of the Permanent Workgroup on Preparing Amendments to State Building Norms of the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, Expert of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. The scientific interests are HVAC, heat-mass exchange in green structures and indoor greening, improvement of IAQ by them, air exchange organisation, a theory of turbulent macrostructure. Contacts: mileikovskyi@gmail.com; Viber/TLG/WhatsApp: +380938284247

Marta Pogrzeba
The Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas, POLAND
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Olyssa Starry
Bucknell University; USA
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Olyssa Starry directs the Sustainable Technology and the Built Environment Program at Bucknell University. She oversees projects that address environmental challenges by examining the relationships between human-built infrastructure and everyday environmental processes. Her research often uses green roofs as model systems to explore how design and management decisions influence the ecological, social, and political functions of urban open spaces. Her recent projects focus on how green roof design can affect human health, including impacts on air quality and the potential for horticultural therapy. She has published in journals such as Ecological Engineering and Urban Ecosystems, studying topics including green roof biodiversity and the role of plants in the rooftop water cycle. She is also co-author of the educational book Growing up in the city: a greenroof activity book. Previously, Dr. Starry was an associate professor at Portland State University, where she taught urban ecology and related courses, and she collaborated with the green roof advocacy group Greenroof (Info) Thinktank (GRiT). She earned her PhD from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she researched the ecophysiology of plants commonly used on green roofs.

Jadwiga Stochel-Cyunel
Cracow University of Technology, POLAND
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Manfred Köhler
Honorary President of the World Green Infrastructure Network
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Professor Manfred Kohler from Germany is the founder of the Green Roof Research Center at the University of Applied Sciences in Neubrandenburg. His scientific research focuses on green infrastructure related to green roofs, living walls, and indoor greenery. The results of his work have been presented in around 180 scientific publications and at numerous conferences of global significance. Professor Manfred Köhler is a member of many important non-governmental organizations: – Federal Association of Landscape Architects (BDLA), – Several FLL working groups (www.FLL.de), – European Flat Roof Association EFB http://efb-greenroof.eu/, – He is also a co-founder of the World Green Infrastructure Network – WGIN in 2008 and served as president of this organization for many years (www.worldgreenroof.org). Currently, Professor Manfred Köhler, who as president of WGIN has made outstanding achievements in the development of green infrastructure around the world, serves as honorary president. In 2025, Professor Manfred Kohler won the Green Infrastructure Champion Award in the global WGIN Awards competition. This award honors individuals or organizations that have made a significant contribution to the green infrastructure industry on an international scale.

Stephan Brenneisen

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Dr. Stephan Brenneisen, is the ‘father’ of green roofs and biodiversity, having conducted research and led advocacy on this subject for more than 25 years. He is the Head of Research Group, Urban Ecology, Zurich University of Applied Sciences and has been instrumental in shaping green roof policy in Basel, Switzerland so that it is focused primarily on biodiversity.

Maciej Fuhrmann
Senior Specialist in the Air Protection and Climate Policy Office, within the Climate Policy Department, Capital City of Warsaw Office
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He has been working in the public sector since 2005, focusing on security and crisis management. He currently works at the Air Protection and Climate Policy Office of the Capital City of Warsaw. His main areas of responsibility include: – climate change adaptation, – the Warsaw Green Building Standard, – reviewing municipal spatial development plans.

Michał Więcek
Departamentu Strategii i Zrównoważonego Rozwoju, Urząd Miasta Wrocławia, POLAND
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Marta Wojniłko-Szymańska
Spółdzielnia Mieszkaniowa Wrocław, POLAND
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I am a landscape architect with over 15 years of professional experience. Currently, I work at one of the largest housing cooperatives in Wrocław as a landscape architecture specialist, where I am responsible for the management of green spaces across four residential estates with a total area of over 55 hectares—from planning and supervision to maintenance and development. I combine design expertise with a practical approach to the management and care of green areas.

Małgorzata Żydek-Piątek
Zakład Zieleni MIejskiej w Katowicach, POLAND
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Organizing committee

Marta Weber-Siwirska – chair

Natalia Durecka – secretary

Karolina Kaczor – secretary

Marta Baum – member

Joanna Orłowska-Rogalska – member

Jacek Poziemski – member

Jarema Rabiński – member

Kamil Rawski – member

Katarzyna Wolańska – member

Scientific committee

Kamil Rawski, Bialystok University of Technology, Poland – chair

Zoё Avery, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Stephan Brenaisen, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland

Tomasz Gawenda, AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland

Dorota Gawryluk, Bialystok University of Technology, Poland

Jacek Krych, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland

Jan Łukaszkiewicz, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland

Gabriel Perez, University of Lleida, Spain

Justyna Rubaszek, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Poland

Edyta Sierka, University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland

Olyssa Starry, Bucknell University, USA

Agata Stempkowska, AGH University of Science and Technology

Marta Weber-Siwirska, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Poland

Katarzyna Wróblewska, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Poland

Agata Zachariasz, Cracow University of Technology, Poland

PROGRAMME

Submissions of presentations and posters will be accepted until 15 February 2026. The detailed conference programme will be announced on 1 March 2026.

Download programme

Study tour

We invite you to take part in a unique study visit offering a first-hand look at outstanding examples of green infrastructure in the Podlasie region. The programme includes a comprehensive guided tour of the green roofs and green walls of the Białystok Philharmonic, led by the facility’s staff, as well as a guided visit to the University of Białystok Campus conducted by university representatives. Participants will also join a guided excursion to the Białowieża Forest, led by a licensed guide, combined with a walk through the Strict Nature Reserve. During transfers between programme locations, participants will have the opportunity to see Białystok’s green bus stops, showcasing innovative, nature-based solutions in the urban environment. The return to Białystok is planned for approximately 8:00 p.m.

The price includes coach transport, licensed guiding services in the Białowieża Forest and the Strict Nature Reserve, entrance tickets, and lunch. This study visit offers an excellent opportunity to gain practical knowledge, inspiration, and on-site experience alongside experts and enthusiasts of green and sustainable solutions.

Publication

Conference participants are invited to submit scientific papers to the international, peer-reviewed journal “Space & Form”. The journal publishes original articles in the fields of architecture and urban planning in an open-access format, both online and in print. Papers are accepted in Polish and English and are subject to a double-blind peer-review process. Detailed author guidelines are available on the journal’s website (https://pif.zut.edu.pl/for-authors/)

Contact

Contact for the conference organiser:
gmc.conference@psdz.pl

Location

The conference will be held at Bialystok University of Technology
45 E Wiejska St.
15 – 351 Białystok, Poland