Keynotes
David Jenkins
CEO
Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA)
"Valuing Green Infrastructure - taking a Traditional Asset Management Approach"
Bio
David Jenkins leads the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) as Chief Executive Officer and is widely regarded as a global authority on infrastructure and asset management. He has delivered keynote addresses at the Sydney Morning Herald Infrastructure Summit and premier events hosted by the Institute of Asset Management (UK), the Institute of Municipal Engineering of South Africa, and the Government Finance Officers Association (USA). His commentary is frequently featured in the region’s most influential industry publications.
David has studied at Stanford University, holds an Executive MBA from the University of Auckland, postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford, and an undergraduate degree from the University of London. He also serves on the board of the International Federation of Municipal Engineering (IFME) and the Australasian Society of Association Executives.
As host of IPWEA’s popular Infrastructure Matters podcast, David engages international thought leaders on water, transport, and sustainable asset management—bringing fresh perspectives and practical solutions to professionals around the world.
Information about the presentation
In the drive for financial and environmental sustainability, natural assets can be used in parallel with or to replace some traditional approaches and hard assets. In many cases, these natural solutions come with lower capital and operating costs, and they can mitigate urban heat islands and support resilience to the impacts of climate change. Natural assets also bring additional benefits; they can enhance recreational opportunities, purify air, improve soil quality and enhance habitat. The interaction of urban green infrastructure components can collectively help conserve biodiversity and restore ecological processes.
Amid discussions focused on market-based approaches to ‘valuing nature,’ the session will highlight the significant opportunity within traditional infrastructure asset management. This overlooked avenue incorporates natural assets into a traditional asset manager’s portfolio, emphasizing the opportunity and examples for the sustainable management of natural assets as a cost-effective alternative to grey or built infrastructure.
The emerging practice of natural area asset management provides a real opportunity to halt the decline and sustainably manage natural environments in urban landscapes. Taking an asset accounting approach using traditional asset management principles will help identify our natural asset inventory, the environmental services they provide, the risks of neglect, and the priorities and funding for their protection, restoration and management.
The presentation outlines the asset management process and reviews some leading examples of the application of natural area asset management in urban landscapes.
Urban landscapes, vital to the global economy, often exist outside market systems.
"Valuing Nature” delves into recognizing, protecting and managing the intrinsic value of natural assets in urban environments.
Photo by: Akiba Shiori
Davib Sim
Partner, Architect SAR/MSA FRIAS
Softer
"Soft Urban Future"
Bio:
With some 25 translations to date, the book “Soft City” has established David Sim as a thought-leader in urban livability and sustainability planning.
David started his architecture studies in his native Scotland but after hearing Jan Gehl’s lectures he moved to Scandinavia to complete his education. After a distinguished career teaching architecture at Lund University in Sweden, where he received the student-nominated “the teacher of the year” prize, he spent 17 years at the renowned Gehl urban planning practice, most notably as Creative Director, seeing it grow from four people in an attic to a world brand with offices in Copenhagen, New York and San Francisco.
A well-respected practitioner, David Sim has an impressive portfolio, personally leading master plans, urban strategies and design work across the globe, from the Highlands of Scotland to the lakes of Patagonia, from suburban Melbourne to downtown Tokyo, from finding new ways to build IKEA stores to rebuilding Christchurch after the devastating 2011 earthquake.
Based in Sweden, David Sim now works for his own independent consultancy company, making cities, towns, suburbs and villages softer.
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David Sim's optimistic vision of livable - and lovable - cities asks us to think smaller, slower, lower and simpler, to deliver density and diversity at a human scale.