BioOlga Chepelianskaia is an international sustainability expert and Founder of UNICITI. She specializes on sustainable urban development in Asian cities with a focus on climate resilience, natural ecosystems and heritage revival, placemaking and sustainable tourism. She also advises on climate finance and clean energy. Over 15 years of her professional engagement, she managed 5 major international programs, covered over 20 cities and 40 countries, and worked with 7 leading international institutions: ADB, CDIA, Rockefeller Foundation, UNDP, UNECE, UNEP and UNESCAP.
Her technical expertise covers climate adaptation and DRR, climate modelling, integrated urban planning and urban design, heritage revival and valorisation of cultural and natural assets, sustainable tourism and placemaking, urban infrastructure services and climate finance. Her cross-cutting expertise covers program management, policy and governance, public participation and stakeholder engagement, capacity building, PR and communication. Her brand approach is to help Asian cities become vibrant, sustainable, climate resilient, economically dynamic, inclusive and culturally unique by placing their natural and cultural assets at the core of their development.
She is a speaker and moderator at a number of international events, including at the World Urban Forum 10 (Abu Dhabi, UAE), Placemaking India Weekend 2019 (Pune, India), Asia-Pacific Urban Forum 7 (Penang, Malaysia), Marmara Urban Forum (Istanbul, Turkey), 55th ISOCARP Congress (Jakarta, Indonesia), the World Bank’s Smart Republic 2019 (Delhi, India), 361 Degrees Designing for the Future Conference (Mumbai, India), 2018 Placemaking Week (Wuhan, China), TEDxFMS (New Delhi, India) or 4th Global Climate Policy Conference (Sao Paulo, Brazil).
Building Unique Cities: TEDx talk