Karen Vella
Professor Karen Vella (BRTP Hons, PHD) is an urban and environmental planner and Head of the School of Architecture and Built Environment. Professor Vella leads a multidisciplinary team of scholars who teach and conduct research in architecture and design, planning, construction, and evaluation in support of built environments that meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The team that Professor Vella leads combines complementary disciplinary strengths in architecture and the built environment to equip students and professionals with the skills and knowledge to take sustainability action in a complex world. New research initiatives draw on deep disciplinary strengths and emerging methodologies to solve real-world problems in the built environment in partnership with industry.
Professor Vella leads high impact multidisciplinary projects on the human dimensions of environmental sustainability problems with a particular focus on supporting effective environmental governance and community resilience building in the context of environmental change. Her projects bring social scientists, engineers, bio-physical scientists, mathematicians, legal scholars and design professionals together to identify evidenced-based solutions to support sustainability outcomes. Professor Vella is an experienced leader of major research projects in the Great Barrier Reef, urban and regional communities, as well as in international contexts. Her research research has been directly translated into policy and legislation, governance practices and monitoring systems at state/territory and national levels.
Abstracts this author is presenting: