Theme: urban planning, climate change

Hosted by the German Center for Research and Innovation (DWIH) New York, TEDxDWIHNewYork invites three German and American experts to share their research on cities and climate change to open the digital conference, the FUTURE FORUM: Building Biopolis.

German Consulate General New York
871 United Nations Plaza
New York, New York, 10017
United States

Daniel Zarrilli

Chief Climate Policy Advisor & OneNYC Director, NYC Office of the Mayor

Since 2013, Daniel Zarrilli has positioned New York City as the global leader in the fight against climate change. As New York City’s Chief Climate Policy Advisor and OneNYC Director, Daniel Zarrilli is preparing America’s largest city for the future and delivering on New York City’s Green New Deal. Under Daniel’s leadership, New York City recently released its newest long-term strategic plan, OneNYC 2050, which includes bold new actions to confront our climate crisis, achieve equity, and strengthen our democracy, demonstrating what a Green New Deal looks like in action. His previous positions included the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and FEMA.

Diego Rybski

Deputy Head Urban Transformations Group, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

Dr. Diego Rybski is a researcher of climate resilience at the Postdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). His focus is cities in the climate change context, including urban carbon emissions and how cities can contribute to mitigating climate change, climate impacts in cities and how cities can adapt to unavoidable climate change, urban climate and the heat island effect, and cities as complex systems. He is the Deputy Head of the Urban Transformations Group.

Estefanía Tapias

Entrepreneur, Author and Consultant on the Topic of Future Cities and Digital Transformation

Estefanía is an author, researcher and consultant on the topic of Future Cities and Digital Transformation. She obtained her Ph.D. at ETH Zurich and worked as a Research Scientist & Lecturer in Zurich and Singapore. She co-developed the first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) series on ´Future Cities` on edX and co-authored the book 'City in your Hands', adding to a list of research publications. Estefanía has been listed in Top 100 Digital Shapers in Switzerland in 2018 & 2019, and in Forbes 30 under 30.