Dr Elisa Palazzo

Dr Palazzo has a broad international experience in both academia and the profession. Currently senior lecturer at UNSW Sydney, her Ph.D. in urban design, regional and environmental planning examined the role of landscape architecture in urban design to achieve more resilient and environmentally sound cities. 
She has been teaching in several universities in Italy and China (Pisa and Florence universities, Tsinghua Beijing) besides Australia, in the field of landscape architecture, urban design and environmental planning.
Her research work focuses on regenerative, adaptive and transdisciplinary strategies to address environmental change, specifically exploring the role of water sensitive urbanism and sponge cities to increase flood resilience in urban and rural systems.
In Australia she was involved with the Mt Lofty Ranges cultural landscape heritage bid in South Australia and currently with the cultural landscape mapping of the Hunter Valley in NSW aimed at national heritage listing.
She is the co-convenor of the Australia ICOMOS National Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes and Cultural Routes and co-author of the recently endorsed Burra Charter Practice Note on Cultural Landscapes.
Dr Palazzo is a registered landscape architect, architect and urbanist with over 20 year experience in large scale award winning public projects and plans, carried out for government and international organisations. She has collaborated with the most renowned landscape design institutes on the contemporary scene such as Turenscape, L&A and THUPDI in China. In her professional practice she has developed several regeneration projects of highly valued urban sites and rural landscapes across Europe, the Middle East, China and Australia. Her role of International Expert and Scientific Coordinator of the UNESCO Bethlehem Area Management Plan led to the World Heritage nomination of two sites in Palestine in 2012 and 2014, including a viticultural landscape. 

Her career highlights include:
- CI in competitive Cat3 grant, funded by MYER foundation, AU$0.94 million, 2018-2020
- Lead CI in Cat2 and Cat3 grants, AU$196.000, 2015-2024 
- Scientific coordinator, BACMP UNDP/UNESCO competitive grant. US$0.5 million, 2006-2010
- Co-Chair of Australia ICOMOS National Scientific Committee and Expert member of ICOMOS/IFLA International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes.
- Editor of Scientific Reports, Nature, world’s 5th most cited journal 
- Regular contributor to the national debate on landscape resilience in the frame of numerous invitations as a keynote speaker in AICOMOS forums and promoted by international organizations. Author for a range of events, public talks and radio/TV interviews 
- Awarded with National Banksia Sustainability Award 2020 and International Place Leadership Award 2019 (with Place Agency)
- As Principal Architect and/or Design Director she is the author of 38 urban design, landscape architecture and architecture projects and plans that have been built or implemented
- Her authored projects and plans received 29 awards including 11 first prizes, 3 second prizes, and 2 third prizes 
- Awarded with the "Peter Joseph Lenné Preis", by Land Berlin, the most prestigious recognition in landscape architecture in Europe, 1999
- Since 1999, in recognition of the impact of her work, her authored projects and plans were displayed in 39 landscape and urban design exhibitions in Italy, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Spain and Serbia