Webinar on 13 December: Put walking on the map

Judy Balla
City Planner

Judy Bala is an Environmental studies (Climate change and sustainability) master’s student at Kenyatta University in Kenya and a holder of a Bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning . She has worked for 6 years as a land use planning practitioner, a year in monitoring and evaluation and five years in Environmental Impact Assessment.

In her current role, Judy is responsible for preparing and interpreting plans and studies on land use and sustainable development. Additionally, she sensitizes public officials and the public on development plans and land use. Judy is also in charge of recommending for approval or otherwise of development proposal within the city of Kisumu. She been a champion for sustainable mobility by pushing for the implementation of the Kisumu sustainable mobility plan, specifically by   singling out one intervention at a time such as  car free days, cycling and development of the non-motorized corridors.

Simone Battisti
Executive Director, Qendra Marrëdhënie

Simon Battisti is the Executive Director of the Relationship Center (Qendra Marrëdhënie, QM), a non-profit urban research and action group based in Tirana, Albania. QM provides technical assistance and design services to local governments for child-and caregiver-centered urban planning. Currently, QM is working on school street programs with the cities of Tirana, Albania, Prishtina, Kosovo, and Bratislava, Slovakia. Simon was a Fulbright Fellow in Albania in 2014-15, and holds a Master in Architecture degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

Constant Cap
Senior Product Manager, Code for Africa

Constant Cap is the Senior Product Manager at Code for Africa’s ‘Sensors.AFRICA’ environmental monitoring program. He has a Masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He regularly writes and comments about urban planning issues. He has a deep interest in sustainable mobility, urban resilience and inclusive planning. He has also worked as an independent consultant in advocating to transform the urban planning space in Kenya as well as partaken research in urban planning and mobility in different parts of Kenya. He is also a director and convener at Naipolitans, a ‘think and do’ tank within the urban planning space.

André de Wit
Mobility Advisor, Urban Development Department, City of Rotterdam

André de Wit is currently working as an Mobility Advisor at the Urban Development Department and has been working for the Municipality of Rotterdam since 2007. He has a background in traffic safety and a degree in health policies. Between 2014 and 2020 he was an advisor to the city centre of Rotterdam and wrote the Road Safety Plan 2015-2018.

Since the beginning of 2020, he has been part of the integral team Rotterdam Loopt. Within that programme he focuses mainly on programme renewal and innovation, evidence-based policy making and is participating in national initiatives such as the Platform Ruimte voor Lopen and the City Deal. In 2021 he received an award from the Dutch CVS conference on urban planning for a paper on the walking monitor he developed together with Witteveen & Bos.

Bronwen Thornton
CEO, Walk21

Bronwen is an international expert, facilitator and trainer on walking and walkable communities, giving walking a voice on the international stage and within local communities, cities and professional arenas.

She has more than 20 years of experience in strategic transport planning, community and political engagement, on-street analysis and creative development, and policy and project delivery with a focus on equitable and sustainable transport. She particularly likes to work in creative partnerships to inspire politicians and practitioners about the value of walking.

Leticia Sabino
Director and founder, SampaPé!

Leticia graduated from Urban Design and City Planning at University College London (UCL) and also has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration at FGV-EAESP and a post-grad in Creative Economy and Creative Cities. She is the founder and director of SampaPé!, an NGO focused on improving walking experiences in cities and building more walkable cities together with people, members of International Federation of Pedestrians (IFP).

Constanza Delón córdoba
Director of Road Safety and Information Monitoring, Mexico City

Constanza Delón Córdoba Architect graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico with a postgraduate degree in Urban Environment and Sustainability from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. She is an urban cyclist and has worked on the development of sustainable mobility strategies, tactical urbanism and urban design, as well as projects to improve public space and bike lanes. She was responsible for the area of urban image and special projects in the Public Space Authority, and Deputy Director of Cycling and Pedestrian Infrastructure, coordinating the planning and implementation of active mobility projects on a metropolitan scale. She currently works as Director of Road Safety and Information Monitoring at the Mobility Secretariat of Mexico City, where she coordinates programs with the aim of improving road safety conditions and the application of public policies to improve the way that people inhabit cities.

Bartek Komorowski
Team Leader, Sustainable Mobility Strategies Division, City of Montréal

Bartek Komorowski is an urban planner by training and has worked in the field of active mobility for 15 years. He is currently leader of the Design Practices Team in the Sustainable Mobility Strategies Division at the City of Montreal. His team coordinates the Montreal Sustainable Streets Design Guide, which provides integrated guidance on mobility, safety, universal accessibility and green infrastructure within street rights-of-way.

Prior to joining the City, Bartek was a Project Leader in the Research and Consulting department at Vélo Québec, Canada’s largest cycling advocacy organization. He is a coauthor of Vélo Québec’s 2020 design manual, Aménager pour les piétons et les cyclistes (Designing for Pedestrians and Cyclists).

Bartek is a board member of the Winter Cycling Federation, which organizes the annual international Winter Cycling Congress.

Bronwen Thornton
CEO, Walk21

Bronwen is an international expert, facilitator and trainer on walking and walkable communities, giving walking a voice on the international stage and within local communities, cities and professional arenas.

She has more than 20 years of experience in strategic transport planning, community and political engagement, on-street analysis and creative development, and policy and project delivery with a focus on equitable and sustainable transport. She particularly likes to work in creative partnerships to inspire politicians and practitioners about the value of walking.