Widi Auliagisni
Future Thinker of the Year 2024
Assistant Project Manager - Beca
Widi is an emerging professional with a solid background in architecture and construction project management. After earning her Bachelor’s in Architecture and gaining experience in Indonesia, she completed a Master’s in Construction Project Management in New Zealand.
Currently, Widi is an Assistant Project Manager at Beca, where she excels as a Design Manager and Functional Lead Support for the Defence Estate Infrastructure (DEI) sector. She is also active in the project strategy and delivery’s sustainability working group, and Beca's climate resilience initiative.
Aside from her professional role, Widi is pursuing a PhD in Disaster Management at Massey University, focusing on Flood Management and Community Resiliency. Her academic work includes several journal publications and conference proceedings, and she collaborates with the NZ Resilience to Nature’s Challenge – GNS Science research group, showcasing her expertise and dedication to enhancing environmental resilience.
Amanda Bryan
Technical Director - New Zealand Sustainability & Climate Resilience Lead
Mott MacDonald
Amanda Bryan has 20 years of consulting experience and is a qualified building scientist with expertise in governance, holistic sustainability, and building performance modelling. Her specialisations include climate resilience, adaptation planning, life cycle assessments, carbon management, net zero pathways, and regenerative practices. Amanda has held leadership and mentorship roles across various sectors, including built environment, infrastructure, transport, energy, water, and digital advisory. She has delivered Sustainability strategy's and climate risk assessments and resilience plans for assets such as commercial buildings, retail spaces, hospitals, public areas, and roads.
James Hughes
Technical Director - Climate and Resilience
James has a 20-year career in the infrastructure and environmental sectors, and leads T+T’s climate change and resilience advisory practice. His career to date has also spanned work within infrastructure planning and design, risk management and sustainability. James led the ‘Built Environment’ domain of NZ’s first National Climate Change Risk Assessment, and was part of MfE’s Climate Change Adaptation Technical Working Group during 2018. He has also been part of the Deep South Science Challenge, and in 2021 he led the development of MfE’s ‘Guide to local climate change risk assessments’. He has been involved with a large number of climate change risk assessments for regional and district Councils, as well as for the private sector – and recently he has also been researching and applying scenario planning methodologies as part of the Climate Related Disclosure regime in NZ.
Paola Boarin
Associate Professor of Architectural Technology and Sustainability - University of Auckland
Paola is the co-founder and director of the Future Cities Research Centre.
Paola’s research sits at the intersections across architecture, technology and the environment, with a focus on regenerative design and post-occupancy evaluations, as well as on sustainable conservation, adaptation and retrofit of existing and heritage buildings. Paola is involved in trans-disciplinary research groups and projects at national and international levels at the intersection of design, health and climate change impacts, and collaborates closely with institutions, industry and government to improve the built environment in New Zealand. She has also been working with the Association of Pacific Rim Universities’ Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Hub since 2016 by being a member of the Executive and Steering committees and by co-leading the “Sustainable Urban Design” working group.
Paola has collaborated with the Green Building Council of Italy, leading the development of sustainability rating systems as Chair of the Technical Advisory Group ‘Historic Building’. This collaboration resulted in the development and publication of GBC Historic Building®, the first and only rating tool assessing the sustainability of conservation-related interventions on historic buildings.
