Sarah Bekessy

Sarah Bekessy has been teaching in Sustainability and Urban Planning at RMIT University since 2004.

Professor Sarah Bekessy leads the ICON Science research group at RMIT University which uses interdisciplinary approaches to solve complex biodiversity conservation problems. She is particularly interested in understanding the role of human behaviour in conservation, in designing cities to encourage ‘every day nature’ experiences and in defining and measuring ‘nature positive’ development. She co-developed the Biodiversity Sensitive Urban Design protocol that has now been used by numerous developers, governments and non-government organisations to design innovative urban biodiversity strategies.

Expert commentary on...

Threatened species management, Environmental decision analysis, Urban ecology, Population and landscape modelling, Education for sustainability, The role of science in environmental policy.

View Full profile

Related Content

Projects

Onsets not offsets for real biodiversity gains

2020–2022

This project will make conceptual and methodological advancements required to develop a working approach for onsets. Case studies in urban development and agriculture will highlight how the approach work s in practice.

Publications

Ecological connectivity as a planning tool for the conservation of wildlife in cities

Holly Kirk, Kylie Soanes, Marco Amati, Sarah Bekessy, Lee Harrison, Kirsten Parris, Cristina Ramalho, Rodney van de Ree

MethodsX

View Publication

What next? Expanding our view of city planning and global health, and implementing and monitoring evidence-informed policy

Billie Giles-Corti, Anne Vernez Moudon, Melanie Lowe, Ester Cerin, Geoff Boeing, Howard Frumkin, Deborah Salvo, Sarah Foster, Alexandra Kleeman, Sarah Bekessy, Thiago Hérick de Sá, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Carl Higgs, et al.

Lancet Global Health Series

View Publication

A transformative mission for prioritising nature in Australian cities

Niki Frantzeskaki, Cathy Oke, Guy Barnett, Sarah Bekessy, Judy Bush, James Fitzsimons, Maria Ignatieva, Dave Kendal, Jonathan Kingsley, , Alessandro Ossola

Ambio

View Publication

Projecting biodiversity benefits of conservation behavior-change programs

Dr Matthew Selinske, Sarah Bekessy, William L Geary , Richard Faulkner , Fern Hames , Charlotte Fletcher , Zoe E Squires , Georgia E Garrard

Conservation Biology

View Publication