Dr Madina Junussova is General Co-Rapporteur of the 59th Isocarp congress. She is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Policy and Administration (IPPA), University of Central Asia (UCA) and a CERGE-EI Foundation Teaching Fellow. She holds a PhD in Public Policy from Carleton University, Canada. Since 2022, as part of the global OECD-led SIPA team, she has started facilitating the creation of a Regional Knowledge Network on Sustainable Infrastructure in Central Asia. Her research interests include planning sustainable and resilient urban and regional development, local governance and participatory planning, evidence-based policymaking, policy monitoring and evaluation.  

For almost six decades, Isocarp members have been committed to making cities better places to live, work and rest. As an active member of Isocarp with 20 years of membership experience, I aim to continue the tradition of evolving congresses bringing together Isocarp members from around the world. At the same time, I want to preserve our society's values, long history of knowledge accumulation and dissemination, and culture of putting people first. With members from over 100 countries, Isocarp, as a global association of planners, can contribute its accumulated knowledge to meet Climate Change challenges. Urban Economic Forum (UEF) has established an excellent horizontal platform for beneficial dialogue allowing Isocarp members to increase their knowledge and capacities on climate finance. This joint event is an opportunity for ISOCARP and UEF to complement each other and reinvent urban planning, urban governance, and city financing.