In this episode of Constructive Voices, we dive deep into the world of resilient design and urban planning with Lisa Lattu, a pioneering "plangineer" who blends the best of civil engineering and urban planning to create sustainable, disaster-resistant communities. Hosted by Jackie De Burca, the conversation explores the critical importance of resilient infrastructure, particularly in cities prone to natural disasters like hurricanes, and addresses the challenges of maintaining and upgrading ageing infrastructure to meet current and future needs.

Lisa shares her extensive experience working with Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc., highlighting the innovative strategies and technologies her company employs to improve urban resilience. She discusses the complexities of designing infrastructure that can withstand both anticipated natural disasters and unexpected events, emphasising the interconnectedness of systems such as water, power, and mobility. Through real-world examples, including ongoing projects on the Texas Gulf Coast and in Houston, Lisa illustrates how comprehensive planning and community involvement can enhance disaster preparedness and recovery efforts.

Listeners will gain insight into the evolving field of resilient urban design, from data modelling and planning for multiple future scenarios to leveraging both new and time-tested techniques, such as rainwater harvesting and flexible infrastructure use. Lisa also touches on the critical role of community engagement, coordinated efforts between government and private sectors, and the importance of funding and policy in driving sustainable development. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the future of urban planning, sustainability, and the ways communities can adapt and thrive in the face of growing environmental challenges.

Lisa Lattu, PE, AICP, Associate, Senior Project Manager

Master in Urban Planning, Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University

Lisa Lattu has over 27 years of experience in strategic and resilient long-range infrastructure engineering and planning. She has served in public and private roles throughout Texas, leading groundwater reduction and conservation, surface water operational system modelling and analysis, and utility operations.

This rich experience has developed a unique and valuable knowledge of state and local infrastructure requirements through experience in municipal street and roadway improvement projects, water/wastewater designs, utilities coordination and relocations, hydraulic modelling, and master planning.

Lisa is an experienced leader from small teams of 5-10 engineers to direct responsibility operations, maintenance, and capital improvements for a 200 million gallon per day water purification facility for the City of Houston.

In cooperation with their local partners, the BROZ Nature Conservation Association, who were also partners on the Flooded Forest project, they have flooded another wetland along the Danube! This time the project focused on a different type of wetland habitat – wet meadows – that have become a rare sight in these lowlands.

Not long ago, wetlands were such an integral part of life in the Danube lowlands that locals would use over 20 expressions to describe the different types of wetland habitats!

Over the course of the 20th century, much of the area got drained to make space for agriculture and the extent of wetlands shrank to a fraction of their former size. So when an opportunity came up to support the restoration of this rare wetland type, they were all in!

The newly restored wetland is fed by the Ciliz Brook, a 33.5 kilometre waterline that once connected to the Danube River. The brook itself used to lack water on most of its course because a number of drainage channels were built on its course.

Thanks to a series of interventions done by BROZ Nature Conservation Association since 2016, which included the reconstruction of several poorly built drainage channels, water has returned to the brook in its full length.

Until now, the brook had a dead end in which the water would accumulate and spill over into another drainage channel. They decided to harness the potential of this water and create another ending to the brook – a 400 metre channel.

Now the water, that would otherwise be lost from the landscape, feeds a 40 hectare disused field over-ridden with invasive plants. Over time as the new water-logged conditions push back the invasives, a wet sedge meadow will form here, providing much needed refuge for

In this newsflash, 5-minute episode, you will learn about why scientists are warning that the Pantanal, often described as a "paradise on Earth," could be irreversibly damaged by the Hidrovia project. The delicate balance that sustains this unique ecosystem is already under pressure from climate change, deforestation, and other human activities.

Learn about how one of our longterm collaborators is once again on one of the UK's most important award lists.

Want to be featured regularly, check this out: https://constructive-voices.com/action-leaders/

The ground-breaking author, Alexandra Steed, talks to Jackie De Burca in a series of four podcast episodes that delve deeply into her brilliant book. She has also generously agreed to give away 10 copies of her book. Be sure to enter below.

In Part 3, host, Jackie De Burca, and guest Alexandra Stead, a landscape architect and urban designer, discuss Part Three of Stead’s book, which examines historical city locations, streetscapes, peri-urban landscapes, and case studies from England.

Stead explains the concept of landscape, highlighting its multifaceted definitions and the design principles essential for protecting and restoring the planet. She emphasises the importance of integrating nature into urban environments and using natural processes in design to create sustainable cities. Stead and Jackie also discuss the consequences of urban development that disregards natural processes, using London’s historical development as an example.

The episode explores innovative approaches like rethinking streetscapes and designing with nature in mind, citing successful projects in Vancouver and the concept of sponge cities in China. The discussion extends to peri-urban landscapes, the ecological footprint, and the necessity of shifting from exploitation to preservation and stewardship of natural resources.

In the latter part of the episode, Stead talks about the crucial roles of soil, water, and air in sustaining life and the benefits of regenerative agriculture and sustainable practices. She concludes by advocating for a holistic approach to design that considers the needs of the entire community of life, not just humans, and emphasizes the interconnectedness of all living beings in creating a sustainable future.

Joanne Proft, Associate Director, Community Planning | Campus + Community Planning at The University of British Columbia said:

In this short 17 minute episode, you will discover how this visual biodiversity net gain tool can help you do your BNG calculations and planning efficiently. Tune into Panu Pasanen as he talks to Jackie De Burca, about this BNG tool which enables you to work without an ecologist for some phases of your BNG work.

Panu Pasanen is the CEO and sole founder of One Click LCA, the world’s leading software platform for life-cycle assessment (LCA) and environmental product declaration (EPD) in construction & manufacturing.

He is an LCA, embodied carbon, and life-cycle costing (LCC) expert and entrepreneur, with a specialisation in the use of LCA and LCC for green building systems globally (primarily across Europe, North America, and Asia). Panu is a life-long advocate for the decarbonisation of the built environment.

He is driven to scale carbon performance optimisation with easy, automated, and affordable LCA. He is focused on developing One Click LCA to be the most user-friendly, automated, and robust LCA and LCC software platform on the market.

In addition to embodied carbon, LCA, and LCC, he works on Green Building credits for BREEAM, LEED, DGNB, CEEQUAL, and Energie-Carbone, among other things. He also collaborates with government bodies and large corporations to draft regulations and policies to achieve cost-effective and durable carbon reduction. He is also interested in sustainability metrics and standards — as well as sustainability software innovation.

Learn more about Panu’s work with One Click LCA here: www.oneclicklca.co

Part 2: The ground-breaking author, Alexandra Steed, talks to Jackie De Burca in a series of four podcast episodes that delve deeply into her brilliant book. She has also generously agreed to give away 10 copies of her book.

The first episode offers great insights into the concepts you will discover in this book. The author explains some of the core principles that are featured. De Burca speaks to her in detail about Part 1 of Portrait to Landscape-A Landscape Strategy To Reframe Our Future.

There is a wealth to learn and discuss about this ground-breaking book. So every podcast episode explores one of the four parts of this trailblazing publication.

Joanne Proft, Associate Director, Community Planning | Campus + Community Planning at The University of British Columbia, said:

Portrait to Landscape: A Landscape Strategy to Reframe Our Future is a ground-breaking work authored by a renowned landscape architect. It challenges us to fundamentally alter our relationship with the natural world, presenting a holistic approach to healing the earth by addressing both symptoms and underlying causes of environmental degradation.

Using the metaphor of a narrow, self-focused portrait versus a wide-angle landscape view, the book sheds light on the profound impact of our limited perspective. It offers practical strategies for policymakers, activists, and individuals to protect and restore landscapes, emphasising collaboration and long-term stewardship.

This thought-provoking book inspires readers to re-evaluate their connection with nature and engage in the movement towards a more

Part 1: The ground-breaking author, Alexandra Steed, talks to Jackie De Burca in a series of four podcast episodes that delve deeply into her brilliant book. She has also generously agreed to give away 10 copies of her book.

The first episode offers great insights into the concepts you will discover in this book. The author explains some of the core principles that are featured. De Burca speaks to her in detail about Part 1 of Portrait to Landscape-A Landscape Strategy To Reframe Our Future.

There is a wealth to learn and discuss about this ground-breaking book. So every podcast episode explores one of the four parts of this trailblazing publication.

Joanne Proft, Associate Director, Community Planning | Campus + Community Planning at The University of British Columbia, said:

Portrait to Landscape: A Landscape Strategy to Reframe Our Future is a ground-breaking work authored by a renowned landscape architect. It challenges us to fundamentally alter our relationship with the natural world, presenting a holistic approach to healing the earth by addressing both symptoms and underlying causes of environmental degradation.

Using the metaphor of a narrow, self-focused portrait versus a wide-angle landscape view, the book sheds light on the profound impact of our limited perspective. It offers practical strategies for policymakers, activists, and individuals to protect and restore landscapes, emphasising collaboration and long-term stewardship.

This thought-provoking book inspires readers to re-evaluate their connection with nature and engage in the movement towards a more

In this enlightening episode of the Constructive Voices Podcast, Jackie De Burca talks to Dr. Ciaran Byrne, the Director of National Retrofit in Ireland. He offers invaluable insights into the country’s experience to date and the future of retrofitting in Ireland.

About Dr Ciaran Byrne

Dr. Ciaran Byrne is currently the Director of the National Retrofit Directorate in Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). In this position, his key priority is to build the National Retrofit Directorate within SEAI and design the business and financial model capable of mobilising the effective delivery of over 60,000 BER B2 retrofits per annum from 2026 onwards towards 2030.

These targets will be achieved through a network of ‘One Stop Shops’, creating a national demand for retrofit amongst homeowners, through marketing, addressing operational bottlenecks, developing smart finance options and raising awareness of the multiple benefits of undertaking a retrofit.

In addition, Dr. Byrne is responsible for scaling several other SEAI programmes including the individual energy grant scheme, the fully funded Warmer Homes grant scheme and the Solar PV scheme to ensure they all contribute, at scale, to Ireland’s CO2 emission reduction targets.

Another priority is activating