IFLA Working Programme 18 - Water Security and Management
Goal: Promote sustainable water management practices in landscape architecture, addressing water scarcity, drought, flooding, and water pollution.
Impact: Create landscapes that are resilient to water-related challenges, conserve water resources, and protect water quality.
Working Programme Members
Director - Maria Matos Silva
Maria is assistant professor of landscape architecture at Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), University of Lisbon. She is also board member of the Portuguese Association of Historic Gardens (AJH - Associação dos Jardins Históricos). Maria finalized her doctoral degree at Universitat de Barcelona with a full doctoral scholarship attributed by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), having obtained the Excellent "Cum Laude" classification. Her current academic interests focus on landscape, urban ecology, urban floods, public space design and climate change adaptation
Co-director - MARTHA FAJARDO
Martha C. Fajardo is a Colombian landscape architect, urban environmental planner, and founder of Grupo Verde SAS, a pioneering practice in landscape architecture and regenerative urban design. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the IFLA Working Programme 18 – Water Security & Management (Sponge Planet Initiative). She is also a Past President of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), a Board Member of The Nature of Cities (TNOC), and Chair of the Latin American Landscape Initiative (LALI). Her work focuses on landscape-led water resilience, Nature-based Solutions, ecological restoration, regenerative territories, and the integration of traditional knowledge into contemporary landscape planning and design. She collaborates with international organizations, including the World Bank, AFD, CAF,developing innovative methodologies that connect water security, resilient mobility, and landscape architecture.
Other members of the Working Programme
Damian Holmes
Gaia Terlicher
Kelly Shannon
Matt Sykes
Zhifang Wang