Lusungu Kayani was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and moved to the U.S. at the age of 4. She is an urban planner and international development practitioner with more than a decade of experience. She has served as an advisor with international organizations such as the United Nations Center for Human Settlements, Vital Strategies, UNICEF and most recently, with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Her work focuses on the role cities play to ensure an equitable and sustainable future for our planet, especially through the lens of health and well-being. In recent projects, she has worked to better understand how urban environments can specifically support the health and development of children and adolescents. Currently, I am assisting in the development of tools to guide cities in monitoring implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In her spare time, she likes to read, write, volunteer with her local parks and trails committee and enjoys teaching yoga.
Key takeaways from our conversation:
- The rapid shifts in populations moving from rural to urban areas requires an adjustment in urban planning and the need to update systems, such as waste systems, to consider the behaviours and norms of new and bigger populations.
- Cultures and countries already have many sustainable systems, for example circular economies, they just haven't been labeled as such. We need a mental shift to look at how we can build off of existing sustainable systems, rather than always trying to build something new. But having new sustainability terms can help provide language to existing behaviours.
- We can apply circular economy principles can not only be applied to products but also to spaces and systems. How can we build offices, homes, etc to be adaptable to changing needs so that it can be used for longer?
- Stories and storytelling can provide representation on who can be solution providers and empower young people to take action within their own communities. It can help to plant the seeds with youth of how to live in a way that is aligned with a sustainable and regenerative future.
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