Kongjian Yu spoke at the 61st IFLA World Congress in Nantes
From September 10–12, 2025, the global landscape architecture community gathered in Nantes, France for the 61st International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) World Congress, themed “Guiding Landscapes.” Prof. Kongjian Yu—founding dean of Peking University’s College of Architecture and Landscape, founder of Turenscape, and a leading advocate of nature-based climate adaptation—delivered a keynote address at the congress, highlighting Peking University’s leadership in research-driven design for planetary resilience.
On Friday, September 12, Prof. Yu spoke in the opening Keynote Lectures session alongside Dutch landscape architect Dirk Sijmons and French landscape architect Bertrand Folléa. His talk, titled “Designing a Sponge Planet: Landscape Architecture for Climate Resilience,” presented evidence-based strategies for retaining, slowing, and embracing water across urban and regional scales. The session underscored the profession’s growing role in transforming cities through ecological infrastructure and public-realm design.
The IFLA World Congress is the profession’s flagship annual event, convening practitioners, researchers, educators, and policy leaders to share emerging knowledge and practice. Hosted at La Cité Nantes Events Center, the 2025 congress featured plenaries, keynotes, technical sessions, exhibitions, and networking events curated to foster cross-sector collaboration. International announcements emphasized the congress’s international stature and public significance, noting its organization by IFLA with the French Federation of Landscape Architects (FFP) and its setting in the Loire region, a living laboratory for landscape-scale transitions.
Media and professional coverage in the lead-up to the event highlighted the program’s breadth and the prominence of keynote speakers. Landezine introduced “Guiding Landscapes” and anticipated a strong international turnout, positioning the congress as a unique moment for exchange among designers, researchers, and industry partners.Post-event reflections from professional bodies also noted Prof. Yu’s emphasis on replacing gray, pipe-and-concrete paradigms with landscape-based systems—reinforcing the urgency of nature-positive adaptation amid intensifying climate risks.
Prof. Yu’s keynote synthesized decades of scholarship and practice on “Sponge City” and “Sponge Planet,” frameworks that integrate wetlands, floodable parks, greenways, and permeable surfaces to mitigate floods, restore biodiversity, and cool urban microclimates. The address connected field-tested projects to policy and financing mechanisms, demonstrating how landscape architecture can meet SDG-aligned performance targets while enhancing cultural landscapes and community well-being. In this context, his appearance in Nantes aligns with Peking University’s mission to translate cutting-edge research into scalable solutions with global impact.
The congress program also placed Prof. Yu in dialogue with international peers across multiple sessions, including round-tables on territorial transition, signaling a shared commitment to interdisciplinary strategies for climate resilience and liveability. These forums amplified Peking University’s voice in global conversations about science-based design, nature-based solutions, and the transformation of cities and regions under climate stress.
As cities worldwide confront extreme weather, biodiversity loss, and water crises, Prof. Yu’s keynote at IFLA 2025 showcased the College’s leadership in water-driven ecological infrastructure and reaffirmed Peking University’s role as a hub for design innovation, education, and public policy. By coupling rigorous evidence with demonstrable on-the-ground outcomes, the Nantes address advanced a clear message: landscapes—when designed as living systems—are indispensable to a climate-resilient future.
