Yizhao Yang is an Associate Professor at School of Planning, Public Policy and Management, University of Oregon. Her interests and research are focused on the relationships between the environment and people’s behavior, as well as how place-making knowledge and practices can be transferable between different cultures and countries. She also researches global sustainable urban planning, particularly for countries in East Asia. Dr. Yang serves on the International Steering Committee of the University of Oregon’s Sustainable Cities and Landscape (SCL); she runs the SCI-China Program for the Sustainable Cities Institute (SCL; She is a faculty instructor for the Asia-Pacific Mayors Academy organized by UN ESCAP.

Anne Taufen is Associate Professor in the School of Urban Studies at University of Washington, Tacoma. Her research focuses on equitable governance, port city infrastructures, and the social-ecological networks of urban regions. Dr. Taufen’s interdisciplinary approach to urban waterfronts and climate justice draws on training in Social Ecology (University of California Irvine) and Government Administration (University of Pennsylvania). She serves as a member of the Institute for Innovation and Global Engagement at UW Tacoma; as a faculty instructor for the Asia-Pacific Mayors Academy through APRU; and on the Steering Committee of the SCL hub, co-leading a working group on sustainable waterfronts.