Elisa Palazzo

Dr. Elisa Palazzo is a Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) within the Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture. With a PhD in urban design, regional and environmental planning, she has extensive international teaching experience at universities in Italy, China, and Australia. Her professional background includes over 20 years as a registered landscape architect, architect, and urbanist, with significant project experience across Europe, the Middle East, China, and Australia.

Her research focuses on adaptive and regenerative urban design, particularly water-sensitive cities and flood adaptation strategies in urban and rural systems. She explores biocultural diversity, landscape ecology, and transdisciplinary approaches to address environmental change. Her work bridges landscape architecture with urban design to create more resilient and environmentally sound cities.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on practical applications of urban resilience, with particular attention to flood adaptation strategies, biocultural landscape assessment, and the implementation of water-sensitive urban design principles globally. Her research shows an increasing focus on transdisciplinary approaches that integrate community engagement with technical solutions.

• Banksia Sustainability Award 2020 (Academia and Research category)
• Place Leadership Award 2019
• Learning & Teaching Award 2020
• Executive Dean's award for excellence in teaching 2017
• Peter Joseph Lenné Preis (1999)
• Multiple EUROPAN first prizes (1996, 1999)

Dr. Palazzo has successfully supervised three PhD students and one Post-Doc to completion since 2015/2016 and currently supervises research in adaptive urban design, water resilience, and post-mining site regeneration. She has secured significant research funding including a $0.94 million MYER Foundation grant (2018-2020) and multiple Category 2 and 3 grants totaling $196,000 (2015-2024).

She actively contributes to cultural landscape heritage work, serving as co-convenor of the Australia ICOMOS National Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes and Cultural Routes, and as co-author of the Burra Charter Practice Note on Cultural Landscapes. Her professional practice includes 38 built projects that have received 29 awards, including 11 first prizes.