Cecil Konijnendijk

Cecil has over 30 years of experience studying, teaching, and advising on aspects of urban forestry and nature-based solutions. He is widely considered as one of the world’s leading urban forestry experts, and his work has been featured by leading media outlets such as CNBC and in international documentary films. A Dutch national, he has lived and worked in Europe, Asia, and North America. Cecil has held full and visiting professorships in urban forestry and green space management at universities in Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Hong Kong, and Sweden. He helped found the leading academic journal Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, and edited seminal textbooks such as The Routledge Handbook of Urban Forestry. He is currently Editor-in-chief of Arboriculture and Urban Forestry, the scientific journal of the International Society of Arboriculture. He has published widely and ranks among the world’s top 2% scientists worldwide and top 20 in forest science in terms of impact according to the 2024 Stanford/Elsevier ranking. Cecil is passionate about using trees and nature to develop better cities, and always stresses the importance of building meaningful relationships between people and places. He has advised international organisations such as the United Nations (FAO and UNECE), The Nordic Council of Ministers, as well as national and local governments in more than 30 countries, and was an invited panellist at the 8th Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe in April 2021. Also in 2021, Cecil launched the influential 3+30+300 rule for greener and healthier cities. In 2024 his new book ‘Rethinking Urban Green Spaces’ was be published by Edward Elgar Publishing. Cecil currently lives in the Dutch city of Utrecht with his spouse Andrea and their dog Holly.