Pourya Salehi

Pourya Salehi is the Acting Head of Urban Research at the Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) World Secretariat, where he leads a team to drive forward evidence-based policy making and science-informed local action through initiating, maintaining, and fostering effective collaboration among relevant stakeholders across the globe. He is also the coordinator of ICLEI's Global Research & Innovation Strategy across 27 ICLEI offices which involves overseeing ICLEI'S Research & Innovation (R&I) activities, from partnership building to curating R&I-related events (such as the Research Symposia), designing R&I projects, co-developing peer-reviewed publications and other knowledge products with partners, and providing contributions to international agendas such as the updated Global Research and Action Agenda, UNCCD's Global Land Outlook, etc.

In addition to managing, coordinating, and overseeing several multi-national R&I projects and initiatives on multiple thematic topics, including climate innovation, digitalization, digital finance, nexus approaches, urban and environmental planning, and sustainable development assessment, Pourya represents the organization in R&I-related spaces. In early 2022, the Strategic Advisory Board of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) appointed him as the co-chair of GCoM's Research & Innovation Technical Working Group (R&I TWG). With an educational background in urban planning and management (B.Sc.), land management and property rights (M.Sc.), and digital innovation and finance (P.hD. research topic), Pourya has always been fascinated by innovative approaches to sustainable development. Pourya is also an accomplished author on various topics with his most recent publication being the Springer-published book, titled Resilient Smart Cities: Theoretical and Empirical Insights.