MsSomayeh Sadegh Koohestani

Driven by a passion for nature and creating better places for people, Somayeh is a transdisciplinary researcher with a background in urban planning and design, focused on climate-responsive and sustainable cities and built environments across scales. She is a PhD candidate and Research Assistant at the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF).

For her PhD, she is investigating transition pathways for mainstreaming Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) in cities through a soci-technical transition lens and incorporating systems thinking practices. Her doctoral research examines how planning systems, governance structures and socio-technical factors influence the adoption of BGI and nature-based solutions, with a focus on Sydney’s urban and environmental context.

Alongside her PhD, she has been contributing to several ISF projects, including climate adaptation outcome frameworks for government, resilience toolkits for communities, sustainability and fitout guidelines, and sector-wide climate risk and vulnerability assessments. Her work has spanned qualitative research, literature reviews, systems mapping, policy analysis, spatial mapping and co-design workshops with government and community partners.

Prior to joining ISF, Somayeh worked as an urban planner and designer in both government and consultancy settings, where she delivered master plans, regeneration strategies, environmental and spatial analyses, and transport- and housing-related planning projects.