Zahra Kalantari, is being named the national champion of the Frontiers Planet Prize 2025. Zahra is professor of environmental science and engineering for sustainability in the Anthropocene at KTH.
Her winning article, "Contribution of Prioritized Urban Nature-based Solutions Allocation to Carbon Neutrality," in Nature Climate Change, examines how nature-based solutions in cities can capture carbon dioxide and reduce human carbon dioxide emissions. The article is based on results from a Smart Built Environment project! We asked her about the project.
What do you see as distinctive in your project?
– Many cities are already turning to nature, like parks, green roofs, and urban forests, to fight climate change. But they’re missing a clear roadmap: Where should these green projects go, and how can they pack the biggest punch?
– For developers and planners, our smart mapping tool pinpoints exactly where to plant trees, restore wetlands, or install green roofs in new projects, slashing emissions and balancing out environmental impacts before construction even starts.
Who do you see as users of the results going forward?
– Developers and planners, municipalities and companies working with blue and green solutions.
What's next for you now?
– Imagine a city planning tool that acts like a GPS for climate action, pinpointing exactly where to plant trees, build green roofs, or design eco-friendly streets to slash emissions fastest. We will build a smarter, live-data tools to help cities invest smarter, turning every park and green space into a targeted step toward carbon-neutral cities.