Hélène Chartier

Director of Urban Planning and Design at C40 | France

Hélène Chartier believes that a good urban planner is the best climate activist. Done well, and urban planning can be a cross-cutting enabler of emissions reductions and increased resilience. That’s why she supports cities around the world to accelerate and mainstream sustainable and climate-resilient urban planning policies and design practices in their master plans. With C40, Hélène collaborates with world-leading cities, organisations, academic institutions, and businesses to accelerate inclusive climate actions, and to do this she manages a team of talented urban planners, designers, and architects who help shape a better urban future for people and the planet. Additionally, Hélène manages the C40 Green & Thriving Neighbourhoods programme. This takes the 15-minute City concept and turns it into reality! The key, she says, is to deliver genuine neighbourhood-scale projects. Alongside that, she leads the organisation’s Reinventing Cities programme, a series of competitions engaging businesses, academics, and youth to deliver decarbonised and resilient urban regeneration projects, active in more than 45 cities across the globe. And she brings together city practitioners in more than 50 international cities to share their experiences and learnings on how to adopt climate-responsive land-use planning policies and how to implement neighbourhoods and public spaces transformation among these extensive networks.