Mau is responsible for the development and infrastructure of PHYSI’s software tools. She has a background in the humanities and worked in the software industry for more than ten years in various positions, including that of a full-stack developer at Hungarian web agency Cheppers and cloud engineer at US-based web hosting company Acquia. She gained experience in several popular web languages, frameworks, and cloud-based infrastructure building.  She has been working on linguistic projects for the Austrian Academy of Sciences as a Digital Humanities expert since 2019, in parallel to her work on the Naturvation spin-off project Urban Nature Explorer, which eventually became part of PHYSI’s portfolio. As the member of the team with the deepest understanding of technology, part of her work is to keep expectations down-to-earth and to maintain a healthy skepticism towards it, as tech should ultimately remain a servant of human experience.

Judit is a design strategist and researcher interested in the intersection of the designed and the natural world. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from Central European University. Her research investigates how design can contribute to sustaining and enhancing urban ecosystems. With a background in product design engineering and service design, she has a systems-based approach to design that she applies to work on cross-disciplinary projects and educational activities for knowledge sharing. Before engaging in scientific research, she worked as a design consultant in various domains stretching from experimental designs for biotech projects to product/service/business development for large service providers (telecommunications and financial sector). Now she is keen to utilize her practice and experiences in working for a turn in design practices to place ecology and the non-human at the forefront of urban design and placemaking activities and infuse ‘human-centeredness’ with ‘nature-basedness.’

Lena is an associate at PHYSI, where she advises on policy and governance. Her work bridges climate change adaptation science and policy to advance participatory and evidence-based decision-making processes from the local to the EU level. Her doctoral research at the Environmental Science and Policy Department of Central European University focuses on the governance of urban adaptation futures. As a Policy Specialist on Climate Resilient Regions at Climate KIC, Europe’s leading climate innovation agency, she actively contributes to implementing the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change and advancing place-based resilience transformations. She holds an Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degree in Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management. Her enthusiasm for participatory co-creation processes that bring together diverse stakeholders to systemically advance resilience across complex risk landscapes is rooted in her previous work experience at institutions such as Stockholm Environment Institute Oxford, Kenya Water and Sanitation Civil Society Network Organization, and the European Parliament’s ENVI Committee.

Attila Katona is a researcher, educator, and consultant with a focus on urban transformation and circular economy with more than 10 years of experience. His qualifications include environmental engineering and economics, and he pursues a PhD in urban governance at the Central European University in Vienna with the aim to understand what systemic interventions could catalyze the deployment and scaling of nature-based solutions. He is the director of the Center for Systems Innovation, an educational and consulting company, based in Budapest. As an expert, Attila frequently works with European Union entities (European Commission, EIT KICs), universities, and various public and private clients, including cities in Europe, Canada, China, Singapore, Russia and Mongolia on urban nature and transformation. He is also enthusiastic about designing learning experiences in academic and professional settings, as well as using technology in a purposeful way for education and better governance.

László is PHYSI’s founder, with a 30-year track record in applied research and advisory services related to sustainable development, typically in the context of integrated assessment and measurement of progress, future scenarios, global goals, adaptation and resilience, and addressing transformative change through nature-based solutions. He is Professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy of Central European University (CEU) in Vienna, Austria, and he has been affiliated with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in Canada since 1994, currently as Senior Fellow. He has extensive board, program development, project design and management experience in a wide variety of thematic, sectoral and organizational contexts. He led CEU’s team in the Naturvation project and followup work with other institutional partners. ​​László has a PhD from the University of Minnesota (2002), a Masters in Natural Resources Management from the University of Manitoba (1994) and a Master of Science in Agronomy from the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (1988).

Lilla gained her master’s degree in Environmental Science and Policy at Central European University (2019) where she specialised in sustainable development and the adaptive management of socio-ecological systems (SES). She joined the research team of the EU’s Naturvation project examining nature-based solutions in urban settings at several stages of the research process as data collector and research assistant. As a freelancer, she collaborated on a publication for EU policy making focusing on the role of biodiversity in the EU’s green recovery, supported the establishment of a sustainability focused school in Budapest and worked for stronger regional collaboration on SDGs in the Visegrad group at a Budapest based youth organisation.  Besides her background and great enthusiasm about creating socially and environmentally sustainable cities, Lilla has strong organisational and operational skills she got as a project manager and as an administrative lead at several educational institutions.

Hajna is a young climate professional supporting Physi with the NaturGo project. She has an interdisciplinary background in climate studies (MSC, Wageningen University) and future planet studies (BSC, University of Amsterdam), providing her with a broad perspective on sustainability challenges. With a solutions-oriented mindset, she focusses her career on nature-based solutions, integrating environmental systems analysis, modelling, and stakeholder-driven approaches. In her MSc thesis, she explored coastal protection strategies by modeling nature-based solutions. At Physi, she contributes to the NaturGo project, further developing her expertise in nature-based solutions and bridging scientific research with practical implementation.