Lecture: Ecosystem-based design and nursery stock - new requirements, new opportunities (ASSORTMENT BLOCK) 

BIO: Joanna Rayss, PhD, Eng., Landscape Architect, is an expert in the implementation of Urban Green Infrastructure and Surface Water Retention Systems as key tools for climate change adaptation. In 2018, she earned her Doctor of Technical Sciences degree from the Faculty of Architecture at Gdańsk University of Technology, defending her dissertation entitled “Urban Green Infrastructure and Stormwater. The Sustainable Development Potential of Gdańsk.” She is also the co-author of the book “Urban Surface Retention Systems in Climate Change Adaptation – From Vision to Implementation” (Gdańsk University of Technology Press, 2019).

In her role as a small-scale water retention specialist at the municipal company Gdańskie Wody, she developed original design and organisational tools that contributed to reshaping the city’s stormwater management policy towards a greater integration of ecohydrology principles, urban ecology, and ecosystem services. She served as President of the Association of Landscape Architecture in 2022–2023 and is currently a member of the Pomeranian Provincial Urban and Architectural Commission as well as the SARP Wybrzeże Branch (Association of Polish Architects).

Joanna is, above all, a designer. Between 2009 and 2020, she ran her own landscape design studio Zieleniarium. Since 2019, she has been a partner at Rayss Group Sp. z o.o., specialising in the design of parks and other public spaces, residential greenery, and nature-based and ecosystem-based design solutions. Starting in January 2025, she will assume the role of President of Moderna Ecologic, a company within the Moderna Holding group, where her professional practice expands beyond design to include consulting, implementation, and maintenance of green areas.