Dr. Linjun Xie is currently an Assistant Professor in Sustainable Urbanism in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). She previously worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Geography at Durham University, contributing to the EU H2020 NATURVATION project that explores the role that nature-based solutions can play in addressing urban sustainability challenges. She obtained her PhD degree in 2019, and her doctoral research examined the development of ‘smart eco-city’ in China and Europe.

Linjun has a background in urban studies and her interdisciplinary research focuses on urban sustainability transitions and the implication on human society and the local and global environment. She is especially interested in exploring the complex entanglements between human and nature, the intricate ecological and social-cultural dynamics hidden at the heart of contemporary sustainability issues. Through her work, Linjun endeavours to promote ecologically and socially just forms of governance for urban sustainability.

Linjun’s research interests have covered: urban sustainability transitions, environmental governance, political ecology, critical smart eco urbanism, nature-based solutions, and social and environmental justice.

She has worked on two research projects on smart eco-city development and urban environmental governance:

• 2016-2018: ESRC/NSFC/DFG/NOW/ANR co-funded research project – ‘Smart eco-cities for a green economy: a comparative study of Europe and China’ (http://www.smart-eco-cities.org/)
• 2019-2021: EU Horizon 2020 Programme – ‘NATURVATION: Nature Based Urban Innovation’ project (https://naturvation.eu/)