Associate Professor Scott Hawken is Director of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design at Adelaide University’s School of Architecture and Built Environment, where he leads one of Australia’s most ecologically engaged design programs. A practising landscape architect, urban designer, and landscape archaeologist, Scott brings rare depth to the study of living systems — drawing on long-term ecological thinking to inform contemporary design practice.

Scott is a national leader in biodiversity-positive design and chaired the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects’ National Biodiversity Positive Working Group, working with government and industry to embed ecological resilience into urban landscapes. He has led pioneering research on rapid urban greening, miniforests, and green infrastructure, with particular focus on reversing biodiversity loss in Australian cities. His PhD research uncovered the social-ecological systems of Angkor — the world’s largest pre-modern city — yielding insights that continue to shape how we design for long-term ecological and urban sustainability.