Contact
Katja Schechtner
katjas at mit dot edu
Alex Putzer
alex dot putzer at nyu dot edu
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Last updated: 2nd June 2026

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Research · Policy · Practice

Citizen
Nature

We develop projects and policies that help cities advance justice for all their inhabitants - human and non-human. Our research and advisory work sits at the intersection of urban ecology, rights of nature, and governance.

Research · Policy · Practice
New Book — 2026
Stadt Natur Rechte book cover

Stadt Natur Rechte

Was Bienen und Bäume dürfen müssen

Mexico City is home to two percent of the world's animal and plant species. The biodiversity of New York City has more than doubled since its founding. In an era of climate change and species extinction, a question arises with growing urgency: how can we renegotiate coexistence within the city - one of the most underestimated ecosystems - and establish principles for pan-ecological participation?

The rights of nature, which place humans and the environment on an equal footing, offer a compelling answer. In Curridabat, for example, pollinators are actively included in urban planning, the Seine was recently made an honorary citizen of Paris, and in San Francisco, whales and dolphins are granted a kind of right of way.

Co-authored with the acclaimed architecture journalist Wojciech Czaja, this book is an invitation to see our non-human neighbors differently - as fellow citizens.

Katja Schechtner · Alex Putzer · Wojciech Czaja · Birkhäuser · 2026
Pre-order Now Read an Extract
Book Tour
Vienna
Sneak Peak · Musette
11. June 2026 · 18:00
musetteshop.com →
Vienna
Book Launch · Buchhandlung Walther König
24. June 2026 · 18:00
walther-koenig.de →
Bressanone
Book Presentation and Discussion · Stadtbibliothek Brixen
4. July 2026 · 18:30
Munich
Book Talk · Architekturgalerie München
20. July 2026 · 18:00
architekturgalerie-muenchen.de →
Frankfurt
Book Talk · DAM Deutsches Architekturmuseum
29. September 2026 · 18:00
dam-online.de →
Berlin
Book Talk · Buchhandlung Bücherbogen
30. September 2026 · 18:30
buecherbogen.com →
Selected Work

Projects

Citizen Danube
Policy Research
Citizen Danube

Declaration of the Citizen Rights of the River Danube in Vienna, in collaboration with KlimaBiennale Wien and Vienna Design Week.

View Project →
Nature of Hope IABR Rotterdam
Installation
Nature of Nature

Opening piece of the IABR 2024 Nature of Hope, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

View Project →
Declaration of the Rights of the Venice Lagoon
Policy Development
Declaration of the Rights of the Venice Lagoon

Drafting of the Declaration and Presentation at the GENS Program of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025.

View Project →
I Diritti dell'Acqua
Publication
I Diritti dell'Acqua

Describing the journey of the collaborative drafting of the Declaration of the rights of nature of the Venice Lagoon.

View Project →
The Right of Nature to the City, Stayinart
Publication
The Right of Nature to the City

An essay in the Swiss stayinart magazine on the concepts of wild vs. tamed and public vs. private nature in cities, highlighting relevant projects.

View Project →
Currently

What We're Working On

Right now, we are looking at how cities like Amsterdam, Paris, London, Delhi, and Quito are putting the urban rights of nature into practice. To explore how the conversation with the public can be shaped, we are collaborating with students at HdM Stuttgart on the campaign design for Citizen Danube. Launching in Fall 2026, this initiative will directly interface with the EU petition for the rights of nature to bridge grassroots communication with systemic policy change.

About Us

The People

Katja Schechtner

Katja Schechtner

Researcher · Author · Policy Advisor

Katja develops technologies and strategies for cities seeking to serve all their inhabitants. Since 2022, she has been researching the urban rights of nature at the MIT Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism (LCAU). Her engagement with MIT includes affiliations with the Media Lab's City Science Group and the Senseable City Lab, supporting her urban tech and governance work since 2010. Parallel to her academic research, her executive career spans leadership roles including negotiating technology and innovation policy at the OECD in Paris, directing major technology programs for the Asian Development Bank in Manila, and heading a mobility research group at the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Vienna.

Today, Katja advises cities and corporations worldwide. In her publications and teaching, she challenges the divide between nature, technology, and society. She serves on the supervisory boards of leading European RTOs and fintechs, including a subsidiary of the Austrian National Bank. She is also a founding member of the IT:U Interdisciplinary Transformation University in Linz.

Alex Putzer

Alex Putzer

Researcher · Author · Advisor

Alex researches the theory, analysis, and implementation of rights of nature in cities. As an expert of the UN Harmony with Nature Programme and member of the IUCN Environmental Law Commission, he co-developed the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor, the world's leading database in this field. He holds a doctorate from the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa and has been a Fulbright Schuman Scholar in New York City. He collaborates with NYU and the Università Ca' Foscari in Venice, and since 2026 is an MSCA Fellow at TU Delft. His work has been exhibited most recently in Lisbon and Doha.