Speakers
Moderator
Aurélie Cosyn, Internal consultant, Montpellier Mediterranean Metropolis
Initially a public law lawyer, Aurélie is an Internal consultant in Montpellier Mediterranean Metropolis. She has been working since 2018 on developing collective intelligence methods through organizational consulting and support for managers. As a facilitator during trainings on climate transition, she helps transform, illuminate ideas and carry out projects.
Keynote
Ruskin Hartley, CEO, DarkSky International
Ruskin Hartley, CEO of DarkSky International, is a prominent environmentalist driving a global initiative to safeguard natural night skies from light pollution, highlighting its adverse effects on health, wildlife, and climate. He has engaged with global leaders and communities, promoting sustainable lighting practices. Hartley’s environmental work started in 1992, focusing on land, water, and ocean-conservation. Previously, he was Vice President at Fair Trade USA, and held leadership roles at Heal the Bay and Save the Redwoods League. A Cambridge graduate, his studies spanned from Oman’s irrigation to rural development in Bihar, India. His efforts have earned him recognition from environmental organizations. Hartley’s childhood connection with nature in the UK inspired his lifelong conservation commitment.
LUCI Talks
Virginie Gabel, Founder and CEO, Clock&me; Board Member, Good Light Group
Virginie Gabel is a chronobiologist and sleep scientist. She obtained her PhD at the University of Basel, Switzerland and did her post-doctoral research at the University of Stanford, USA. During that time, she studied how light and aging impact human behavior, cognitive performances, and sleep. Back in France, she is now studying human adaptation to various environments (desert, jungle, cave, Lapland etc.) and its effects on sleep and circadian rhythms.
Beside her research, she founded Clock&me, a consulting firm where she helps companies preventing risks linked to lack of sleep through trainings, conferences, seminars and consultancy. She is also a board member of the Good Light Group, an international non-profit organisation which advocates proper light exposure throughout the day. The main objective of the group is to promote the good use of artificial light and raise public awareness about the health benefits of natural light.
Christopher Kyba, Post-doctoral researcher, GFZ-Potsdam
Christopher Kyba is a physicist who has been studying light in the outdoor environment since 2009. He works with data from many different sources, ranging from satellite observations and aerial photos to all sky imagery and observations with the human eye. He has led the development of a number of citizen science projects and tools, including Radiance Light Trends, the Loss of the Night app, My Sky at Night, and most recently the Nachtlichter (Night Lights) app. He served on the board of directors of the International Dark-Sky Association during 2012-2015, and co-founded the “Artificial Light at Night” conference series. In 2022, he was the recipient of the Leon Gaster Award from the Society of Light and Lighting for an innovative experiment involving satellite observations and dimmable LED street lights in Tucson, Arizona. Christopher lives in Bochum, Germany, with his wife, two children, and one very old cat.
Nicola Robinson, Research policy officer, European Commission
Ms Nicola Robinson is a research policy officer in the European Commission Directorate-General for Environment. She works to influence and EU research programming and funding on zero pollution topics (including light pollution) under Horizon Europe, including Cluster 6 (Environment) and the EU Missions Climate-Neutral Smart Cities and Restore our Ocean & Waters. Nicola also supports research dissemination and feedback to policy, and was involved in editing the recent Future Brief on Light Pollution, produced under the EU’s Science for Environment Policy initiative. She is a dual national (Belgian and British) generalist civil servant, fluent in English and French, who has worked for the European Commission across a range of policy areas including environment, public health and cultural policy. Earlier in her career she worked for the UK government on the London 2012 Olympics, transport policy and rural development.
Montpellier Mediterranean Metropolis
Damien Guiraudie, Head of Lighting Strategy, Public Lighting Department of Montpellier Mediterranean Metropolis
Damien Guiraudie is in charge of the of lighting strategy in the public lighting department of Montpellier Mediterranean Metropolis. In particular, he is in charge of steering and implementing the lighting master plan and is also responsible for the city’s Christmas lights. His entire career in various local authorities has been devoted to managing the ecological transition.
Philippe Clavel, Territorial Development Engineer, Montpellier Mediterranean Metropolis
Philippe began his career with the Montpellier Mediterranean Metropolis in 1984, moving from the management to the design of public lighting. He has contributed to the development of technical specifications that he now incorporates inti the definition of development programmes for public spaces, a new role that he carries out within Montpellier Mediterranean Metropolis. His career illustrates his constant commitment to public service.
Montpellier projects and collaborations
Sarah Potin, Project Manager, La TeleScop
Sarah Potin is a Project Manager at La TeleScop, a cooperative start-up in the field of remote sensing, mapping and public policy. She is in charge of analysing night-time satellite and aerial images to produce some indicators of light pollution to help local authorities preserve biodiversity. She is working on a method to model the “nocturnal ecological network” with Julie Chaurand, an environmental policy specialist who also works at La TeleScop.
Richard Scherrer, Territorial delegate and Project manager, Cévennes National Park IDSR
For 15 years at the national park on a mission to support rural communities to the ecological transition, in addition a more technical mission to monitor work authorization in protected areas. Before that, he worked in the cultural sector in a town of 20,000 inhabitants in Alsace.
Léa Tardieu, PhD researcher, INRAE
Léa Tardieu is a PhD researcher in environmental economics working at INRAE (UMR Tetis and UMR Cired). Her research focuses in designing spatial indicators for ecosystem services and biodiversity, by considering both their environmental and social dimensions, to better inform planning policies and projects. Her primary research theme is urban nature and the reduction of light pollution for biodiversity and citizens. She supervises the PhD thesis of Chloé Beaudet with Maia David, working on the socio-economic aspects of light pollution mitigation measures.
Céline Villa, Researcher, University Gustave Eiffel Paris
Dr Céline Villa’s research focus is on lighting quality for human users, in connecting psychophysical assessments and photometry measurements. She works especially on discomfort glare and visibility of innovative signalling in urban and road areas. Since 2023, she co-leads the multidisciplinary project called LUNNE funded by the French Research Agency which deals with different issues linked to the reduction of urban lighting to limit its negative impact on nature. She is involved in previous and current TCs about discomfort glare in CIE.
Open Mic: City changemakers
Elisa Hillgen, Lighting Coordinator, City of Jyväskylä
Elisa Hillgen is a lighting designer and a City of Light coordinator at the City of Jyväskylä. She has previously worked in the field of building and interior design, and has 15 years of experience in different fields of lighting. For the last six years, she has focused on urban lighting and light art projects. Her job as the lighting coordinator of Jyväskylä includes taking care of the dark time cityscape by organizing design projects and maintenance for urban lighting and working in the light festival team.
Jasmine van der Pol, Programme Manager, LUCI Association
With her international experience in the field of urban lighting, Jasmine helps to develop and support knowledge exchange within the LUCI network. She has the ambition to serve the urban lighting community and promote good lighting practices. She is project manager for the ENLIGHTENme project (Health & Urban Lighting), and contributes to the Light Pollution Working Group. Before joining LUCI, Jasmine worked as a lighting expert for an international manufacturer, engineering companies and lighting design agencies. She speaks Dutch, English, French and a bit of Danish & Spanish.
Open Conference Sessions
In-Kyu Choi, Director-General of Design Policy Bureau, Seoul Metropolitan Government
Inkyu Choi is Director-General of the Design Policy Bureau at Seoul Metropolitan Government. He is in charge of overseeing policies and projects to realize the Design City Seoul, has nearly 30 years of experience in urban design, including researchers, professors, and civil servants. He worked on the Design Seoul project in the past, contributing greatly to the development of the color and font of Seoul. He is currently leading a new change in Seoul by working on the “Design Seoul 2.0” project.
Fabian E. Cheng, Assistant Director and Chief Engineer, City of Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting
Fabian E. Cheng is the Assistant Director for the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting. As the Chief Engineer, with over 23 years experience in engineering and street lighting design, he oversees all engineering, design, and construction divisions in the Bureau. Fabian holds a Professional Electrical Engineer License in the State of California, Electrical Plans Examiner Certification with the International Code Council, and is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA). He earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from California State University, Los Angeles.
Sandra Isabel Gómez Gómez, Environmental and Social Professional in the Lighting Unit, EPM
Sandra Isabel Gómez Gómez is an Environmental Engineer with specializations in Environmental Law and Project Management. With 5 years of experience at Empresas Públicas de Medellín – EPM, she coordinates actions to prevent, mitigate, and correct environmental and social impacts in public lighting and Christmas lighting projects. Additionally, she has experience in strategic surveillance and environmental and social management in civil works and public infrastructure, focusing on the control of environmental and social impacts. A graduate of the University of Medellín and UNIMINUTO, her career highlights her commitment to sustainability and social well-being in project development.
Marjut Kauppinen, Head of Public Lighting, City of Helsinki
Urban lighting has been a crucial part of Marjut’s professional work since 1998. She had a unique opportunity to participate the design aiming at the festivities of year 2000 when Helsinki was the Cultural Capital and had its 450th anniversary. Helsinki built over 40 lighting installations, both temporary and permanent, with international designers and high-level ambition. Ever since Marjut has been gathering more knowledge and experience in the field of urban lighting in several roles: as city official, consultant, teacher, architect and now as the head of public lighting of her hometown. During the last 10 years she has been the Kruunuvuorenranta light art coordinator and seen its metamorphosis from harbor to residential area. Marjut’s objective is to develop a harmonious and safe nighttime cityscape in Helsinki with clear views to the starry skies.
Henrika Pihlajaniemi, Associate Professor, University of Oulu
Architect (M.Sc.), D.Sc.(Tech), lighting designer Henrika Pihlajaniemi lectures and teaches Architectural and Urban Lighting in the Oulu School of Architecture (OSA), University of Oulu. At the moment, she works in the position of Associate Professor in Sustainable Architecture, leading research projects related to lighting. Her research has included themes of adaptive and intelligent lighting, lighting-related well-being, lighting education, and to the use of light to develop cities. The most recent research projects are Safe and Sustainable Darkness and Partnerships of Sustainable Darkness. Additionally, she works as a lighting design consultant in her architectural office (M3 Architects). Her completed lighting design projects include lighting master plans, urban parks, public buildings, dwellings, light art, and luminaires. She and M3 Architects have received numerous prizes in national and international architectural and urban design competitions.
Yasin Çagatay SEÇKİN, Advisor of Mayor, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality
After graduating from Mimar Sinan University (State Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul) College of Architecture with the title of Architect, he received his MArch and PhD degrees from History of Architecture and Urban Design Programs at Istanbul Technical University, respectively. After getting his PhD in Urban Design, Prof. Seçkin continued his post-doctoral studies on ‘Sustainable Landscape Construction’ at LSU College of Art&Design, Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture in Baton Rouge, LA.
His academic research focuses on urban design, landscape design, landscape construction and barrier-free design. Prof. Seçkin lectures in various departments at undergraduate and graduate levels; conducts scientific research projects on urban design and landscape architecture with graduate and doctoral students; and continues his project production activities in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture and urban design.
Lastly, Prof. Seçkin completed his duty as the head of Parks & Recreation Department (19 July 2019 – 31 July 2023) at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and is currently serving as Advisor of Mayor.
Edouard Warnier, Global Solar Lighting Business Manager, Schréder
Edouard entered the world of lighting almost by chance more than 15 years ago and was captivated by the infinite possibilities offered by LED technology, which was in its infancy. He worked for a long time for one of the world leaders in the field, and in recent years he managed the solar lighting activity for France and Africa. He now manages the Solar Lighting activities at Schréder for all areas of the world where they are present. He is particularly motivated to bring light to the people, viewing it as an ideal response to the various challenges faced by society, which will allow citizens to have a social, sporting, cultural or shopping life at a low cost and with a neat aesthetic.
Workshops
Lionel Bessières, Lighting Designer and Principal, Quartiers Lumières
Since graduated as lighting Engineer 27 years ago, Lionel has always been working in lighting design. He started working as an assistant with a famous architectural lighting designer, Pierre Bideau, with who he was involved in prestigious illuminations and events such as the Eiffel Tower and many other projects. He runs his own studio “Quartiers Lumières” in Toulouse since 2006. The company approach is a multidisciplinary vision blending technical skills, smart and wise creativity around a teamwork effort. The company is involved in numerous urban lighting projects, lighting master plans, energy and regulation studies of public lighting, development of public spaces and architectural lighting design. He also represents the French lighting designer association ACE as secretary.
Michaël Gerber, Head of the Communities division, Local Energy and Climate Agency Montpellier Métropole (ALEC)
Trained as an engineer in climate and energy engineering, Michaël has technically supported small and medium-sized communities since 2001 in his functions within recognized associations of general interest such as the ALEC of Mulhouse and then of Montpellier since 2008. The projects supported concern the transition energy and ecological and cover a wide range of actions: energy management of buildings, water savings, switching off public lighting in the middle of the night, development of renewable energies, etc.
Nicolas Houel, PhD Urban planner and Founder, L’Observatoire de la nuit
Nicolas Houel holds a PhD in urban planning. Since 2021, he has headed the Observatoire de la nuit consulting agency, and is an associate researcher at the AAU laboratory in Nantes, France. His work focuses on the evolution of cultural representations of night and artificial lighting, around which he is developing expertise in mediation and shared design of lighting ambiences, as well as a series of innovative digital tools, synthesized under the purpose to contribute to the emergence of new nocturnal narratives.
