Dr. Franz W. Gatzweiler has a background in ecological, institutional and resource economics. He is adjunct professor at the Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences and was executive director of the International Science Council’s global science programme on Urban Health and Wellbeing: a Systems Approach. Dr. Gatzweiler studied in at the University of Bonn and the Humboldt University of Berlin from where he received his habilitation in resource economics. He was Senior Researcher at the Center for Development Research, ZEF Bonn, where he carried out research projects on the valuation, conservation, and use of biodiversity and ecosystems, marginality, and technological and institutional innovations for marginalised smallholders in agriculture. As senior research advisor at the United Nations University Institute in Macau he worked on collective intelligence and organized an international conference on Data and Digital Technology Development. His research interests focus on urban health, complex systems, participatory modelling, and governance.