About the talk:

Using examples of his projects in New York City, biologist Dr. Paul Mankiewicz shows how planting green roofs and walls and managing storm water in the urban environment can be used to cool cities, clean up pollution and potentially reduce global warming.

Paul is Executive Director of the Gaia Institute, he received his Ph.D. from the City University of New York/New York Botanical Garden Joint Program in Plant Sciences. He holds patents on a modular, in-vessel composting system, an ultra lightweight green roof plant growth medium, and a biogeochemical reactor to breakdown dioxins and PCBs.

Past President of the Torrey Botanical Society & board member of the NYC Soil & Water Conservation District, Paul has designed and built natural landscapes integrated with ecological filters to treat water, capture carbon, and lower energy costs in urban centers. A number of working models have been constructed, including the first green roof in the Bronx, the first industrial-scale storm water treatment meadow and green wall on a six acre truck-to-barge material handling site at SIMS recycling facility on the Bronx River, and the first process water/grey water treatment green roof on the Linda Tool Corporation in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Recorded during: TEDxKraków 2010

Original subtitles: Jerzy Paź

Translated by: Krystian Aparta