Specialists

Emma Hannula, Lead Consultant

Emma Hannula is an architect and urban planner specialising in sustainable urban development, urban climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster resilience, green building and post-crisis reconstruction. Her professional experience includes positions at UN Environment, UN-Habitat and the Unit for International and EU Affairs at the Ministry of the Environment of Finland.

Emma worked at the Ministry of the Environment during Finland’s presidency of the Council of the EU in 2019. She was part of the presidency team of the European Commission’s Working Party on International Environment Issues (WPIEI/Global group). The WPIEI/Global group prepares EU positions for international negotiations related to environmental and climate change issues. Emma analysed also UNEP’s programme of work’s and budget’s links to resolutions and presented the findings to the European Commission’s WPIEI/Global group. She was also part of the Ministry of the Environment’s programme management team for the 10YFP Sustainable Buildings and Construction SBC Programme through the SBC coordination desk (co-led By UN Environment and RMIT) and the portfolio coordinator of the Affordable and Resilient Built Environment (ARBE) group of the SBC programme, coordinating the cooperation of 18 partner organisations from different parts of the world. Emma prepared the portfolio strategy and the portfolio level targets of the ARBE group of the SBC programme in coordination with the 18 participating organisations.

At the UN Environment Emma worked with the Climate Technology Centre and Network CTCN first with networking and capacity building related tasks and later as the climate adaptation specialist of the Asia and the Pacific region. Emma prepared the network engagement strategy of the CTCN, coordinated various climate technology related technical assistance projects based on the requests of the governments of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Timor Leste, Bhutan, Cook Islands, Tonga, Laos PDR and Antigua and Barbuda, coordinated capacity building programmes for the Least Developed Countries, developed technical assistance projects and worked with GCF Readiness preparation.

At the Habitat III Secretariat Emma prepared the drafts of the Habitat III conference opening and closing speeches of the UN-Habitat Executive Director Dr. Jon Clos and worked with logistics and communications related work such as the high-level roundtable and plenary session background documents.

At the UN-Habitat Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka reconstruction programme Emma worked with programme management of the timely delivery of 30 000 houses including affordable housing, preschools, and community buildings. She reviewed building designs in consultation with beneficiaries to meet climate change and affordability related criteria utilizing community action planning and community workshops with local inhabitants. Emma’s work in Sri Lanka included trainings to local staff and community members, the design and implementation of demonstration house designs introducing new cost effective, culturally, socially and environmentally sustainable design principles and design of incremental and costed type house designs that were planned to be used in the next EU funded reconstruction programme phase. Emma also introduced two local businesses producing stabilised soil blocks that were operated by local women in Northern Sri Lanka, a process has later been replicated.

At the UN-Habitat headquarters Emma worked as the portfolio coordinator of the UN-Habitat Housing Unit’s Green and Sustainable Housing portfolio. She coordinated the development of the Global Network for Sustainable Housing (GNSH), wrote the publications “Going Green: A Handbook of Sustainable Housing Practices in Developing Countries” and “Sustainable Housing Reconstruction in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo” and managed pilot housing projects in Mauritius and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Before joining the Housing unit Emma worked at the UN-Habitat Disaster and post-conflict unit with advocacy and guidance related to the improvement of women’s role and empowerment in the post-conflict settlement planning processes and with urban planning and disaster risk reduction in post-crisis contexts. She e.g. wrote the “Women in Post-Conflict settlement planning” publication.

Esa Paaso, Senior Advisor

Esa is an architect and town planner by education and the founder of Finngroup Consultants. He has worked mainly in housing, health and education related projects from preparation to implementation in Finland and in the service of international organizations such as the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, African Development Bank, Finnida (KYO), Sida, Unesco, and the EU. Esa has worked in Afghanistan, Armenia, Bangladesh, Benin, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Central African Republic, Comoro Islands, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, Ireland, Ivory Coast, (Cote d’Ivoire), Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, Soviet Union, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tanzania, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Upper Volta (Burkina Faso), and Zambia.

Esa has a long career as an architect in Finland with implemented projects ranging from schools to industrial buildings and single-family houses. Much of his wide experience has been gained internationally from countries in emergency or post-emergency situations, often caused by wars or natural calamities such as earthquakes or hurricanes.

Esa’s experience in earthquake-prone areas began in Ethiopia in the early 1970’s when he worked for three years in the Ministry of Public Works having different review, development and design tasks in construction of public buildings such as schools and health facilities in co-operation with Ethiopian partners. Later Esa has worked also in various other projects in earthquake-prone areas e.g., as a team leader in Egypt in 1993 in a project financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the preparation of emergency school reconstruction after an earthquake which destroyed partly or completely 1256 schools.

In 2005-2009 Esa worked in Indonesia as a Team Leader of Oversight Consultants of ETESP Housing reconstruction program (USD 72 million) of the Asian Development Bank after the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami of December 2004 and the earthquake on Nias in March 2005.

In 2011-2012 Esa worked in Padang, also in Indonesia as an International Guidance Consultant for reconstruction of 102 health facilities damaged in an earthquake in 2007.

In 2010-2011 Esa worked with Swedish Sida as an Advisor Consultant for construction of two business schools in Mitrovica, Kosovo in an earthquake-prone area.

In 2016 Esa worked in Armenia with finance from the Asian Development Bank as an International Expert for Modern School Design including design for seismic resistance.