Annemieke Fontein is a landscape architect and the head of urbanism and landscape architecture at the Municipality of Rotterdam. Her work is transformative, powerful and it has a strong impact on the feel and the identity of the city. Where might you have seen landscape architecture? Just think of all the streets, squares, parks and green spaces in and around Rotterdam. Annemieke works with an ever-changing, but always wide team of professionals. Her role goes beyond design, into more strategic directions and nowadays she focuses on formulating and implementing policies, while keeping in mind the challenges and changes the city faces in the next few years.

Annemieke has an impressive academic background, with a degree in landscape architecture from the Hoger Rijksinstituut Tuin-landschapsarchitectuur in Ghent, Belgium, a diploma in urban design from the Copenhagen School of Architecture and another degree in landscape architecture from the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam.

Since the ‘90s, Annemieke has traveled and lived abroad for several years and after she came back to the Netherlands, she started working for the Municipality of Rotterdam. Some of the initiatives she worked on include: the transformation of Zuiderpark and the development of a “Rotterdam Style”. Lately, she has been working in a large team on the greening and attractiveness of rivers in Rotterdam and since 2008, she is stimulating urban farming in and around the city.