Maria Atkinson
Chairperson, Board of the Holcim Foundation; Sustainability Business Advisor and Founding CEO, Green Building Council of Australia
Maria Atkinson
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Global Silver Awards 2015 prize ceremony – Post-War Collective: Community library and social recuperation, Ambepussa, Sri Lanka
Maria Atkinson, Member of the Global jury and the Board of the LafargeHolcim Foundation commended the project for creating a skilled and motivated workforce through an educational program and the thoughtful deployment of specific construction techniques.
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Global Holcim Awards jury meeting 2012
Hans-Rudolf Schalcher, civil engineer, Professor em. for Planning and Management in Construction at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), Switzerland and Maria Atkinson, administrator, Group Head of Sustainability, Lend Lease and Managing Director, Sustainability Solutions, Australia at the Global Holcim Awards jury meeting 2012 in Zurich, Switzerland.
Last updated: February 02, 2023
Maria Atkinson AM has been a member of the Board of the Holcim Foundation since 2013. She is a Sustainability Business Advisor, a Co-Founder and Founding CEO of the Green Building Council of Australia, of which she is now a Life Fellow.
She joined the Advisory Board to the Australian Circular Economy Hub (ACE Hub) in 2021. Planet Ark facilitates ACE Hub and aims to support the transition to a circular economy in Australia by providing a platform for sharing information and inspiration, and for celebrating the efforts of all those working towards this vital transition.
It’s important that we shine a spotlight on projects and solutions that illustrate new ways of thinking in the building sector that lead to a more sustainable tomorrow. Maria Atkinson Chairperson, Holcim Foundation Board
Maria Atkinson was awarded the Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) for “service to the construction and real estate sector, particularly as a leader and contributor to environmentally sustainable building development in Australia” in 2012.
She is an impact investor with the intention to generate measurable social or environmental impact alongside revenue growth and profitability.
Maria Atkinson studied Environmental Biology at the University of Technology (UTS), Sydney, Australia. She is also a graduate of the Executive Development Program at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
She was an executive at Lendlease, a global real estate and investment business as the Global Head of Sustainability. More recently, she was the “Eastern City District Commissioner” helping co-create and implement strategic plans for Sydney to be more productive, sustainable, and liveable.
Maria Atkinson has over 20 years’ experience with international corporations, not-for-profit organizations, and government authorities. She was the Chair of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Sustainable Buildings & Climate Initiative until July 2011, and a member of the Singapore Building & Construction Authority’s International Panel of Experts for Sustainability in the Built Environment (2007-09). She also chaired the discussion about the Future of Sustainable Construction at the World Economic Forum Inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai (2008).
Holcim Foundation engagement
Maria Atkinson participated in the concluding panel of the 5th International Holcim Forum for Sustainable Construction on “Infrastructure Space” held in Detroit (2016) and was a keynote panel moderator at the 6th International Holcim Forum on “Re-materializing Construction” held in Cairo (2019).
Maria Atkinson was a member of Holcim Awards juries (2012, 2015 & 2021), and will be a member of the Holcim Awards 2023 jury for Asia Pacific.
Ecogradia Podcast – The sustainability whisperer
We need a transformational shift: a rethink of the way we work, the goals we set, the processes we deploy. But how should we push forward? Who can help us get to where we need to be?
Maria has donned many hats in her career. It is this diversity of roles – consultant, advocate, advisor – and the many platforms – commercial, institutional, non-profit – she’s engaged with that make her uniquely qualified to lead a conversation on the future of buildings and cities.
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