Judith Borsboom founded Locality because she believes that cities can learn much more from each other on their path to climate-neutrality and should not reinvent the wheel. She builds upon experiences as developing the Smart City Guidance Package, support of the Mission Board on Climate-neutral and Smart Cities, coordination of the Smart Cities Marketplace community, and her expert team’s analysis of governance changes for urban transition to climate-neutrality for the EC. Judith initiated several smart sustainable city projects with local authorities in the Netherlands, Norway, and across Europe. Currently, she works on new collaborative governance mechanisms for New European Bauhaus in Horizon Europe project CrAFt and supports the AUAS on Circular Economy. In addition, she is management committee member for COST Action Positive Energy Districts European Network, Dutch representative for the International Energy Agency Annex 83 on Positive Energy Districts, member of Advisory Board of EXCESS project working on Positive Energy Blocks, and member of the local sustainability citizen representation in her own municipality.
Federica brings over 15 years of unique multidisciplinary expertise as an architect, urban planner, and governance consultant to Locality where she creates sustainable and inclusive urban governance models for the energy transition.
Her work explores the intersections of urban planning, technology, and art, all within the framework of socio-technical systems. The complexity of urban environments requires the diverse perspective and nuanced approach that Federica brings to her projects. In 2020, she demonstrated her abilities as a leader and integrator in the field, having co-created and
helped shaping the startup ecosystem around the innovation district ‘Marineterrein’ in Amsterdam to address urban challenges through the EIT/AMS Climate Launchpad programme.
Currently, she is part of the New European Bauhaus project CrAFt, where she is testing
governance models that emphasize inclusivity, cultural integration, and sustainable practices
to help cities transition to climate neutrality.
Her recent research and expertise also encompass concepts of neuro-architecture, nature-
inclusive environments, and responsible innovation. Specifically, she has developed these
concepts as a researcher of innovative urban technologies at the University of Applied
Sciences in Amsterdam.
Federica has a postgraduate degree in architecture and engineering from La Sapienza
University in Rome, and master degree from Leiden University in contemporary art from a
global perspective. Her interest and knowledge in sustainable development and urban
innovation was deepened as a researcher at the AMS Institute's MSc MADE programme.
Her innovative work has also been featured at the Venice Biennale, where she participated
as a ‘Young Italian Architect,’ bringing a project for the requalification of the Italian
Lighthouses network to enhance regional and local heritage and economy during the crisis in
2016, and at the ‘Media Architecture Biennale’ with her living (art) lab project entitled: ‘Next
Urban Ecology: Ai & the city’, also exhibited at NEMO DE Studio in Amsterdamin2021-
2022.
