Tribute to Professor Beate Jessel
© 2026 EPFL
Beate Jessel was a professor at the Institute of Architecture and the City at EPFL from 2023 to 2026. She passed away on 13 April 2026.
It is with a heavy heart and immense respect that we honor the memory of our dear colleague, Professor Beate Jessel, who passed away on Monday, April 13, 2026.
Professor Beate Jessel was a landscape planner and landscape ecologist. Trained as an engineer, landscape ecologist, and landscape architect, she completed her doctorate on the theory of ecologically oriented planning. She was a professor at the University of Potsdam and at the Technical University of Munich.
In 2007, she was appointed by the German Environment Minister as President of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), the central federal authority for national and international nature conservation.
In 2021, the Swiss Federal Council appointed her as Director of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), combined with an appointment as Professor at EPFL and ETH Zurich.
On August 1, 2023, Professor Beate Jessel joined EPFL full-time, where she headed the Laboratory for Landscape Development (LAND) in the Institute of Architecture and the City.
In her work at the intersection of landscape planning, urban ecology, and architecture, Professor Beate Jessel was particularly concerned with how ecological knowledge could be translated into spatial practice. Her research addressed nature-based solutions, urban stream daylighting, renewable energy and landscape development, ecosystem-service-based ecological compensation, and participatory forms of knowledge co-creation. She consistently linked ecological performance with social relevance, paying close attention to citizen acceptance, the interactions of human and non-human inhabitants, and the role of green spaces in shaping more resilient and inclusive urban transformation.
Deeply engaged in education, Professor Beate Jessel taught courses in the section of Architecture and in the ENAC Master in Urban Systems. Following her strong interest in inter- and transdisciplinarity, she was also widely involved in the Projeter Ensemble ENAC curricula, contributing to teaching units and ENAC weeks.
Professor Beate Jessel held positions on various advisory boards and committees. She was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) and the University Council of the University of Geisenheim, as well as a member of the editorial boards of the two journals GAIA – Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society and Naturschutz und Landschaftsplanung (Nature Conservation and Landscape Planning).
We deeply regret that Professor Beate Jessel left us far too soon. We will remember her profound dedication to research and teaching with gratitude and emotion. Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones.
Together with her team, we are organizing an event to honour the research work of Professor Beate Jessel. Further details on the date and format will be announced shortly.
A condolence book is available at the Institute of Architecture and the City for anyone who wishes to leave a message or share a memory.
For the ENAC Direction
Katrin Beyer, Dean
Pier Vittorio Aureli, Director of Institute of Architecture and the City
Ben Gitai, on behalf of the Laboratory of Landscape Development (LAND) team.