Tony Wong is Professor of Sustainable Development at Monash Sustainable Development Institute. He was formerly Chief Executive of the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Water Sensitive Cities (2012-2020), a $120 million Australian Government initiative established in 2012. Prior to his CRC appointment, Tony was a founding co-director of Monash University’s Centre for Water Sensitive Cities and served as Chief Executive from its establishment until 2012.

Professor Wong has pioneered a programme of work, referred herein as the Water Sensitive Cities approach, which takes a unique socio-technical approach for concurrently addressing the social, environmental and economic challenges of traditional urban water management. The development of this approach has encompassed a sequence of his significant achievements in research and development, technology, urban design and policy. His early work on Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) has diffused globally, and his subsequent transformation of WSUD into the more holistic Water Sensitive Cities approach has been mainstreamed across Australia, and increasingly amongst developing nations. Through this 20 plus year journey, Professor Wong has advanced new understandings of the relationship between the societal and biophysical dimensions of water security and city waterscapes – enabling solutions to be underpinned by creative design, and technical and scientific rigour for delivering sustainable urban water outcomes.

Professor Wong provides strategic advice on sustainable urban water management to the land development industry and to state and local governments, and has led the development of numerous state and corporate policies on water sensitive urban design. His impact in research, policy, and on-ground practice now directly affect human health – sparking the kinds of big changes that mirror his vision for water as a champion for true change.