Ioan-Cristian Iojă is a full professor in the Department of Regional and Environmental Geography and a scientific researcher at the Center for Environmental Research and Impact Studies. He earned his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Bucharest and holds habilitation in Environmental Science (2015) and Geography (2017). He has coordinated numerous national and international projects and is the author of over 100 scientific publications. He serves as President of the Society for Urban Ecology – South-East Europe Chapter and Treasurer of the International Society for Urban Ecology, promoting sustainable urban development at regional and global levels.

He has contributed to the development of numerous planning documents at the national level (National Strategy for the Conservation of Biological Diversity, National Sustainable Development Plan, National Plan for Addressing Pathways of Introduction of Invasive Alien Species), regional level (Local Environmental Action Plan), and local level (management plans for protected natural areas, urban planning and territorial development plans, climate change adaptation plans).

Research Interests:

• Urban ecology
• Environmental planning
• Environmental impact assessment

Classes:

• Environmental Geography
• Multicriteria Environmental Assessment
• Sustainable Environmental Planning
• Methods for Collecting Environmental Data
• CIVIS – BIP: Participatory Tools for Urban Nature Planning and Management

Research Projects:

• HORIZON CL5-2023-D1-01-07 – Climate-Resilient Development Pathways in Metropolitan Regions of Europe, 2024–2027 (PI)
• HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ERA-01-08 – ScienceUs: Integration of citizen SCIENCE best practices to upscale and maximize projects' impact related to Green Deal and EU missions, 2024–2026 (PI)
• DUT – GREEN-Inc – Growing Effective & Equitable Nature-based Solutions through Inclusive Climate Actions, 2024–2026 (team member)
• PN-IV-P1-PCE-2023-1119 – A novel framework for designing and evaluating human-wildlife coexistence initiatives (Harmonia), 2025–2027 (team member)
• PN-IV-P1-PCE-2023-1851 – Enhancing social equity in urban planning through citizen science (CitizenPlanning), 2025–2027 (team member)

Current Ph.D. Students:

• Teona Daia-Creinicean – Assessment of urban ecosystem services in Romania using geospatial data (since 2025)
• Ana Maria Todoran – Evaluation of infringement procedures in the field of environmental protection at the European level (since 2024)
• Alexandru Ilie – Advanced methods for identifying areas polluted with fine particles in Bucharest (since 2022)
• Laura Ruxanda – Testing the effectiveness of urban protected areas for improving the human-nature relationship (since 2022)
• Monica-Gabriela Paraschiv – Assessment of the relationship between urban processes and the heat island effect in Romanian cities (since 2021)
• Larissa-Nicoleta Stoia – Evaluation of the potential for implementing green infrastructure concepts in small Romanian towns (since 2020)

Ph.D. Graduates in Geography:

• Raluca-Andreea Slave – Assessment of the potential use of collaborative planning in promoting sustainable development in Romania (since 2025)
• Ana-Maria Popa – Methods for assessing the sustainability of Romanian cities (since 2023)
• Diana Pânzaru – Evaluation of the potential for applying green solutions in Romanian cities (since 2023)
• Cristina Mitincu – Assessment of the role of environmental planning and regulation in using green solutions in Romanian cities (since 2022)

Postdoctoral Researchers:

• Simona-Raluca Grădinaru – Integrating food provision in urban policies in the context of land use transformation and displacement, UEFISCDI postdoctoral research project (2020–2022)
• Ioan-Mihai Pop – A systematic analysis on the social and landscape drivers of human-wildlife coexistence, UEFISCDI postdoctoral research project (2020–2022)
• Constantina-Alina Hossu – Methodology to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of environmental planning, UEFISCDI postdoctoral research project (2018–2020)
• Diana-Andreea Onose – Assessing the social equity of ecosystem services provided by urban green infrastructures, UEFISCDI postdoctoral research project (2018–2020)
• Simona-Raluca Grădinaru – Conceptualizing urbanization as a driver of agricultural land abandonment, UEFISCDI postdoctoral research project (2018–2020)

Publications:

• Web of Science
• Google Scholar

Representative Publications:

1. Breuste J., Artmann M., Iojă I.C., Qureshi S. (eds.), (2023) Making Green Cities – Concepts, Challenges and Practice, Springer Press, Berlin
2. Iojă I.C., Niță M.R, Hossu C.A., Onose D.A., Badiu D.L., Cheval S., Popa A.M., Mitincu C.G.. (2019) Soluții verzi în orașele din România, Ed. Ars Docendi, București
3. Iojă, I.C., Mihai Niță, Gabriel Vânău, Diana Onose, Athanasios Gavrilidis, Alina Hossu (2015), Managementul conflictelor de mediu, Editura Universității din București, București
4. Stanciu, E., Iojă, I.C, Tintarean, M., Pop.M. (2023), Romania, in Nature Conservation in Europe: Approaches and Lessons, ed. G. Tucker. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
5. Fălcescu, V., Cheval, S., Croitoru, A., Hossu, A., Iojă, I.C. (2025), A framework-based assessment of climate adaptation readiness in Romanian cities, Climate Policy, https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2025.2570741
6. Aghazadeh, F., Rahimi, A.,Tarashkar, M., Firozjaei, M.K., Ioja, C., Ondrejicka, V., Finka, M., (2025), Assessing the green infrastructure and built up effects in enhancing thermal comfort for vulnerable populations in urban heat waves: A case study of Tabriz metropolitan, Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment 39 (2025) 101671
7. Liu, Y., Wu, C., Wu, J., Zhang, Y., Bi, X., Wang, M., Meng, C., Li, J., Yan, E., Song, C., Finka, M., Haase, D., Iojă, I.C., Rosa, D. (2025), Urban Planning Scenarios Significantly Shape Future Urban Growth and Landscape Patterns in China’s Megacity, Shanghai, Earth Systems and Environment
8. Slave A.R., Popa A.M., Onose D.A., Esmail B.A., Albert C., Hossu C.A., Iojă I.C., Gradinaru S.R. (2025) Evaluating trends in the consideration of urban green spaces in strategic spatial planning: Insights from Romania, Landscape and Urban Planning, 263, 105425.
9. Hossu C.A., Artmann M., Saito T., van Lierop M., Ioja C.I., Pauleit S. (2024) Understanding residents’ engagement for the protection of urban green spaces by enriching the value-belief-norm theory with relational values—A case study of Munich (Germany). People and Nature 
10. Pop M.I., Gradinaru S.R., Popescu V.D., Haase D., Ioja I.C. (2023) Emergency-Line Calls as an Indicator to Assess Human–Wildlife Interaction in Urban Areas. Ecosphere 14(2): e4418
11. Gradinaru S.R., Paraschiv M., Ioja I.C., Vliet J.V. (2023). Conflicting interests between local governments and the European target of no net land take. Environmental Science & Policy: 142 1–11 
12. Mitincu C.G., Niță M.R., Hossu C.A., Iojă I.C., Nita A. (2023) Stakeholders’ involvement in the planning of nature-based solutions: A network analysis approach. Environmental Science & Policy 14: 69-79
13. Slave R.A., Iojă I.C., Hossu C.A., Grădinaru S.R., Petrișor A.I., Hersperger A. (2023) Assessing Public Opinion Using Self-Organizing Maps. Lessons from Urban Planning in Romania. Landscape and Urban Planning 231: 104641
14. Hossu C.A., Iojă I.C., Mitincu C.G., Artmann M., Hersperger A.M. (2021) Assessing planning implementation using the conformance and performance approach: The case of Romania’s local environmental action plans, Journal of Environmental Management, 299, IF 5.789
15. Mitincu C.G., Ioja I.C., Hossu C.A., Artmann M., Nita A., Nita M.R. (2021) Licensing sustainability-related aspects in Strategic Environmental Assessment. Evidence from Romania’s urban areas. Land Use Policy 108, 1055712
16. Vári Á., Podschun S.A. Erős T., Hein T., Pataki B., Ioja I.C., Adamescu C.M., Gerhardt A., Gruber T., Dedić A., Ćirić M., Gavrilović B., Báldi, A. (2021). Freshwater systems and ecosystem services: Challenges and chances for cross-fertilization of disciplines. Ambio
17. Ioja I.C., Badiu D.L., Haase D., Hossu C.A., Nita M.R. (2021) How about water? Urban blue infrastructure management in Romania, Cities, 110, 103084 
18. Goddard, M.A, Davies, Z.G., Guenat, S., Ferguson, M., Fischer, J.C., Akanni, A., Ahjokoski, T., Anderson, P., Angeoletto, F., Antoniou C., Bates, A.J., Barkwith, A., Berland, A., Bouch, C.J., Rega-Brodsky, C.C., Byrnel, L.B., Cameron, D., Canavan, R., Chapman, T., Connop, S., Crossland, S., Dade, M.C., Dawson,D.A, Dobbs, C., Downs, C.T., Ellis, E.C., Escobedo, F.J., Gulsrud, N.M., Guneralp, B., Hahs, A.K., Hale, J.D., Hassali, Ch., Hedblom, M., Hochuli, D.F., Inkinen, T., Iojă, I.C. et al (2020), A global horizon scan of the future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on urban ecosystems, Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5, 219–230 
19. Cheval, S., Popa, A.M., Șandric, I., Iojă, I.C., (2020), Exploratory analysis of cooling effect of urban lakes on land surface temperature in Bucharest (Romania) using Landsat imagery, Urban Climate 
20. Grădinaru S.R., Peilei, F., Iojă, I.C, Niță, M.R., Suditu, B., Herperger, A.M. (2020), Impact of national policies on patterns of built-up development: an assessment over three decades, Land Use Policy, 94 (5), 104510, 
21. Hossu C.A., Iojă I.C., Mitincu C.G., Artmann M., Hersperger A.M. (2020), An evaluation of environmental plans quality: addressing the rational and communicative perspectives. Journal of Environmental Management, 256, 10998

Committees, Boards, and Professional Societies:

• Society for Urban Ecology – Treasurer and President of the South-Eastern Chapter
• American Association for the Advancement of Science – Member
• Urbio – Member
• Global Land Programme – Land Use Group – Member
• Romanian Geographical Society – Member
• Member of HUB 4 – Cities, Mobilities and Spaces, CIVIS Alliance
• Scientific Council of Putna-Vrancea Natural Park – President
• ARACIS – Expert Evaluator
• Ethics Committee of the University of Bucharest – Member