Renata von Tscharner

president, Charles River Conservancy

Renata von Tscharner is trained as an architect and city planner. She worked in Paris, London, and as Assistant City Planner in Bern, Switzerland, before moving to Cambridge where in 1979 she co-founded the Townscape Institute and in 2000 started the Charles River Conservancy. As Principal of The Townscape Institute, she directed projects and publications in urban design, public art, environmental education and advocacy as they pertained to increasing the livability of neighborhoods, towns, and cities. For the past 25 years, she has consulted and lectured both in the United States and in Europe. In 1997 she returned to the faculty of the Radcliffe Seminars teaching courses about the Charles River, and in 2000 she started the Charles River Conservancy (CRC). This advocacy group brings together organizations and individuals working to provide stewardship and renewal of the Charles River parklands, the 500 acres of state-owned riverfront from the Boston Harbor to the Watertown Dam. As president, she oversees all aspects of this organization which has a staff of 6 and over 8000 supporters and volunteers.