Mark Ames is an expert in stakeholder engagement for challenging city projects, and General Manager at Connect Macquarie Park Innovation District in Sydney.

He works with leading organisations in Macquarie Park - including businesses like Optus and Johnson & Johnson, landowners, State and local government, and Macquarie University - who are working together to develop a vision for the district, accelerate the benefits of growth and amplify its credentials as a global innovation hub.

Mark previously worked at the City of Sydney and helped deliver its 2018 - 2030 Cycling Strategy and Action Plan.

In the UK, he was instrumental in helping develop the former Mayor of London's 10-year, billion-pound active transport plan.

As an experienced engagement practitioner and director at Strategic Cities, Mark has worked with city authorities in Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand to help realise contentious urban change.

Mark has previously written about cities, cycling and managing change in The Times, The Guardian, the London Evening Standard, Local Transport Today, Western Australia Today, Landscape Architecture NZ and The Planner - the magazine of Britain’s Royal Town Planning Institute.

Broadcast appearances include Sky News, ITV News, BBC London, ABC 702 Sydney, Russia Today, Perth Talk Radio, Public Radio International’s The World, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s As It Happens and the BBC’s flagship current affairs program Newsnight.