Professional Biography                                                                                                 March 2026

Hannelie Coetzee | MSc, University of the Witwatersrand, Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences 

Director, Warrington Coetzee Nature Based Solutions Pty Ltd

Honorary Research Fellow, Wits Global Environmental Change Institute (GCI)

Hannelie Coetzee is the Director of Warrington Coetzee Nature-based Solutions (NbS) Pty Ltd, a practice focused on applying nature’s logic to contemporary urban issues. Rather than an official team, she leads a dynamic, lean network of “can-doers”—ranging from creative engineers and architects to social and environmental scientists—who come together on a project-by-project basis. Working with key partners like the Johannesburg Inner City Partnership (JICP) and on-the-ground NGOs like the Alexandra Water Warriors, Coetzee aims to solve systemic urban messes through practical, science-backed interventions.

Her approach was refined during her MSc studies at Wits APES, where she interrogated her own long-standing praxis in eco-art. Through this, she isolated the REP (Regenerative, Educational, Participatory) method—a framework used to design sustainable and resilient interventions. Now an Honorary Research Fellow at the Wits GCI, Coetzee focuses on building infrastructure that thrives under constraint. This transparent approach prioritizes upcycling while ensuring every intervention is grounded in site-specific ecological research.

The applied science of her NbS practice is evidenced by scalable prototypes like the Plant Pee Pots (2023), WildWall tiles (2016), and ongoing work on the Jukskei River (SUNCASA 2025). By collaborating with local makers and the Alexandra Water Warriors, she utilizes debris and litter traps to relieve river systems and has installed community river gauges to track water pulses. While she no longer takes photography commissions, her background in social documentary photography remains the bedrock for her project documentation and site analysis.

Methodology: The REP Framework

Regeneration | Education | Participation

The REP method is a design tool used to bridge environmental theory and on-site reality. Coetzee utilizes public art as functional infrastructure—giving NbS a tangible form to act as catalysts for systemic change.

·        Regenerative: Improving site metabolism (water harvesting, thermal cooling, habitat engineering).

·        Educational: Embedding knowledge in the landscape, linked to the [SUNCASA lesson plans].

·        Participatory: Building agency through co-research with engineers, architects, makers, and NGOs.

By applying site-responsive materials to “wicked” problems, the work seeks to move audiences from being overwhelmed by the polycrisis to becoming part of a nature-based solution.

Note: Detailed project documentation and technical reports can be found under the [NbS] heading of this website.

Artistic Practice & Residencies

Running concurrent to her ecosystems work, Coetzee maintains a rigorous studio and gallery practice. Her art career serves as the “R&D” lab for her larger urban interventions, where art and design converge to explore multispecies relationships. Artistic residencies are vital to this synergy; most recently, her Space House residency in the Himalayas (2025)—hosted by a fellow designer—created a collaborative space to explore design and artistic parallels between countries in the Global South.

Recent solo exhibitions include:

·        Baboonish Hyenas Not Monkeying Around (Nel Gallery, Cape Town, 2025)

·        In Mid-Loping Gait (Morton Fine Art, Washington D.C., 2023)

Whether through stone-cut sculpture or site-responsive installations, her art makes the logic of ecosystems visible, inviting viewers into a deeper engagement with the natural world.

Connect & Access

Warrington Coetzee NbS operates as a small, lean team. While capacity for new partnerships is limited, the practice prioritizes shared learning and transparency.

·        Updates & NbS Research: Follow progress on LinkedIn.

·        Artistic Inquiry & Studio Work: Follow on Instagram #hanneliecoetzee

·        Resources: Access the REP methodology and SUNCASA lessons via this website.

·        Contact: For technical assistance, strategic collaboration, or gallery inquiries, reach the team at hannelie(a)hanneliecoetzee.com