THE TEAM
Kostas Vourekas
Kostas Vourekas is an architect with a Master's degree in Urban and Spatial Planning. He is currently working on his PhD thesis in the Department of Urban and Spatial Planning of NTUA, on the subject of changes in spatial planning in Greece during the dept crisis. He has scientific publications and participations in international and national urban planning conferences, he is an adjunct lecturer in the Interdepartmental Master's Programme "Architecture - Spatial Planning" in the direction "Urban Planning - Spatial Planning" and has been an invited speaker in the Master's Programme "Executive MSc in Cities" of the London School of Economics & Political Science. He also has many years of professional experience in numerous urban planning and environmental studies, including some of the most important projects and studies of the period (development of the former Hellinikon airport, Rethink Athens, Badminton court in the Goudi Metropolitan Park, Eleonas, Hymettus Mountain Protection Plan, etc.). He has also participated from the position of scientific coordinator in a wide range of studies (landscape study of a Wind Park in Andros, real estate development in the tourism sector in the Peloponnese Region, revitalization of a Building Block in the refugee housing area of Kessariani with participatory planning, Special Urban Plans in Tritsis Park, the former industrial complex ‘Paint Factory of Piraeus’, the Former Fertilizer Factory Area in Drapetsona). He has participated in European Projects (CREPUD-MED, Research-Mainstream) and projects abroad (Preparation of Local Plan for the city of Tabuk - Saudi Arabia). He specializes in planning due diligence projects and has participated as portfolio manager in major international real estate exhibitions (MIPIM, IHIF, MR&H).
Sofia Tsadari
Sofia Tsadari is a qualified Architect / Urban and Regional Planner PHD, with over twelve year experience in architectural and urban design and planning, which also includes site/project management. Her skills in planning, detailing, designing and coordinating projects have been developed during her time working for several levels of employers and freelancing. Her interest in urban planning has lead her to an academic / teaching pathway as a fixed term lecturer at the Architectural School of Xanthi and to commit to a Phd thesis related to urban regeneration and the aftermath of the financial crisis upon urban landscape. In this context she took part in several academic congresses and symposiums as presenter, moderator and judge. Over the last 4 years, in constant cooperation with funding consultants’ groups, she has developed her expertise on urban and non-urban Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI) and Urban Regeneration / Development Projects in Greek Regions and Municipalities. She has also won several awards in architectural competitions and she is an advanced cad technician.
Eleni Mougiakou
Eleni Mougiakou is an Agricultural Engineer with a Bachelor-MSc from the Agricultural University of Athens, with a Landscape Architecture specialization. She completed her Master's Degree in Geoinformatics with distinction from the National Technical University of Athens, Department of Geography and Regional Planning.
She has been working in the area of Urban Green-Space Planning and GIS for many years. Having collaborated with Greek Public Authorities as an EU funding - technical consultant and EU project assistant in various relevant projects have allowed her to develop a powerful combination of scientific approach on Spatial Analysis, decision making, management, and multilingual literature research.
In the past few years, she had the opportunity to work individually on public projects and research. Her work involved a large amount of data while participating in scientific teams with leading companies and university labs (Strategic planning / Integrated Territorial Investment, European programs, Project proposals, Design Projects). She has a particular academic/research interest in Sustainable Development and Climate Change Adaptation of urban green spaces and the built environment. She had the opportunity to implement her knowledge in complicated, ‘real-life’ projects, including EU strategies and linked funding opportunities. She works on methodologies, methods, and digital tools (ppWebGIS) of participatory planning and design for the last five years.
She is a co-founder of COMMONSPACE coop and a Certified Facilitator of the Social Solidarity Economy and Community Economic Development [Simon Fraser University of Canada]. She gives lectures and speeches regarding SSE and public policies.
Thanos Andritsos
Thanos Andritsos is an Architectural Engineer of the University of Thessaly, with postgraduate studies in Urban Planning and Spatial Planning at the NTUA. He is a PhD student at the National Technical University of Athens, in the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Planning, with his main field of study being policies and applications for Sustainable Urban Development. She has worked in research projects and has participated with papers in conferences and scientific volumes in Greece and abroad. He has worked for years in the design and construction of private projects as an associate in technical companies and as a freelancer, and has participated with distinction in public architectural competitions. He has more than ten years of experience in studies and projects in Spatial Planning, Sustainable Urban Development, Integrated Spatial Investments, Urban Planning Law and Participatory Planning in Greece, the European Union and the Middle East. He holds a Class B degree in categories 2 (Urban Planning Studies) and 7 (Special Architectural Studies) and a Class A degree in the other study categories.
He is a founding member of Commonspace and has been involved from different positions in a number of its projects, as well as in the Participatory Lab, an interdisciplinary community focused on promoting participatory spatial planning for the adaptation of cities to climate change. She has participated in dozens of participatory planning projects and programmes, and has authored or co-edited the projects, "Participatory Planning: city, environment & climate change", "Sustainable urban development. What is the role of citizens?". "Participatory Urban Budgeting" and "Participatory Municipal Budgeting" in collaboration with the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
Dimitris Poulios
Dimitris Poulios studied architecture at the University of Thessaly in Volos, where he graduated in 2010. He continued his studies in Urban Planning at the University of Cardiff with a scholarship from the Bodossakis Foundation. He graduated first in his department while his dissertation in the postgraduate program titled "Challenges for the contemporary Greek city. Public Space, Identity, Innovation and a Framework for Urban Interventions" also won the Studio Real Prize award for the best thesis in the 2011 research excellence. His scientific interests are in the field of Architecture, Urban Planning, Spatial Planning, Geography and Political Sciences. He has participated in scientific conferences and competitions (with distinctions) and has professional experience in the above fields. Since September 2012 he has been working on the doctoral dissertation in the field of Urban Geography at the National Technical University of Athens with the help of the Onassis Foundation scholarship. Since 2012, he has been working as a consultant for Urban Planning and as a City Planner, with a wide range of studies (Urban Planning, Spatial Planning, Cultural Management etc.) in Greece and abroad (Albania, Cyprus, Qatar). He is one of the co-founders of the CPD co-op and since 2015 has assumed the position of President of the company, while conducting studies and programs.
George Velegrakis
George Velegrakis is an Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineer of NTUA (MENg .) With postgraduate studies in Urban Planning - Spatial Planning NTUA (M.Sc.) and in the Environment and Development of NTUA (M.Sc. ). He is a phD candidate in Geography at Charokopio University in the field of Political Ecology. He has ten years of experience in proposing and implementing European projects. Between 2008 and 2011, a private sector business consultant managed 15 European projects. Between 2012 and 2015 he was a scholar of the program European Network of Political Ecology Marie Curie Actions - Initial Training Networks (Contract No. 283978). He is also an "Environmental Management Systems Auditor / Lead Auditor based on ISO 14001: 2004 (Course No: A14478, Certificate Serial No: EA / 10 / GR / 9583)” from 2008. Since October 2016, he has been a member of the CPD co-op by participating in the technical and technological support of the company's actions.
Giouli Athousaki
Giouli Athousaki is a graduate Physicist, from the Faculty of Science of the Aristotle University and holds a diploma from the Acting Senior Drama School "Delos" of D. Chatoupi. She has dealt with the teaching of science with alternative experiential methods through the theatrical play. She has participated in the " sci-co " co-op and has taught in various primary schools in the Attica region. As an actor she has collaborated with the directors G. Mavragani, K. Gakis, E.A. Gonzalez, D. Chatoupi etc. In recent years she has been involved in the production of performances and projects concerning pedagogical theater.
Anastasia Christaki
Anastasia Christaki is a graduate of the Architectural Engineering School of the National Technical University of Athens, NTUA (2018) and a graduate student in “Spatial and Urban planning” of NTUA. She has participated in a series of conferences and scientific volumes in Greece and abroad. She has professional experience in designing and constructing private projects as a partner in technical companies and freelancers and has participated in restoration, renovation and construction projects as well as in projects of bioclimatic planning. She has worked on several projects as a partner of commonspace, such as participatory design programs, research projects (‘ppCITY Integrated Spatial Decision Making & Participatory Planning’), and urban planning projects.
Sylvain Adam
Sylvain Adam is an architect, graduated in 2009 from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris La Villette (ENSAPLV) in France. Since, he specialised in participatory processes in architectural design and urban planning and acquired a solid professional experience. After having worked for architectural design and urban planning offices in France (Iwona Buczkowska’s office, Technical design office CUADD Conseil) and in Greece (Nikos Lykouresis’ architectural office in Zakynthos), he held the position of coordinator and director of the Non-Profit Organisations APPUII (Alternatives pour des Projets Urbains Ici et à l’Internationnal, https://appuii.wordpress.com) from 2014 to 2018 and then, Unadel (Union Nationale des Acteurs du Développement Local, https://unadel.org). He is actually a member of APPUII’s administration board and joined the Common Space cooperative in Athens in September 2021.
Melina Vlachou
Melina Vlachou is an Architect, graduate of the University of Patras and a senior in the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Planning at the NTUA. She has attended the six- month program Creating Resilient Cities under Erasmus+ at the University of Applied Sciences Rotterdam and has participated in respective workshops on climate change in Rotterdam and Belgrade, as well as conferences (Urban Resilient Summit for Climate Change Awareness - Rotterdam 2019, Future Flux Festival for Climate Change Awareness - Rotterdam 2019, Conference on Participatory Planning and the Challenges of Climate Change - Athens 2021) presenting the comparative study and network proposal in the cities of Rotterdam and Belgrade, “Re.Create, a social network for information on climate change”. In the past, she has worked in architectural offices in public projects, such as the New Archaeological Museum of Cyprus and in private projects of construction, renovations, mainly of residential and commercial character. In addition, as a freelance illustrator, she is also involved in children’s books illustrations.
Yannis Paraskevopoulos
Yannis Paraskevopoulos is a Geoinformatics Engineer with a diploma from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), and MSc in Urban & Regional Planning, NTUA. Since September 2018 is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography and Regional Planning of NTUA and his research is focused on GIS-based approaches for exploring the types of urban form (i.e. the patterns of build density, network centrality and functional mixture) as an analytical framework towards evidence-based planning. He has substantial working experience as a GIS Analyst and has participated in numerous research projects and studies relevant to evidence-based planning, walkability, sustainable mobility, participatory planning and adaptation to climate change. To name a few, “Attica’s Regional Plan for Climate Change Adaptation” (assigned by the Region of Attica), “ppCity - Integrated System for the Spatial Decision Support and Participation” research project (project code: Τ1ΕDΚ-02901 and MIS code: 5029727), and “euPOLIS - Integrated NBS-based Urban Planning Methodology for Enhancing the Health and Well-being of Citizens” research project (funded by H2020-SC5-2019-2., num. 869448). He has published numerous peer-reviewed papers, including 5 articles in scientific journals and 10 papers in international conferences. His research interests include urban morphology, space syntax analysis, urban geography, advanced spatial analysis, urban analytics, walkability, and evidence-based planning.
Dionysia Koutsi
Dionisia Koutsi is an Urban Planner from University of Thessaly, with a master’s degree on "Environment and Development", NTUA and currently she is a, granted with scholarship, PhD student at the same department (Geography and Regional Planning, School of Rural, Surveying and Geoinformatics Engineering, NTUA). Her research interests focus on integrated, sustainable, and participatory management of cultural heritage, local sustainable development, maritime spatial planning, participatory planning, regional development with a focus on island regions and alternative forms of tourism. She has substantial experience as a project manager of projects, mainly co-financed by competitive EU programs (INTERREG, ERASMUS+, HORIZON2020, etc.) while she has participated in proposal writing accounting already for approved proposals. Indicatively, her participation in the research project "THAL-HOR 2: Cross-border cooperation for the implementation of Maritime Spatial Planning", of the Interreg Greece-Cyprus program, is mentioned. She has also published a number of research papers, including more than 10 paper in scientific journals, 1 book chapter in a collective volume and she has also presented more than 10 papers in international conferences.
Artemis Koumbarelou
Artemis Koumbarelou is an architect engineer (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) with postgraduate studies in economic and social geography (MSc) at the University of Leipzig. She has participated in scientific publications and conference presentations in Greece and abroad on topics related to urban geography and socio-environmental inequalities. She has professional experience in the design and construction of private projects and has worked in architectural studios and technical offices in Greece, the Netherlands (‘Werkstatt/Natural Building’ studio, Eindhoven) and Germany ('Sterling Presser Architects & Engineers' and 'Dickmann Richter Architekten', Berlin). She has been involved in architectural and urban design competitions, as well as in the organisation and facilitation of seminars on sustainable urban practices and carpentry (cooperative 'Baufachfrau Berlin e.V.', Berlin). As a partner of commonspace she is involved in participatory design projects, spatial analysis studies and research programmes ('Fairville -Facing Inequalities and Democratic Challenges through Co-production in Cities', HORIZON Europe).
Emmy Karimali