Nora Doukkali is a PhD candidate in International Relations and Political Sciences, and a Research Assistant for HUD. Her research interests center on critical architecture and design, humanitarianism, politics of waiting, and sexuality and intimacy. Before joining the research project, she worked at the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Project Management Office. She holds a Master in Development Studies from the Graduate Institute.

Damien is a PhD candidate in the International Relations & Political Science and a Doctoral Researcher for HUD at The Geneva School of Art and Design. His research interests lie at the intersection of environmental resilience, architecture, and co-design. Fascinated by the upheavals, social, environmental, and technological of our daily life, Damien works on their implications with regard to the built environment. He holds a Master of Science in Architecture from the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the Academy of Architecture of Mendrisio.

Maevia Griffiths is a University of Copenhagen PhD fellow in Political Science and the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Visibility for Transformation Lab (VIFT). Merging filmmaking and social science research, she holds dual Masters in Documentary Filmmaking (Goldsmiths University of London, 2022) and Development Studies (Geneva Graduate Institute, 2021). Her transdisciplinary approach mobilises visual methods to address social (in)visibilities, violence prevention, memory and human rights.

Rachel is Senior Researcher for HUD at EPFL’s Essential Tech Lab and passionate about the role of technology in sustainable development, and the importance of interdisciplinary research in solving societal problems. Originally an engineer by training, Rachel has a decade of experience working in sub-Saharan Africa (Somaliland, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria) for startups, NGOs and as co-founder of a tech startup. Her research interests are in low resource/frugal innovation, understanding users and their role in design/product development and the role of the private sector in sustainable development. Rachel did her PhD at Delft University of Technology where she conducted research on frugal innovations in the water and energy sectors in East Africa.

Anna Leander is Professor of International Relations at the Geneva Graduate Institute. She previously held positions in Brazil, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy and the US. Her current research revolves around four connected political themes: (i) the politics of commercial security; (ii) the politics of commercial aesthetics; (iii) the politics of regulation; and (iv) the politics of expertise and scientific research. Throughout her career, Anna has also taken on institutional responsibilities. She has been responsible for teaching and mentoring programs. She has edited books series/journals, held positions on the boards of research institutions/councils and other professional associations. Anna is currently head of department, member of the boards of the Swiss Political Science Association and ICoCA. She co-edits Voices in International Relations (Oxford University Press).

Aida Navarro Redón (Dipl. Arch. ETSAV, 2012; M.Res. ETSAM, 2014; Ph.D, 2020) is an architect and a game designer. Her research has focused on the relationship between architecture and virtual spaces, using video games as a case study. Her professional journey encompasses two interconnected paths. On the one hand, she has contributed to architectural practices and video game studios – such as Activision where she developed Call of Duty – and on the other, she has cultivated her academic profile by teaching undergraduate and graduate courses at the Madrid School of Architecture and UEM amongst others. Since 2019, Aida has been developing Fin de Temporada, a project on the model of leisure through water parks that has been widely acclaimed.

Lucas Perez Florentino is a PhD candidate in International Relations/Political Science at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva, Switzerland. He holds a bachelor’s (2010-2014) and a master’s degree (2015-2017) in International Relations from the Institute of International Relations at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (IRI-PUC-Rio) in Brazil. Lucas also held a visiting position as a PhD student at the Department of History at the University of Vienna, Austria (April – June 2024) and was an exchange undergraduate student at Georgetown University in Washington DC, US (August – December 2012). His areas of expertise include global governance, nuclear governance, critical nuclear studies, critical security studies, IR theories, and epistemology. His research agenda investigates global governance by articulating aesthetic approaches, new materialism and posthumanism, actor-network theory, science and technology studies, and affective methodologies. Currently, he holds a position as a research coordinator of the project “The Future of Humanitarian Design”.