OLA Project Team

Germany: HfWU Nürtingen-Geislingen (project coordinator) and HSWT Weihenstephan-Triesdorf (university partner)

• university website, Nürtingen-Geislingen University, project coordination and grant holder
• university website, Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, project partner
• Joint IMLA study programme, International Master of Landscape Architecture

Dr. Ellen Fetzer holds a diploma and a doctoral degree in landscape architecture from Kassel University, Germany. At Nürtingen-Geislingen University she is primarily coordinating the international masters in landscape architecture. Beyond landscape architecture, she is passionate about computer-supported collaborative learning in transnational settings, systems thinking and social innovation. Ellen is currently president of ECLAS (www.eclas.org), the European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools. Motivation for the OLA project: Creating a long-term and global platform for democratic landscape transformation is a lifetime project for me.

Professor Sonja Hörster is a landscape architect, founder of the Institute for Participatory Design and professor for Communication & Participation in Landscape Architecture at Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences. She dedicates her work to the development of new forms of design work through design-oriented participation. She brings over 28 years of professional experience in consulting, designing and implementing participation processes, spatial planning and monitoring of community development projects to the project. Motivation for OLA project: ..OLA is a great opportunity to grow closer together as participateurs of the world.

USA: University of Maryland (university partner)

Dr. Deni Ruggeri is an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Maryland, College Park. His research focuses on social and psychological dimensions of landscape architecture and urban design, participatory design, and urban green infrastructure. He has authored 25 journal articles and book chapters and co-edited the book Defining Landscape Democracy. A Path to Spatial Justice (2019). He serves as the Executive Director of the Environmental Design Research Association and coordinated the LED2LEAP Erasmus + project for the LE:NOTRE Institute. Dr. Ruggeri has lectured at the University of California, Berkeley and University of California, Davis and has been an associate professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and the University of Oregon, and an assistant professor of landscape architecture at Cornell University. Motivation for the OLA project: OLA is an opportunity to learn how to create a better partnership in advancing landscape knowledge by linking civil society, academia, and the non profit sector in partnership in learning for systemic democratic change

Hungary: MATE - Hungarian University for Agriculture and Life Sciences (university partner) and KulturAktív (NGO partner)

	Anna Szilágyi-Nagy Anna is a MSc landscape architect. Her areas of expertise are built environment education, playful and experience-based youth participation, and the design and research of analog board games that involve the population in solving landscape issues. Anna is a PhD candidate at the University of Tübingen and president of kultúrAktív Egyesület. Motivation for the OLA project: The Open Landscape Academy is for me a partnership in which we envision and establish the sustainable future of our planet and a new participatory culture through education and work with communities.
	Eszter Tóth Eszter is working at the crossroads of education and urbanism, driven by her passion for developing methods, tools, and approaches that support young people to understand and co-create their environment. She is a Ph.D. candidate at HafenCity University and her research interests include built environment education, urban activism, playful participation, and transformative game design. She is the founder of kultúrAktív, an association for built environment education in Hungary, and of urb:engage in Darmstadt, Germany." Motivation for the OLA project: OLA is an exciting experimental lab for mutual learning
	Zsófia Földi PhD, Assistant professor, Landscape Architect. She is working at the Department of Landscape Protection and Reclamation (MATE). Zsófia does research in liveable settlement, landscape protection, challenges in science communication. She is teaching and supervising students in Hungarian and international programs of the University from BSc to MSc level. In the last seven years she took part in environmental education programs. She personally attends science-promoting events. Motivation for the OLA project: OLA is an excellent opportunity to support livable settlements
	István Valánszki, Ph.D. is a landscape architect, associate professor and head of department at Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Department of Landscape Protection and Reclamation. His researches focus on participatory mapping and cultural ecosystem services. István has also international research experiences (e.g. University of Copenhagen, University of Massachusetts, Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, Norwegian University of Life Sciences). Motivation for the OLA project: OLA is a a good opportunity to learn about participatory approaches and test them into local environment as well as to meet colleagues from other countries.

Italy

• Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna (university partner)
• Fondazione Flaminia (NGO partner)

Greece

• Agricultural University of Athens (university partner)
• Commonspace (NGO partner)

Netherlands

• LE:NOTRE Institute (NGO partner)