Meet the Team
The Association of Collaborative Design was started by people who wanted to champion participatory design and community engagement; connecting knowledge, skills and resources.
We operate as a collaborative network. Please find out more about us below.
Kara de los Reyes
Co-CEO | Network and Communications
Kara is an Architect and Founder of TerraLupa, a platform for ecological regeneration and re-establishing our connection to nature, facilitating design that promotes positive integration with local ecosystems and communities. She is also a Trustee of Artspace Lifespace in Bristol and a Fellow of The Bio-leadership Project. Her previous experience includes a Board Directorship for international organisation Land is Life, running the Co-Lab Studio for AWW in Bristol, Associate and Senior Lecturer at University of West England, and was a member of the TEDxBristol Core Team from 2013 - 2019.
Dr Jo Morrison
Co-CEO | Co-Founder | Research and Policy
Jo operates at the intersection of people, place, technology and data. Focusing on digital innovation and multidisciplinary collaboration, she aims to create more pleasurable, sustainable and citizen-centred environments through digital placemaking practices. Jo is a Director of Calvium, Fellow of the Institute of Place Management, Industry Champion for the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, and External Examiner for the University of Westminster.
Nataly Raab
Director| Events and Training
Nataly is a passionate community engagement leader, urban planning strategist with specialist experience in designing and managing innovative participatory strategies and community-driven design initiatives.
Trained in architecture, urban design and sustainability, she has experience in leading projects in the public and private sector, working across cultures and disciplines. Her previous employers include humanitarian organisations, charities, start-ups, local authorities and design studios.
Eva Voulgaridou
Secretary
Eva is an architect based in Scotland and as a designer, her interest lies in the social impact of architecture, through the lens of research for design. This interest stems from her earlier research in urban justice and her recent postgraduate studies on Social and Sustainable Architecture in Portugal. Eva is also a member of ACAN Scotland and a Young Urbanist in the Academy of Urbanism.
Susanne Müller
Training
Susanne is a highly experienced community engagement professional with a deep passion for working closely with diverse groups and individuals to create positive change and foster collaborative relationships. With a background in urban planning and community development, Susanne is dedicated to promoting inclusive and participatory approaches to community engagement.
Past Members
Sarah Jones-Morris
Past Co-CEO | Co-Founder | Partnerships
Sarah is the Director of Landsmith Associates, a landscape architecture and urban design consultancy based in Bristol. She is passionate about the collaborative and interdisciplinary design process to inspire new places for people and nature, contributing to health and well-being from detail design to strategy. Sarah is a Fellow of the Landscape Institute and Institute of Place Management, a Design Council Expert, a Design West Review Panel member, and a founder of Bristol Soundwalks.
Dr May Newisar
Past Secretary
May is Research Fellow in Architecture at the University of Leeds. She is working on a project in Jordan that focuses on the creative economies through youth-led Arts and Craft. She has held several academic posts in several international schools of Architecture in the MENA region and the UK.
May's PhD from the University of Manchester focuses on understanding the politics of technical decision-making in the World Heritage sites to unpack the tensions and conflicts on the different policy levels.
Alex Brooks
Past Team Member
Alex is the co-founder of The Human Restoration Project, an international active permaculture designer and teacher, an experienced community development worker and a recent MA Landscape Architect graduate. As someone living with ADHD, Alex work is based on the desire to find simplicity in complexity and create meaningful connections. She uses a panoply of embodied tools to aid her work, including systemic mapping and natural movement. She is currently supporting the creation and shaping of community and commercially focused projects in the UK, France and Ghana.
Mizan Rambhoros
Past Team Member
Mizan is a researcher in neuroaesthetics, supported by an interdisciplinary background in the geohumanities and architecture. Working at the intersection of positive psychology and spatial design, she is passionate about linking mental health and environments as drivers of subjective wellbeing. Her intersectoral and international experience includes Project Architect and Senior Lecturer in South Africa; PhD (History) and Erasmus Mundus Scholar in Spain; and current MSCA-Postdoctoral Fellow in Austria, where she is investigating how the aesthetics of arts & culture spaces in urban settings facilitate individuals’ affective and cognitive dimensions for quality of life.
Dr Noha Nasser
Past Director | Co-Founder
Noha is an urban designer, academic and social entrepreneur. She is the founding Director of MELA Social Enterprise on a mission to design inclusive public spaces. Noha is a Council of Europe Intercultural Cities Expert in Public Space and Fellow of the RSA. She co-edits the Journal, Urban Design International and is the author of the award-winning book ‘Bridging Cultures: the guide to social innovation in cosmopolitan cities’ (2015)
Katie Lea
Past Director | Co-Founder
Katie is a Director of Place Studio, a small planning and urban design consultancy based in Bristol. Over the last ten years, she and her team at Place Studio have been working to place community engagement at the heart of planning and design processes. Katie has worked with a wide range of organisations, from developers to local authorities, to parish and town councils and charities such as Rural Community Councils and Planning Aid Wales.
Dr Kate Langham
Past Director | Co-Founder
Kate is Senior Co-Design Lead at Policy Lab UK. Kate works on projects across government to reimagine policymaking using people-centred design approaches. Her PhD research focused on co-design for the built environment, developing community-led urban developments. Kate was Creative Director for Interface, a global leader in sustainable floor coverings and Programme Leader at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton. She lectures at conferences and universities around the world, sharing her passion for co-design.
Srestha Chatterjee
Past Researcher
Srestha Chatterjee has currently graduated with a Master’s in Sociology and has a specific interest in urban sociology with the intersections of gender and urban planning. She has a keen interest in participatory planning and collaborative design. She keeps an interest in writing, photography, making exciting reels and occasional miming.