PhD Researcher Natassa Dourida

Natassa Dourida is a sociocultural engineer, blending her expertise in civil engineering, monument restoration, and cultural management with her artistic practice. She designs participatory processes that address practical urban issues and social challenges.

 

Her work is primarily with Communitism, an Athens-based organization that provides a model for the revival of the city's 11,000 abandoned heritage buildings through creative commoning. As a member of this community, she developed methodologies that led to the founding of Athens's first independently-run sociocultural center, which operated for six years, fostering a variety of creative communities.

 

Her research explores Communitism's efforts to achieve institutionalization while maintaining its radical, imaginative, and participatory nature. With the goal of achieving collective ownership, her work focuses on care-based practices that combine multiple disciplines and stakeholders.