team

Milota Sidorova - consultant of urban projects and strategic development, initiator of WPS Prague, member of founding groups, Prague

Milota is a professional moving within interdisciplinary aspects of city and urban planning.

She studied landscape architecture, urban planning, graphic design, film production, urbanism, methods of social research and human resource management in different schools around Europe, Asia and America. She was a founding member of international festival about urban planning - reSITE festival and its coordinator between 2011 and 2015. In 2013 she was one of the founding members of Ladime Prahu, the association of Prague festivals with regards on public space. In 2013 she was awarded Fulbright scholarship to study urbanism in New York City. In 2014 she finished doctoral studies in landscape architecture on the topic: Catalytic impacts of markets on public spaces. Since 2012 she has been mapping actors in non-governmental sector engaged with public space in Bratislava and Prague. In 2015 she co-founded initiative Women. Public Space. Prague - a network promoting active women in architecture, urban planning and development of community life. She was one of the co-authors of EU project Shared Cities: Creative Momentum.

Milota also lectures at various universities and institutions across Central Europe. She cherishes interdisciplinary research that she likes to combine with execution of different projects.

Her focus often lies on communication, facilitation, coordination, role of the culture in urban development, sector blending with particular interest on empowering non-governmental sector, civic initiatives and individuals in the field of urban development. Currently she lives and works in Bratislava.

Kristyna Stara - architect, urban planner, co-founder of the platform Architekti ve skole, co-founder of the company dialog architekti. Role in the project: member of WPS Prague founding group, program and research consultant, Prague

Kristyna graduated as architect/urban planner with module of landscape architecture at Faculty of Architecture, Czech Technical University in Prague in 2011. The same year she became aspiring doctoral student at Department of Spatial Planning at Faculty of Architecture, Czech Technical University. In her work she is looking for practical implementation of perception of landscape into formal education in architecture and urban planning. She has been practicing architect and urban planner at Mac-Architecture s r.o./CENELC.CZ , DHV CR, spol. s r.o., Cigler Marani Architects a.s./Jakub Cigler architekti a.s. or dialog architects since 2009.

In her free time she focuses on her research for initiative Architects in school (http://www.architektiveskole.cz/) she cofounded in 2011. This platform widens discussion about the context of education of architecture and urban planning among the youngest generation (kids in kindergartens, students of primary schools). Architects in school share interdisciplinary dialogue and methods of formal and non formal education among schools and teachers too. Goals of the platform are to share experience and to constantly seek for possible interpretation of architectural education per se, their forms and possibilities of their inclusion into formal educational system in Czech Republic

Veronika Fajmonova - psychologist, researcher. Role in the project: member of the founding group, research consultant, networking and inspiration sources

At the moment Veronika has been concluding her dissertation thesis dealing with phenomena of perception of terrorism and consequences of its psychological reactions. In her research she has been following and connecting her educational background: Psychology at the University Palackeho in Olomouc and International Relations at University of Economics in Prague.
She conducted study internship at Columbia University in New York in 2013/2014. She worked as a researcher at National Institut for Education where she led project: Diagnostic tools for children and students with special educational needs. In context of Czech Republic this has been a unique project aiming at standardization of diagnostic tools for children. She is the co-author of adaptation of three methods into Czech language and context. The test has been used by educational-psychology centers and has been helping to diagnose learning difficulties among children. Veronika has been also following gender topics in her educational background too. In her master thesis she conducted research on the topic of double-career marriages. She loves to travel, dance and read books. She is also excellent communicator, so if you are interested in her work, feel free to contact her.

Tereza Stöckelová - sociologist, researcher, professor, editor, Charles University in Prague. Role in the project: member of the founding group, research consultant, networking and inspiration sources

Dr. Tereza Stöckelová is a researcher at the Institute of Sociology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, assistant professor at the Department of General Anthropology, Charles University, and editor-in-chief of the English edition of Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review. Her work is situated in-between sociology, social anthropology and science and technology studies (STS), and draws upon actor network theory and related material semiotic methodologies. She has ethnographically investigated academic practices in the context of current policy changes, science and society relations and environmental controversies. In 2015 she started a new research project concerned with “multiple medicine” – ethnography of the interfaces between biomedical and alternative therapeutic practices. She has been engaged in policy and public debates on science and research assessment. She regularly contributes to the biweekly A2.

Monika Grilli Wagnerova. Role in the project: member of the founding group, photographer

Born in a small city of Spisske Podhradie in Eastern Slovakia. She resides in Prague for last 11 years where she completed her studies as a doctor at 1st medical faculty of Charles University. She has started as an oncology intern at Krc hospital. Now she dedicates her time to taking pictures of people as a radiologist doctor at Radiology Clinic FNKV and a semi professional photographer for the project WPS Prague. As a photographer she collaborated with the poet Jan Tesnohlidek jr and reSITE festival in previous years. She loves to connect people and add a bit more culture into our world. Well, maybe that is why she spent 11 years as a puppet actor and has been writing her own poetry too.

Michael Higgs. Role in the project: English language and research support

Michael has a background in international law and relations. He is currently studying for his Master's in Law (LLM) in International Commercial Law at the University of Bristol. Prior his return to UK, he was working in Prague for the European project Shared Cities: Creative Momentum. His main legal interests focus upon addressing inequality through both state and private actors at national and international levels.

Šárka Homfray, lawyer, union organizer, Prague, language correction, research support, consultant

Šárka works as a lawyer analyst in direction of labor and service law. In her work she deals with unequal treatment, discrimination and gender aspects of labor law. She also focuses on the future of work and its transformation, especially in connection with digitization and cyber security. She is interested in stereotypes and generalizations and their influence on our lives. Šárka regularly publishes in the unionist and professional journals and Referendum Daily. She is the mother of the two and in her free time loves reading and handicrafts.

Lucia Ďurčová, architecture student, intern, Bratislava

Lucia was born in Bratislava where she studies at Faculty of Architecture of Slovak Technical University. In the past she voluntereed in Team Vallo, now as a member of Czechoslovak castration programme she provides help to the tortured animals. She actively cooperated on the creation of YIM.BA – Yes In My Bratislava website and data gathering for WhatCity na Mickiewičke report. In the free time, she loves to travel, mainly to European and Global capitals.

Thanks also to our co-founding members

Michaela Heckova, director Piana na ulici, Praha. Role in the project: member of the founding group, consultant, networking

Michaela studied czech philology with focus on editorial work in media, cultural studies & czech studies at Palacky University in Olomouc and theory of interactive media at Masaryk University. She began her career as a literary critic quickly switching to the other side of artistic production. She has been working on projects like Ostrava 2015, Metropol Cinema in Olomouc and Chodovska tvrz in one of Prague suburbs (Jizne Mesto). She has been expanding community activities at the festival Indian Summer at the Psychiatric Hospital in Bohnice and gallery of contemporary art Pradelna Bohnice. She worked as a program director of the festival about art in public space Street for Art and the municipal organization Praha 14 kulturní focusing on cultural revitalization of 14th Prague municipal district (Cerny most). Piana na ulici is her first project working outside of Prague suburbs.

Personally she likes former industrial sites, dramaturgy of community projects, programmatic and production baby sitting of emerging cultural managers, projects inclusive towards various social groups, diverse manifestations of local culture, hours spent in trains or on phone calls. She has weakness for crisis situations, plan B, chaos and despair leading to specific new born project.