Matina Magkou is a researcher, lecturer, and consultant specialising in cultural and creative industries, cultural policy, and international cultural cooperation. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Université Côte d’Azur at the GREDEG research laboratory, while previously she held a research post at SicLab at the same university. She holds a PhD from the University of Deusto on the evaluation of cultural cooperation projects and has taught at several universities in Europe and beyond. Her academic career includes visiting research positions at the Brussels School of Governance (VUB, 2023–2024) and as a Fulbright Schuman Scholar at New York University and Carnegie Mellon' University Heinz College (2024). Matina has extensive professional experience in festivals, theatre productions, and major international events, as well as within public institutions such as the European Parliament, the Greek Ministry of Education and the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency. As a consultant, she has collaborated with European and international cultural networks and organisations on research, evaluation, and project development. She is co-founder of KOΛΕΚΤΙVA for culture and social innovation, one of the two experts on Greece for the Compendium on Cultural Policies and Trends and member of the European Expert Network for Culture.