Alessia Usai
Dr. Alessia Usai was one of the two joint winners of the 2015 ENCATC Research Award on Cultural Policy and Cultural Management. She received the Award for her PhD research, “The Creative City. Cultural policies and urban regeneration between conservation and development,” conducted at the University of Cagliari in Italy.
Alessia Usai was a PhD Student of the PhD program in Technology for the preservation of architectural and environmental heritage of the School of Civil Engineering and Architecture at the University of Cagliari. Her PhD research examines the relationship between cultural heritage and urban planning, with a particular focus on the role of culture in urban regeneration. The study analyses how cultural policies can contribute to the development of cities while taking into account the conservation of cultural heritage.
After winning the ENCATC Research Award, Usai continued her academic and research career at the University of Cagliari, where she worked as a Research Fellow. Her research and professional activities have remained connected to cultural policy, cultural management and urban development.
Annika Hampel
Dr. Annika Hampel was one of the two joint winners of the 2015 ENCATC Research Award on Cultural Policy and Cultural Management. She received the Award for her doctoral research, “Fair Cooperation. Partnership based cooperation in Foreign Culture Policy” conducted at the University of Hildesheim in Germany.
Annika Hampel is a researcher and international cultural-relations professional whose work focuses on cultural cooperation, cultural diplomacy and partnership-based approaches to international exchange. She studied Applied Cultural Sciences at the universities of Lüneburg and Passau, focusing on international project management and arts organisation.
In July 2014, she completed her PhD thesis on international cooperation at the Department of Cultural Policy/ UNESCO-Chair at the University of Hildesheim. Before and during her PhD studies, Annika Hampel worked at the University of Cologne and the University of Hildesheim in the fields of International Relations, Science and Project Management. She assisted, among others, at the Goethe-Institutes Ghana and Bolivia, coordinating and managing cultural projects and events. Two times Annika Hampel received a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for her education and professional experiences in Ghana and India.
Following her PhD, Hampel continued her professional career in international affairs and cultural relations. From 2017 to 2018, she served as the Director of the International Affairs Service Unit at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany. She has also contributed to discussions on international cultural policy, cultural diplomacy and the role of partnerships in strengthening cultural cooperation.
