Jon Alvarez Fernandez
Jon Alvarez Fernandez was a finalist for the 2021 ENCATC Research Award for his PhD thesis “The Shift of Valuation and Management in ‘Denken Chiku’ Protected Townscapes in Japan: Comparative Analysis with Contemporary Western Protection Policies”, defended at Waseda University in Japan.
Jon Alvarez Fernandez is an independent researcher, lecturer and consultant in topics related to architectural design and heritage. He holds a Professional Degree in Architecture (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 2006), a Master’s Degree in Restoration and Comprehensive Management of Built Heritage (Universidad del País Vasco, 2013), and Doctor on Architecture (Waseda University, 2018).
Working in research since 2003, his research topics include the analysis of large-scale historical monuments of large scale, the valuation of residential quarters, and urban planning related to preservation. He also worked as an architect on both designs for new buildings and preservation projects for traditional structures. He has worked in Japan since 2014, where he has collaborated with different municipalities and national research institutions in diffusion events and research projects related to the architectural heritage in Japan.
Currently, he is collaborating as an external visiting lecturer at the Masters’ Degree on Architecture in Waseda University, and as a researcher in the Research Group on History of Divulgation of Japanese Architecture in Western Media and Literature at the same university.
Dimitra Kizlari
Dimitra Kizlari was a finalist for the 2021 ENCATC Research Award for her PhD thesis, “Foreign Cultural Policy through the work of the National Institutes of Culture: a comparative study on instrumentalism”, defended at University College London (United Kingdom).
Dimitra Kizlari is a researcher and practitioner working at the intersection of cultural policy, cultural diplomacy and the creative industries. She studied Archaeology and Art History at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki before completing a Master's degree in Museum Studies and her PhD at UCL, supported by scholarships from the Onassis Foundation and the A.G. Leventis Foundation.
Her thesis on ‘Foreign Cultural Policy through the Work of the National Institutes for Culture’ investigates the managerial practices of 6 Cultural Institutes across the EU (British Council, Goethe Institut, Institut français, Instituto Cervantes, Swedish Institute and Hellenic Foundation for Culture).
Her professional experience includes work with UNESCO, the Imperial War Museums, and the European Commission, where she has served as an expert evaluator for assessing project proposals submitted to Creative Europe. She has also worked as a Subject Matter Expert for the Canada Council for the Arts and as a Senior Insights Specialist at PRS for Music.
Meike Lettau
Dr. Meike Lettau was a finalist for the 2021 ENCATC Research Award on Cultural Policy and Cultural Management for her PhD thesis, “Artists as agents of change. Civil Society engagement and foreign cultural policy in transformation processes” defended at the University of Hildesheim in Germany.
Dr. Meike Lettau is an academic associate at the Department of Cultural Policy at the University of Hildesheim (Germany) and coordinator of the Graduate School ‘Performing Sustainability. Cultures and Development in West Africa ’, which is implemented in cooperation with the University of Maiduguri (Nigeria) and the University of Cape Coast (Ghana).
Since 2022, Lettau has been Junior Professor of Cultural and Media Policy Studies at Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen, where she researches cultural policy, international cultural relations and cultural activism in socio-political transformation processes.
She previously worked at the University of Hildesheim as an academic associate and coordinated the Graduate School “Performing Sustainability: Cultures and Development in West Africa,” implemented with partner universities in Nigeria and Ghana. She has also worked with cultural institutions including the Goethe-Institut, KHOJ International Artists’ Association, ARThinkSouthAsia and the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations.
