Cohort 8 Student representatives

Isidora is originally from former Yugoslavia but grew up in Winnipeg, Canada. She holds bachelor degrees in International Development Studies and Business Administration. Having worked in the community health and housing sectors since graduating, she was inspired to learn about more ways she could be of service to the public through urban planning and policy. As a settler in Canada, she is an ally to First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities and is committed to supporting decolonizing efforts worldwide. Within urban studies she is interested in housing alternatives, segregation and mobility, de-suburbanization, community centred planning, and improvement of public spaces in Canada. E-mail: Isidora.Draskovic@vub.be.

Valentina is Italian and holds a Bachelor's degree in Global Sustainability Science from Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Her interests in environmental justice and feminist political ecology prompted her to question power dynamics and social inequality issues within the built environment, motivating her to learn more about sustainable and livable cities for everyone. Within urban studies, her main interests lie in economic geography and post-growth city planning, social movements and struggles, commons, and participatory urban planning. E-mail: Valentina.Donato@vub.be.

Friederike holds a Bachelor's degree in Urban Studies (Urbanistik) from Bauhaus-University Weimar, Germany, with a year spent at the IUAV in Venice, Italy. She is passionate about sustainable urban development and planning in times of crisis, as well as issues of spatial justice and the political dimensions of urban transformation. Her academic journey has sparked an interest in the power dynamics of urban environments, the history of city planning, and strategies for inclusive, participatory development. E-mail: Friederike.Kamm@vub.be.

Photo, from left to right: Isidora, Valentina and Friederike