Workshop Organizers
Laura Scheepmaker (main contact) is a researcher at Smart Cities research group Saxion University for Applied Sciences (Netherlands). She investigates how participatory design (PD) methods can be applied in Smart City projects, especially in the field of PD with marginalized citizens.
Tanja Aal is a research assistant and PhD student in Information Systems, esp. IT for the Ageing Society, University of Siegen. Her research focuses on HCI4Margins and vulnerable target groups, digital participation and inclusion and on the use of ICT, its potentials, benefits and limitations in various sensitive settings. She is part of the CRC (Special Collaborative Research Center) “Media and Cooperation” at the University of Siegen.
Konstantin Aal is a PhD student and a research associate at the Institute for Information Systems and New Media, University of Siegen. He is part of come_ IN, a research project which founded several computer clubs for children and their relatives including refugees.
Kay Kender is a PhD student and university assistant at the Human-Computer Interaction group at TU Wien in Austria. They have previously participatorily worked with older citizens and neurodivergent children, and their research interests currently focus on participatory and speculative design with marginalized folks.
Prof. Dr. Claudia Müller is assistant professor in business informatics/ IT for the Ageing Society at University of Siegen. Her expertise is in Participatory Design and Community Informatics for older adults, vulnerable user groups, and intergenerational settings, aiming at co-production of socio-technical systems strengthening autonomy, empowerment, social and digital participation and digital sovereignty.
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf is a computer scientist with an interest in the area of IT system design in real-world contexts, which includes the development of innovative applications from the areas of cooperation systems, knowledge management and community support. Further research focuses on methods of user-oriented software development and introduction processes. He is head of the Institute for Information Systems and New Media at the University of Siegen.
Stacy Vallis is a Digital Futures Postdoctoral Fellow based at the Division of Urban and Regional Studies, in the School of Architecture and Built Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. Her research is motivated by themes of public wellbeing and urban disaster response, specifically focusing on human-centred approaches for optimising the development of Sustainable Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services in post-pandemic Smart Cities.
Nancy Smith is an Assistant Professor in the School of Information at Pratt Institute, NY, US, where she teaches in the Information Experience Design Program. Her primary research is focused on understanding the relationship between digital technologies and the environment, which includes work in urban informatics, animal-computer interaction, and speculative design.
Douglas Schuler is Professor Emeritus of the Evergreen State College in Washington State, US. Coming from a background of computer science, software engineering, AI research and collaborative work he has been working in the field of democratizing technology for 35 years. He was a longtime activist for Social Responsibility and a founder of the Seattle Community Network.
Anouk van Twist is researcher at Saxion University of Applied Sciences and an external PhD student at the Utrecht University School of Governance. Her research focuses on critical citizenship in the smart city. Her research interests include governing the smart city, citizen discontent and citizen participation and inclusive participation.
Mark Melenhorst is an associate lector (associate professor) of the Smart cities research group at Saxion University of Applied Sciences. He is particularly interested in involving a diverse group of citizens in research projects and developing applications that support change of behavior concerning e.g. mobility, or energy consumption.
Mettina Veenstra is professor of the Smart Cities research group Saxion University of Applied Sciences in Enschede. Her research focuses on improving quality of life by using smart city technologies and data driven design.
Anne Weibert is a postdoc researcher at the Chair of Information Systems and New Media at the University of Siegen. Here she conducts research on intercultural learning by means of computer-supported project work.