DR. DINA VAIOU
Architect/Professor of Urban Analysis & Gender Studies NTUA
Recorded in Athens, June 2016
Dr. Dina Vaiou is Professor of Urban Analysis and Gender Studies in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning of the National Technical University of Athens. She studied architecture at the NTUA, planning at the University of California (Los Angeles), and urban geography at the University of London (PhD). Her research interests address the feminist critique of urban analysis, the changing features of local labour markets with special emphasis on women’s work and informalisation processes, and the impact of mass migration on Southern European cities and of women’s migration in particular.
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DR. STAVROS STAVRIDES
Architect/Associate Professor NTUA
Recorded in Athens, July 2016
Dr. Stavros Stavrides is Associate Professor at the School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens, where he teaches courses on housing design and the meaning of metropolitan experience. His research is currently focused on forms of emancipating spatial practices and urban commoning. He has published seven books, as well as numerous articles on spatial theory: The Symbolic Relation to Space (1990), Advertising and the Meaning of Space (1996), The Texture of Things (with E. Kotsou, 1996), From the City-as-Screen to the City-as-Stage (2002 National Book Award), Suspended Spaces of Alterity (2010), Towards the City of Thresholds (2010), and Common Space: The City as Commons (In Common) (2016).
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FOTIS DIMITROULAS
& ANTIGONI THEODORAKI
O AΛΛΟΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΣ Social Kitchen
Recorded in Athens, July 2016
Fotis Dimitroulas and Antigoni Theodoraki have been engaged with O AΛΛΟΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΣ Social Kitchen since 2013, becoming active members in this successful citizen-led solidarity initiative. The social kitchen “The Other Person” is an initiative initiated in 2012 by a particular individual; Konstantinos Polychronopoulos. The primary objective was to provide free food for people in need. Today, the initiative counts on twelve other kitchens across Greece and other countries, as well as a centre set up in the area of Metaxourgeio in Athens, that offers free baths and night accommodation for homeless people.
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KOSTAS KOKOSSIS
Athens Community Polyclinic and Pharmacy (ACP&P)
Recorded in Athens, July 2016
Kostas Kokossis is a Greek writer who volunteers at the Athens Community Polyclinic and Pharmacy (ACP&P), which is one of the multiple self-organised medical centres emerged in the city over the past four years, popularly referred to as “social clinics". The ACP&P has been running since 2013. It provides medical assistance to people excluded form the Greek National Health System, and also redistributes donated pharmaceuticals. The clinic functions on the basis of donations and volunteer work by doctors with different medical expertise, pharmacists, social workers and others responsible for administrative tasks.
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LINA THEODOROU
City Plaza Refugee Accommodation Space
Recorded in Athens, July 2016
Lina Theodorou is a lawyer and member of the Solidarity Initiative for Political and Economic Refugees. In April 2016, this activist group together with a group of refugees, squatted an abandoned 7-story hotel in Athens. Since then, the hotel, which is called City Plaza, has been providing accommodation for around four hundred people who seek asylum in Europe, from whom one hundred and eighty are children.
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TONIA KATERINI
Solidarity4All
Recorded in Athens, July 2016
Tonia Katerini is a member of Solidarity4All, an organisation connected with SYRIZA party that provides funding and support for grassroots solidarity initiatives in Greece. It also organises national and international campaigns for solidarity to Greek people.
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FATIMA DANGLY, MOUSTAFA HAJ RASHID & SALAH HAJ RASHID
City Plaza Refugee Accommodation Space
Recorded in Athens, December 2016
Fatima Dangly, Moustafa Haj Rashid, Salah Haj Rashid, mother and sons from Aleppo, Syria (Kurdish Syrian). They arrived in Greece in February 2016. After several weeks in camps in Thessaloniki and Kavala, in northern Greece, in May 2016 they moved to Athens where they have been living at City Plaza Refugee Accommodation Centre. Before having to flee their country, Moustafa worked as a florist in Syria, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, and Salah had started a degree in Human Rights at Aleppo University.
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ELISA COLL BLANCO
City Plaza Refugee Accommodation Space
Recorded in Madrid, January 2017
Elisa Coll Blanco is a feminist activist from Madrid, Spain. She holds a degree in audio-visual communication and is currently (2017) doing a MA in Gender Equality. She is the author of the blog Revolution on the Road, a feminist blog about travelling and activism. She also works at El Tipi, an experimental space in Madrid for cultural and political activities and workshops. Elisa lived in City Plaza Refugee Accommodation Centre during the summer of 2016, where she set up a program of daily activities for the children living in the squat.
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ESRA DOGAN
Feminst & Solidarity Movements
Recorded in Athens, December 2016
Esra Dogan is a feminist activist from Turkey, who holds a BA in International Relations & Political Science and a MA in Sourheastern European Studies. She is currently a law student at the Law School of Athens and works as a language teacher. She resides in Greece more than 6 years, publishes articles in an online feminist news platform and other newspapers about women's rights, immigration policies and political affairs of Turkey. She also participates actively in feminist movements, and in accommodation centres/squats by/for refugees. She is one of the coordinators of the Silent University Athens Assembly, which is a solidarity knowledge exchange platform for refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants.
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