Daria Loi Editor

Rachel Charlotte Smith is Associate Professor of Human-Centred Design at Aarhus University, Denmark. Her research focuses on everyday digital transformations and sustainable technology futures through Participatory Design and Design Anthropology. She co-chaired PDC 2016 in Denmark and is Chair of the PDC Advisory Board 2020–2024.

Daria Loi is Chief Experience Officer at Astral and Founder at Imperfecta, USA. Her work combines design strategy and participatory research with the goal of enriching people’s everyday lives. She was Conference Co-Chair for PDC 2010 in Australia, Co-Chair of the PDC Advisory Board 2020–2022, and Beyond Academia Chair for every PDC since 2014.

Heike Winschiers-Theophilus is Professor in Software Engineering at the Namibia University of Science and Technology, Namibia, and UNESCO Chair in Digital Technology Design with Indigenous People. Collaborating with local communities, she conceptualised community-based co-design, grounded in principles of Participatory Design, Afrocentricity and Ubuntu. She co-chaired PDC 2014 in Namibia and PDC 2024 in Malaysia.

Liesbeth Huybrechts is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Architecture and Arts at the University of Hasselt, Belgium. Based on Participatory Design, Design Anthropology and spatial transformation processes, her research applies design and politics for/with participatory exchanges between human and material/natural environments. She co-chaired PDC 2018 in Belgium and is Co-Chair of the PDC Advisory Board 2022–2024.

Jesper Simonsen is Professor of Participatory Design at Roskilde University, Denmark. He has over thirty years of experience conducting participatory design projects and was Programme Chair of PDC 2008, General Chair of PDC 2012, and Chair of the PDC Advisory Board 2014–2019. His books include TheRoutledge International Handbook of Participatory Design (2013).