Historian and planner, Charles Ambrosino is Professor of Urban Planning. He teaches urban design, urban, landscape and planning theories, and contemporary issues on urban development. His research works and publications in scientific journals (Riurba, Espace géographique, Projets de paysage, Revue de géographie Alpine, Espace et Société, Géocarrefour, Métropolitiques, EspaceTemps.net, Urban Planning International, Territoires en mouvement, Métropoles, etc.) focus on three main themes : (1) the links between artistic practices, creative economy and urban transformation; (2) city making in the age of experimentation; (3) the epistemological renewal of urban planning through the theoretical and conceptual cross-fertilisation between urban design, landscape studies and transition studies. Using Grenoble as an example, his latest book, 'La métropole géographique et ses urbanismes' (Ed. Autrement, 2022), explores the relationship between urban policies and metropolitan geographies and landscapes, with a view to increasing urban resilience.

Federica Gatta is an architect and urban planner. She trained in Architecture at Roma Tre University and obtained a PhD at University of Paris-Nanterre. She is today associate Professor in Urban Planning at Grenoble Alpes University where she had coordinated different international and interdisciplinary master degrees. Her work mixes the spatial approach of architecture and urban planning with the theory and tools of anthropology and explores the role of ethnographic methods in spatial design practice. She focuses on the observation of the relation between urban policies and organized civil society in the space transformation processes. She is the author of publications in French, English and Italian reviews based on ethnographic researches on French and Italian case study rising the issue of the role of social critique in the city project; the evolution of participation policies in planning; the use of qualitative methodologies in urban planning and urban studies.

Dr. Adriana Diaconu is associate Professor at the Institute of Urban Planning and Alpine Geograpghy (IUGA) of Université Grenoble Alpes and researcher at Pacte Social Sciences Research Unit. She is trained in Architecture, Urban Planning and Social Sciences and holds a PhD from University Paris 8. She is interested in international comparisons and transfers in the management of urban transformations and has coordinated international Master programs in urban planning at IUGA (Mundus Urbano, in cooperation with TU Darmstadt, and Transformative Urban Studies). She is involved in European research networks on the theme of sustainable and affordable housing (OIKONET and MSCA-ITN RE-DWELL) and in national research projects in France, such as “The Sale of Social Housing” (USH) and POPSU Métropoles (PUCA). Her research and publications address housing and transformations in housing systems through alternative practices and experimentations. Her recent work focuses on the relation between social and environmental challenges in housing, on vulnerability and access to housing for the homeless and on interrelations of social policies and city management.

Gabriel Renault is a PhD student in urban and regional planning at Grenoble-Alpes University (PACTE research unit). His PhD project aims to explore the economic consequences of socio-ecological transitions, specifically focusing on their territorially differentiated nature. The project includes a quantitative typology of ecological and economic tensions at infra-national levels in several European countries, as well as specific case studies to investigate how local development strategies address these tensions. Previous research projects include an inquiry into urban metabolism and waste management practices in the Lille metropolitan area (MEL) and research on the spatial distribution and governance of the foundational economy in Great Britain.

Frédéric Santamaria is Professor of spatial planning at Grenoble Alpes University. He is a member of the Pacte social science research laboratory. He has a degree in Political Science from the Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux, and a doctorate in Spatial Planning and Geography. His teaching focuses on spatial and urban planning, as well as research methods in these fields. In research, he has worked on European spatial planning and on the issues of spatial and urban planning in small and medium-sized towns. He has taken part in several projects as part of the ESPON (European Territorial Observatory Network) programme. He has published book chapters in French and English, and articles in several French, foreign and international journals (Town Planning Review, Belgeo, Transactions) in connection with his research topics, and is a member of editorial boards of journals including Transaction of AESOP.

Noa Schumacher is a Ph.D. candidate in urban planning at the Université Grenoble Alpes, affiliated with two research units: the "Ambiances, Architectures, Urbanités" laboratory (School of Architecture) and the PACTE social sciences laboratory (Institute of Urban Planning and Geography). Her research focuses on the urban experiences of young children in the context of two metropolises: Grenoble (France) and Sfax (Tunisia). She places particular emphasis on research methods. As part of her thesis, she is experimenting with a filmic immersion device to explore the sensitive and corporeal dimensions of the experience.