Andrea Valladares
About
Andrea is a researcher and Phd candidate at the Department of Design looking at how design can contribute to develop institutional shifts to enable collaborative and reflective public participation for sustainability transitions.
She holds a Bachelor in Architecture, and a Masters of Arts in Creative Sustianability, from the Design Department of Aalto University. Her academic background allows her to combine creatively complex project development (space and urban development) with service and strategic design strategies to develop cocreation and participation tools and processes that support the transition to more sustainable futures.
Her work experiences include design adviser to develop engagement and sustianability strategies for communities, municipalities, government entities. Relevant positions to highlight include:
- Design specialist for UNDP Guatemala,
- Project manager and creative director in Perpendicular consultancy for projects with GIZ, HIVOS and IHS.
- Dialogue expert in Sustainable Development Viceministy, MEM Guatemala
- Lecturer and Workshop facilitator for Universidad del Istmo (UNIS), FLACSO and Centro Cultural de España (CCE)
- Project Assistant in Urbanística, Guatemala Municipality
Research
Through her PhD, Andrea explores design solutions in the intersection of public participation, sustainability transition and institutional shifts.
She studies the elements and characteristics of Public Participation Infrastructures, how they develop, evolve and can be changed, and how they express similarities and differences within scales and contexts. Understanding public participation infrastructure requires collective knowledge to be enacted, shared and integrated.
She approaches the complexity of understanding such infrastructures with design solutions, developing specific tools to map and understand their complexity, and to identify more strategic interventions to improve public participation for sustainability transitions.
Publications
Alvarado, Isaac Arturo Ortega; Rayaprolu, Suryakiran Manisha; Rishi, Gunika; Tarcan, Berilsu; Trondsen, June Kyong; Noguera, Maria Andrea Valladares (2025). Inclusion as Agencies in Friction. Diseña
2025
-
Alvarado, Isaac Arturo Ortega;
Rayaprolu, Suryakiran Manisha;
Rishi, Gunika;
Tarcan, Berilsu;
Trondsen, June Kyong;
Noguera, Maria Andrea Valladares.
(2025)
Inclusion as Agencies in Friction.
Diseña
Academic article
Journal publications
-
Alvarado, Isaac Arturo Ortega;
Rayaprolu, Suryakiran Manisha;
Rishi, Gunika;
Tarcan, Berilsu;
Trondsen, June Kyong;
Noguera, Maria Andrea Valladares.
(2025)
Inclusion as Agencies in Friction.
Diseña
Academic article
Teaching
Lectures.
Placemaking: Co-creating new urban futures (February 2023)
Design Solutions: Thinking on implementation and Sustainability (March 2023)
Sustainable Design and participation in governments (Februray 2024)
Participatory Tools (March 2024)
Supervision
Co-supervisor for Master Thesis:
Designing for urban coexistance: How increased biodiversity can engage humans and make us coexist with nature. Vilde Egeberg Moger. (January-June 2023)