Aritra Chakrabarty is a PhD student at Michigan Technological University (MTU) in the Environment and Energy Policy (EEP) program. Aritra’s research focuses on social sustainability of renewable energy in the Global South. He is a public policy researcher in the energy and environment domain. His work is situated at the synergy of gender, energy and development (GED framework), with a focus on decentralized energy policy and Just energy transition in the Global South. Aritra’s association with Ishara Press is based on the shared interest in promoting an immersive, interactive platform for authors and readers beyond the confines of the academic community. In the past, he has played editorial and author roles that have led to two books and articles in magazines. It is a pleasure to be part of Ishara’s journey. 

Milan Jezic von Gesseneck is a Brussels based, Belgian expert with over 35 years professional experience. He holds a Master’s degree in Science, Technology and Engineering, and a Master’s degree in Management. As an expert, Milan has participated in, managed, audited, assessed, monitored, and evaluated hundreds of proposals and projects mainly in the fields of research, innovation, education and development. Milan assisted in the development of national policies and strategies in Jordan, Moldova, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, and in twenty EU Overseas Countries and Territories. He is active in research and innovation, innovation studies, innovation management, transfer of knowledge and technology, lecturing, conferences, workshops, trainings, capacity and competence building. 

Rahul Hasija is a writer, story-weaver, democratic educator, facilitator, and tabletop game designer from Udaipur, India. The core of his work has been holding space for people to have meaningful discoveries, deeper conversations and connections. He has facilitated seven cohorts of young changemakers at a democratic and regenerative learning organization called Swaraj University and during its course lived on a forest farm for 8 years. He currently runs Swacardz, a game-design studio designing meaningful card and board games to facilitate personal, interpersonal, socio-civic and ecological dialogues and transformation. He is passionate about designing and curating conversational spaces, creating cultures of participative leadership, supporting individuals to discover their personal gifts & strengths, and host practices of Earth-thinking and systems thinking. Rahul’s passion for ecology, regenerative lifestyle and games brought him to Ishara Press and its editorial board.

Tigist Mezmur Tessema is a lecturer and researcher at Jimma Institute of Technology, Jimma University, Oromia, Ethiopia. She has an MSc in Geotechnical Engineering and a BSc in Civil Engineering. In addition to teaching, Tigist mentored women’s academics in construction, worked as a training facilitator in Nigeria and as a digital advisor on the youth network in Ethiopia. Tigist also worked as a paper reviewer at 4th Springer Conference 2022 held in India and her work as a paper reviewer for the upcoming Geocongress 2024 organized by the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) is ongoing. Tigist is looking forward to growing up with Ishara Press through her role on the editorial board.

John Wood is Emeritus Professor of Design at Goldsmiths, University of London. Since the late 1960’s most of his artworks used performative and systemic elements (e.g. electronics) to encourage playful interaction and collaboration on several sensory levels. After ten years as Deputy Head of Fine Art at Goldsmiths during the YBA era, John helped to create what is now the Department of Design, where he became co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of Writing in Creative Practice. His research into metadesign led to his most recent edited book: ‘Metadesigning Designing in the Anthropocene’ (Routledge, 2022). He is currently developing the strategy for a network of micro-local universities.

Verónica Zagare is an architect, graduated cum laude from the University of Belgrano (Buenos Aires), and holds a Master’s in Urban Economics from Di Tella University (Buenos Aires). She also holds a PhD by Delft University of Technology (TUDelft) in the Netherlands. Verónica works as Guest Researcher at the Department of Urbanism, at the Architecture Faculty of TUDelft, and she is a member of the Instituto Superior de Urbanismo of the University of Buenos Aires. In 2021, she was awarded the IUCN Academy Professional Certificate on the IUCN Global Standard on Nature-based Solutions. She has developed many publications including books, book chapters and articles in international peer-reviewed journals, apart from carrying on the supervision of Master’s theses. She is currently the coordinator of the Argentinean Wing of Delta Alliance International, within the scope of Fundación Torcuato Di Tella. Verónica’s areas of interest include: urban planning, collaborative planning, serious gaming, urbanism, nature-based solutions.

Robert Ocen is an Environmental Specialist, Regenerative Practitioner, and Trainer with 8 years of experience. He specializes in designing and implementing Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) to address climate change and promote regenerative development. He is also the co-founder of the Regenshope Initiative, a project that empowers smallholder farmers through regenerative agriculture training. His passion lies in creating impactful solutions that mitigate environmental challenges and promote regenerative practices. He is committed to empowering communities and fostering a more sustainable and equitable future.