Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Priavolou.
Hi Christina, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Hi, I am Christina and I am a civil and environmental engineer. I was born in Ioannina, a mountainous city in NW Greece.
Being surrounded by mountains, Ioannina city was an isolated place for ages where scarce resources were available for the locals to make choices in their everyday lives.
I strongly recall narrations by individuals striving to build their own houses through observation and improvisation.
During my professional work as a civil engineer, I realized how unsustainable the way we build today is. Vast amounts of carbon emissions and landfill waste are produced while end-users are left outside construction-related decisions.
I thus turned my attention to sustainable construction methods that utilize collective intelligence and creativity.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road has not been smooth at all.
In a highly consumerist society, I encourage people to consciously organize their lives so that they will find genuine pleasure and fulfillment in immaterial things. Endorsing the idea of “living with less” and collaborative happiness are crucial elements to this end.
I know my ideas may sound weird or crazy! However, I am confident that if we all consider and digest such ideas they may generate something special.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your organization?
As a core member of the P2P Lab research collective, I am interested in interdisciplinary research that focuses on the commons.
We are a group of independent researchers that investigate commons-based alternatives from diverse perspectives.
We organize workshops and events for reflection and action and we implement participatory methods and tools for society-changing, bridging the gap between theory and practice.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Inspired by my personal experiences, I want to help people who strive to find affordable housing. I aspire to impact the world in a non-conventional way, considering biophysical conditions and human needs.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Patricia Sips, @Habibi.Works, and Distributed Design community
