Rita Szerencsés

Edited on 06/06/2024

Rita Szerencsés

  • Hungary

  • Hungarian, English, German
Availability :
Available for Lead Expert role and Ad-hoc expertise missions

Validated Expert info

Expert can perform the Lead expert role and Ad hoc expertise missions at network and programme level in relation to:

 

1. The design and delivery of (transnational) exchange and learning activities

 

2. Thematic expertise:
[Culture, Education, Equality-Diversity-Inclusion, Urban design]

 

3. Methods and tools for integrated and participatory approaches:
> Integrated and participatory design of strategies
> Sustaining stakeholder engagement and translating strategies into actions

Summary

Urban social designer, impact researcher, design, and art manager. I am passionate about urban community building and applying the tools of social design for placemaking of child friendly cities. My evidence- and practice-based doctoral research was assessing the impact of socially committed design and art interventions. As an educator I run university courses about socially conscious design, supervise thesis and diploma projects and I do mentor new innovative ideas and work as a design thinking trainer. Besides design, urbanism, and sociology my special interest lies in psychology, so I have just started my journey of becoming a behavioural analyst.

My motivation as an UBRACT Expert centers on mutual understanding and knowledge transfer. As a founding member of the Social Design Network, I immerse myself in contexts and communities, experiencing the empowering aspects of knowledge sharing to address local challenges through design-based solutions. My academic focus on qualitative impact assessment complements my professional endeavors as a researcher and educator, where I specialize in social design aka inclusive participative design and collaborative placemaking to tackle social challenges. As an Contemporary Architecture Center NGO member, I foster intersectoral collaborations and explore intangible heritage while studying community behavior through environmental psychology. As a Lead Expert I focus on enhancing social design approaches in international urban projects and to apply insights, experiences in urban interventions, while circulating knowledge and learning from communities towards more community-led equitable cities.

EXPERIENCES AS PROJECT LEADER AND EXPERT 

  1. Good practice expert in transferring Budapest100 in URBACT Come in! Transfer Network 
  2. Leading urban community building processes linked to Budapest100 cultural heritage festival
  3. Leading local-rural capacity building processes in DANURB+ Interreg project 
  4. Facilitating urban ecosystem mapping in UIA CUP4Creativity project 
  5. Leading international Erasmus+ consortiums and networks like Change Agents - Erasmus+

EXPERIENCES AS A DESIGN RESEARCHER - SOCIAL DESIGNER

  1. Leading a research and product development process in the Urban design research for children's mobility project 
  2. Co-expert in the good practice research project called Green Cities including (data) visualisation coordination and work 
  3. Researcher and expert in Child Friendly City project working with Budapest Municipality 
  4. Concept development in Engage4Bio H2020 proposal and capacity building of green stakeholders 
  5. Incubating and mentoring future designers' projects (product, service designs) and running courses on design research 
  6. Designing and facilitating workshops with human-centred and species-centered approach for social and service design 
  7. Initiating and implementing design research for urban and rural interventions with various stakeholder groups 
  8. Leading the methodology development project called Builder Method - action oriented educational method
  9. Curriculum development for the Builder Method Erasmus+ HEI and for design and build summer universities