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:
[Equality, diversity and inclusion]
3. Methods and tools for integrated and participatory approaches:
> Integrated and participatory design of strategies
> Monitoring and evaluation for effective implementation
Summary
Marina is a landscape architect and urban planner with over a decade of experience in shaping integrated, evidence-based policies and strategies for sustainable urban transformation. Her work spans housing, economic development, the night-time economy, and inclusive design, with particular expertise in gender equality. She held principal roles at both of London’s Mayoral development corporations, where she played a key role in developing and delivering strategies for some of the capital’s most significant regeneration projects, including the legacy of the London Olympics.
Marina is internationally recognised for leading a four-year pioneering research project exploring the intersection of gender equality and the built environment. The research engaged over a thousand women and girls to produce an evidence base and co-create planning solutions for creating gender-equitable places. She used a range of feminist participatory methods, such as walking interviews, to ground the work in lived experience. Drawing on her professional urban planning expertise, she translated these insights into practical planning and development frameworks providing step by step guidance, co-creating the UK’s first planning tools to mainstream gender considerations in urban planning. She also led the production of the industry handbook Creating Places that Work for Women and Girls, which provides step-by-step guidance for local authorities, developers, and designers on embedding gender equality in planning and development processes.
As a consultant, Marina works with the built environment sector across the UK and internationally to embed gender-transformative approaches into shaping local authorities urban strategic plans, development management process, infrastructure planning, climate strategies, and design solutions. She also delivers capacity-building training to equip cities, architects, developers and other stakeholders with the tools to implement gender mainstreaming in practice.
In recognition of her contributions, Marina was named a Woman of Influence in 2024 by The Planner and the Royal Town Planning Institute.