Jose Antonio Lara-Hernandez is a Lecturer and Research Coordinator at Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand (NZ). A member of the curatorial team for the Italian
Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Biennale, he is a prolific scholar whose work on temporary appropriation, urban informality, and inclusive cities has been published and exhibited internationally. With over 12 years' experience as a registered architect and urban designer, he is a Chartered Member of the Colegio de Arquitectos de Mérida (Mexico). His research spans Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.

Barbora Melis is an urban planner and researcher specialising in inclusive and gender-sensitive urbanism. She graduated in Urban Planning from Technische Universität Berlin (with studies at IUAV Venice) and has over ten years of international experience working for public institutions (including the Veneto Region) and in professional practice across Italy, Germany, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA. She teaches at the New York Institute of Technology (USA) and recently completed her PhD at the University of Portsmouth (UK). Her research focuses on inclusion, diversity, and urban resilience from a feminist perspective and builds on her doctoral research into women's experiences of public space.