Gideon Spanjar, PhD, is the project leader and senior researcher of Building for Well-being and of the European Union-funded Cool Towns project and Nature Inclusive Area Development at the Centre of Expertise Urban Technology at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS). He is a member of the chair Spatial Transformation and the chair Climate Proof City at AUAS. Gideon was the project leader and senior researcher of Sensing Streetscapes where it all began with research on how we can build for wellbeing promotion. Gideon is also professor of Innovation & Urban Green Spaces at Aeres University of Applied Sciences where he conducts research in climate change adaptation, rewilding cities, and biobased economy. His research focuses on the redesign of the built environment using neuro-architecture principles, ecosystemic thinking, and biometric technology to get a better understanding of how we can improve human health and well-being in a changing climate.

Federica is an architect, urban planner, and artist who researches urban innovations from a socio-technical perspective. Exploring the values of the relationship between human and technology. With a background in architecture (La Sapienza University of Rome) and contemporary art (Leiden University), she joined the MSc MADE master program (joint degree WUR, TUD) at AMS Institute to explore the values of the relationship between human and technology in the city. Focusing on urban mobility, she analyses technological artefacts such as autonomous vehicles from an actor-network perspective. Mapping the human and nonhuman actors, she reveals opportunities to address ethical issues related to the development of CAVs in the urban context.

Maarten Groen works as a teacher and senior researcher at the Amsterdam University of Applied Science. His research focuses on the collection and analysis of data from urban environments from various perspectives. Maarten is working on data analysis projects in which large amounts of data collected in cities is analyzed using machine learning. He also has experience in the development of citizen empowerment tools and methods which are used to collect and analyze data together with citizens.

Regien has a research background in the fields of social psychiatry and urban health (MSc Maastricht University) and environmental psychology, urbanism and health (MSc University of Groningen). She is currently conducting research on the impact of high-density streetscapes on affective experiences, behaviours and wellbeing. By applying biometric technology, survey research and interviews, she explores the restorative potential of design principles on wellbeing and how these in turn prevent or mitigate adverse health effects. Her multidisciplinary background allows her to make connections between the fields of public health, architecture and urban planning to help unravel the effects of urban densification on mental health.