SPCE Hub is a participative, purpose-driven project promoted by IPGT Berlin.
Dr Özgecan Kesici-Ayoubi
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Özgecan is a social scientist and writer. After graduating with an MA in Political Science from the University of Munich, she spent two semesters at the Eurasian National University in Kazakhstan as a Visiting Scholar. She completed her PhD in Sociology at University College Dublin in Ireland on the 20th Century Kazakh Alash Movement. Besides the social aspects of societies, she is fascinated with all things lyrical. She regularly publishes poetry and is currently working on a longer piece. She is active in the arts scene and intends to bring artists and historians together for sustainability projects.
Izzat Khushbakov
Izzat is Project Manager in the European Division at Berghof Foundation in Berlin, where he gained extensive experience in facilitating intercultural and participatory processes.
Originally from Uzbekistan, he studied International Relations at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent and obtained a Master’s degree in Peace and Security Studies from the Hamburg University in Germany. In between his two study programs, he worked as a researcher at the Tashkent-based Centre for Political Studies (CPS).
Izzat is actively involved in the NGO MitOst, where he served a member of the board from 2016-2018. Izzat enjoys to co-create spaces where people can learn from each other and transform the world to more sustainable place. Izzat is married and father of a child.
Oyuna Baldakova
Oyuna Baldakova is a PhD Candidate at the Graduate School of East Asian Studies at the Free University of Berlin and a 2016-2019 fellow of the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Her interests lie in the fields of political economy for development, China’s foreign economic policy, and sustainable development in Eurasia. In her doctoral project, Oyuna investigates how China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a regional development and infrastructure building platform, is being institutionalized in Beijing and implemented in light of the economic, political, and social realities of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Originally from Siberia, Oyuna completed her Bachelor’s in Foreign Languages (English, Chinese) at Buryat State University in Russia and a Master’s degree in Modern East Asian Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany. After that, she worked in the field of international development interning at UNESCO Bangkok, managing an EU-funded project for Central Asia, and running communications at the International Organization of Folk Art (IOV). During her doctoral research fieldwork, Oyuna was affiliated with Peking University in China and KIMEP University in Kazakhstan, she was also a visiting fellow at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) and the University of California at Berkeley.
Yana Zabanova
Yana Zabanova is a PhD candidate at the University of Groningen and a Visiting Fellow at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) in Berlin researching energy transitions in Eurasia with a special focus on Kazakhstan and Russia.
Prior to starting her PhD, she spent seven years as a research analyst on the Eastern Partnership region and Russia at two Berlin-based think tanks, the European Stability Initiative (ESI) and the SWP. She has also worked as an independent consultant, most recently for the German Energy Agency (dena). Yana completed her undergraduate studies in Russia, the US, and Germany, and holds an MA in International Relations and European Studies from Central European University in Budapest (2007) and a Master’s degree in public policy from the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin (2009).
Ceren Hic Toletti
Ceren grew up in Istanbul. Her interest in agricultural and environmental politics emerged while studying political science at Bogazici University Istanbul and FU Berlin.
She continued her studies in Agricultural Economics at HU Berlin where she researched on biodiversity effects of allotment gardens and food waste impacts on climate change. She is a naturepedagogue and outdoor educator for the Foundation for Nature Protection Berlin (Stiftung Naturschutz Berlin) and Berlin City Museum Foundation (Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin). During her allotment gardener years in Berlin she started studying permaculture & holistic management, which she continues learning and teaching in workshops in Berlin, Italy and Turkey.
Ceren is an ambassador for an ecological education initiative for immigrants. She is also a trainer for a self-defense & awareness school in Berlin that trains women and children. Ceren believes that surviving the present and future requires regeneration of the connection between humans and ecology. This can be done through experiences in nature, holistic (re)thinking and mindfulness. She is passionate about fostering soil life, preventing erosion, producing nurturing food and creating community. She incorporates play and imagination into her trainings. She is often outside foraging wild foods.
Email: wepermaplay@gmail.com
