Elif Erdoğan Öztekin is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Architecture in Aalto University and a member of UrbanAcademy platform.  Elif has a background in architecture and design; and her expertise is in the field of design for sustainability transitions.

In her doctoral research, she tackled the agencies of design in leading sustainability transitions and societal change processes, by examining how and to what extent design practices facilitate learning. She did field research in several community initiatives across Europe that designed, built, and managed the transformation of their settlements with sustainability targets.

In her Urban Academy research project, she focuses on the in-situ practices of participatory urban planning and transition governance. She adopts transdisciplinary research principles and an action research methodology. In this direction, she utilizes an experimental approach in the pursuit of developing working methods for cities. While doing so, she collaborates closely with the cities, urban actors and local communities.