Advisory board
Advisory Board supports all PragaLAB’s activities with its voice. The first meeting of the Adiviory Board and team members took place in June 2020. Here are the people we invited.
Katarzyna Wrońska
Who are you?
I am a City-Co-Creator.
What are you currently engaged in?
I work for the Innovation Support Department at the Economic Development Office (BRG) of the City of Warsaw. I have initiated and now co-ordinate the CityCreators project whose aim is to develop and test the methodology of cooperation between the City of Warsaw and entrepreneurs, academic institutions and non-governmental organisations.
Former relevant experience
Warsaw project: Revitalization—the Common Cause
coordination of the Creativity Centre at 56 Targowa Street
member of the Forget Heritage EU funded project.
What is your connection with Praga?
Homesickness for Krakow, my hometown.
What values do you cherish most in Praga?
“Pre-war” architecture and urban structure, cultural identity of “old” residents of Praga versus the “new” ones who have made an informed decision to settle here. Diversity and new quality that may emerge from it.
Anna Tomaszewska
Who are you?
Curator and activist.
What are you currently engaged in?
I work as independent curator, producer, and academic; I am a local activist.
Former relevant experience
I was a deputy director of the Polish institute in Stockholm, in charge of the visual arts, architecture and design. I developed cooperation between Polish and Swedish cultural institutions; I was a board member of the Swedish Mossutställningar organisation and a guest lecturer at CuratorLab and Konstfack, University of Arts, Craft and Design in Stockholm.
What is your connection with Praga?
I live here.
What values do you cherish most in Praga?
Unique social relations and a hidden potential of some sections of postwar Praga.
Adam Lisiecki
Who are you?
I’m a researcher-storyteller.
What are you currently engaged in?
I work at the Praga Museum of Warsaw—currently on a new exhibition on the innovative industries of the interwar period that operated in the districts of Praga and Kamionek. I also explore the concept of Smart Heritage and the relation between cultural heritage and circular economy.
Former relevant experience
Work for the National Heritage Board, the National Audiovisual Institute, participation in research projects and projects which popularised Warsaw’s history and architecture as part of my job at the Museum of Warsaw. Among my publications are: Best Architectural Practice Guide for Praga. Tenement houses of Praga-Północ, and Best Architectural Practice Guide for Praga. Factories at the Right Bank of Vistula.
What is your connection with Praga?
Praga is my home.
What values do you cherish most in Praga?
People: diversity, neighbourliness, lifestyle; space: compactness, self-sufficiency, heterogeneity
Justyna Biernacka
Who are you?
I am a Warsaw citizen, feminist, wife, mother, owner of a family business, activist, architect, and recently also a PhD candidate in economics.
What are you currently engaged in?
Since 2015, as a Sustainability Managing Partner, I have been running the MATERIALITY consulting company, where I deal with the impact that enterprises have on the natural and social environment, as well as with integrating sustainability aspects into their business development strategies and policies. I am also a PhD candidate at KZIF SGH. My research interests focus on the transformation of cities and enterprises towards circular economy.
Former relevant experience
In my non-profit activities, my heart belongs to the Circle of Sustainable Architecture of the OW SARP. In my professional activity, I draw from architectural design, construction and development experience. I am licensed architect, LEED AP BD + C, Certified Passive House Designer and empathy-based communication trainer. I belong to IARP and SARP. I was a Sustainable Architecture Plenipotentiary of the Management Board of OW SARP (2015-2019 term) , co-founder of the Circle of Sustainable Architecture there, initiator of the #architekcidlaklimatu campaign. I am also a co-author of the recommendations for the Warsaw Climate Panel (2020); co-author of the criteria for assessing architectural realizations in terms of climate-responsible solutions for the needs of the Architectural Award of the President of the Capital City of Warsaw (2020); I am a member of the Municipal Urban Planning and Architecture Commission of the Capital City of Warsaw (in the term 2020-2023); I was an expert of: the # Mieszkania2030 Program as part of the #Warszawa2030 Strategy; the Warsaw Round Table on Climate Adaptation (2016/2017), the Warsaw Local Centers programme (since 2015). In my non-profit activities, I also dealt with the issue of violence against women, including the project “New life without violence” (MaMa Foundation, 2012), and (non)presence of women in urban space: including projects: “The City through the eyes of women” (MaMa Foundation, 2012) and “Centralny Plac Kobiet” (Przestrzenie Foundation, 2017).
What is your connection with Praga?
Family roots traces me back to Praga. My great-grandparents lived on Kamionek and Brzeska str. before the II WW. Professionally, I am linked to Praga by several projects and programs, incl. Warsaw Local Centers, implemented in cooperation with the Capital City of Warsaw and OW SARP and the project “From Burden to Resource: Industrial Heritage in Central-Eastern Europe” implemented as part of the Visegrad Grant.
What values do you cherish most in Praga?
Praga is an intriguing and ambiguous part of our Warsaw world. I appreciate its authenticity, multiculturalism, and potential. I see the risk of its definitive use, it’s why I would like Praga to be developed with deepest thought, which it truly deserves.