Ioanna is an expert in Cultural Heritage, focusing on the dynamic relationships between people, place, and heritage. Since joining the University of Birmingham in 2017, she has built an interdisciplinary research and teaching portfolio that investigates how heritage is experienced, governed, and mobilised in both urban and rural contexts. Her scholarship explores how heritage shapes identities, informs planning and governance, and contributes to more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient futures.

Ioanna’s academic background brings together spatial planning and heritage studies. She completed her undergraduate degree in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Thessaly (Greece), graduating with First Honours and ranking first in her cohort. Her dissertation delivered the first systematic mapping and documentation of Greece’s traditional settlements, work that laid the foundation for her enduring interest in heritage landscapes and policy.

In 2009, she moved to the UK to pursue an MSc in Urban Regeneration at University College London (UCL), supported by a competitive Achillopoulos Foundation scholarship. Her postgraduate research examined the intersections between heritage conservation and economic development, assessing the strengths and limitations of Greek conservation policies during a period of significant socio-economic transition.

Ioanna completed her PhD at Cardiff University in 2016 with funding from the Bodossakis Foundation. Her doctoral research investigated how heritage is perceived, valued, and negotiated within living heritage environments, focusing on traditional settlements in Greece. Alongside her research, she contributed to teaching and tutoring across planning and heritage programmes, further strengthening her interdisciplinary expertise. Her research was recognised internationally, receiving the Best Young Academic Paper award at the AESOP (Association of European Schools of Planning) conference.

Following her PhD, Ioanna joined the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University as a Research Associate, where her research expanded into sociotechnical studies of the urban environment, place identity, and the socio-cultural dimensions of space. Before moving to Birmingham, she also served as a Teaching Associate at the University of Thessaly, in Greece leading modules on the Management of Natural and Cultural Heritage and Landscape, further strengthening her international teaching profile.

Ioanna’s research tackles major questions at the intersection of heritage, society, and public policy. She investigates how heritage contributes to place identity, how planning and conservation frameworks shape everyday experiences, and how heritage values are constructed and renegotiated amid social, environmental, and economic transformation. Her work is globally engaged, grounded in collaborations and research projects across Europe (Greece, Italy, Belgium, the UK), Asia (China, India, Uzbekistan), the Middle East (Jordan), and North America. She has worked closely with local communities, practitioners, and public institutions, contributing to research design, policy dialogue, and capacity‑building initiatives.

Ioanna maintains a strong commitment to heritage education, participatory practice, and the development of critically engaged practitioners. She has collaborated with major international organisations, including the Council of Europe, the European Union, and UNESCO, contributing to training, policy frameworks, and international knowledge exchange. 

My research is grounded in a critical understanding of heritage as a social and cultural construct. I examine how heritage is perceived, interpreted, negotiated, and continually (re)produced, particularly within living heritage environments where everyday practices, memories, and identities intersect.

Local communities are central to my research expertise. I investigate their role in shaping heritage identification and interpretation in order to:

• interrogate what heritage is, for whom, and why;
• understand how heritage values can generate social, cultural, and economic benefits; and
• contribute to more inclusive, socially responsive, and economically sustainable conservation and planning policies.

Adopting an interdisciplinary perspective, my research bridges heritage studies, spatial planning, cultural geography, and sustainable development. This has led to sustained scholarly engagement with themes including heritage governance, heritage-based economies and tourism, heritage and place identity, and heritage’s role in sustainable and resilient futures.

My doctoral research on Greek traditional settlements further developed my expertise in community-centred heritage approaches, enabling exploration of heritage under conditions of economic crisis. This work revealed how financial pressures reshape conservation priorities, community attitudes, and policy responses, highlighting the complex relationships between heritage protection, socio-economic change, and local agency.

Between 2017 and 2020, I served as an academic bridge between the University of Birmingham and the University of Illinois, contributing to collaborative initiatives at the Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage (IIICH) and the Collaborative for Cultural Heritage Management and Policy (CHAMP). This role strengthened my commitment to international, cross-institutional research and comparative perspectives on heritage policy and practice.

I have contributed to several internationally oriented research projects, including participation in the AHRC-funded network World Heritage FOR Sustainable Development, which examined pathways through which World Heritage Sites—particularly in developing contexts—can support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A strong commitment to applied, policy-relevant, and globally engaged scholarship is also reflected in my recent research collaborations/research projects:

• Conservation of Ras Al Khaimah’s Mangrove Landscape: Cultural Significance and Physical Condition (with University of Birmingham Dubai Campus)— Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research (2025–present)
• Building Capacity for Heritage and Tourism-led Sustainable Development and Resilience in the Former Aral Sea Region, Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan (with Nottingham Trent University)— Nottingham Trent University Global Heritage Research Award (2023)
• Protecting and Promoting Industrial Heritage: Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site as Best Practice — University of Ferrara, Italy (2023)

Overall, my work centres on advancing understandings of heritage, drawing on my expertise in heritage theory, community engagement, and policy-oriented research. I collaborate across academic, professional, and governance contexts, working with universities, heritage organisations, governmental bodies, and local stakeholders internationally. My research seeks to mobilise expertise that supports more equitable, participatory, and sustainable heritage practices, recognising heritage as a dynamic social process rather than a static legacy.