Batuhan Akkaya focuses on the public amenities of the industrial heritage sites for the CONSIDER project and is interested in exploring inclusive and evidence-based approaches for provisioning inclusive public amenities in industrial heritage sites.

*About the researcher: Urbanist with a focus on culture and sustainable development in the planning and design sphere. He worked with public, private, civil society organizations and communities. He coordinated EU research projects, carried out social impact assessment reports for projects in historical urban areas, developed strategic plans for local and regional administrations, conducted revitalization projects and design guidelines for historic districts, and developed innovative public places to support civic participation. He recently coordinated the "Yeldeğirmeni Heritage Site Urban Design Guidelines" in Istanbul and conducted "Cultural Heritage as a Resource for Resilience in the Climate Crisis in Turkey" research project for the Union of Historical Towns of Turkey. After working for Kadıköy Municipality, Kentsel Strateji and ÇEKÜL foundation he co-founded Urban.koop. He has an MS in urban design from Istanbul Technical University and a BS in urban planning from Yildiz Technical University. He participated in the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program and the Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is concurrently studying at Central European University Cultural Heritage Studies Master Program.

Constanze von Wrangel is conducting research on the evolution of a bottom-up process at a former industrial site as part of the CONSIDER project. She is examining both the opportunities and challenges that have arisen over the past decades, as well as the conflicting developments, using the WUK in Vienna as a case study.

*About the researcher: Constanze von Wrangel studied geography and political science at the University of Münster and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in geography. Her final thesis dealt with the plannability of creative milieus in urban neighborhoods using the example of the Dortmund U and the surrounding districts. She then moved to the University of Bremen and graduated with an M.A. in Urban and Regional Development at the Institute of Geography. Her research interests during this time were cluster and innovation policy, European regional policy and municipal economic development to promote structurally weak neighborhoods and regions. She was a student assistant at the Centre for Regional and Innovation Economics at the University of Bremen. Her methodological interest focused very early on qualitative social research. For both, her bachelor and master theses she worked with narrative interviews and was involved in a comprehensive qualitative research project on the significance of cultural events in disadvantaged urban districts. As a PhD student at the Institute for Social Movements at the Ruhr University in Bochum, she is currently engaged in a dissertation on the significance of industrial heritage for regional identity formation in the Ruhr region. On the one hand, her research is based on the official narratives about the Ruhr that are communicated at the sites of industrial heritage. On the other hand, she deals with the narratives "from below", as they appear in oral interviews with residents from the Ruhr region. The different narratives can be interdependent, complementary, or even contradictory.

Dr. Birge Yıldırım Okta, in connection with the CONSIDER project, is investigating the ecological potential of post-industrial railway heritage. In her research, she plans to propose successional stages for creating green habitat corridors, conserving wildlife habitats, and implementing rainwater harvesting. She will conduct a comparative study of environmental factors at several sites, including Newcastle, Forth Banks and Goods Station in Newcastle, and Haydarpaşa Railway Station in Istanbul.

*About the researcher: Dr. Birge Yıldırım Okta is a practising architect, researcher and founder of the architectural office, OKTAA. She holds an academic position as a senior lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool School of Art and Design. She worked as an associate professor at Kadir Has University (2019-2021), and as an assistant professor (2014-2017) at Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Landscape Architecture, where she got her PhD degree (2014). She completed her research on local public space and niche theory at Columbia University, Department of Philosophy as a postdoctoral researcher with the TUBITAK Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. She was a special student at Harvard University, Graduate School of Design (2012-2013). She completed her MSc at Istanbul Technical University, Department of Architecture, History of Architecture. During her master’s studies, she was a visiting student at Universidade do Minho, Portugal. Her research and teaching interests include urban history, urban design, landscape design and architectural design. She has publications, conference talks, workshops, and exhibitions regarding these topics. She has won design awards from national and international competitions. Her works were exhibited in international and national exhibitions.

Within the scope of the CONSIDER project, Dr. Rachel Gottesman aims to explore the industrial and urban changes of the city through the case study of Istanbul's ancient ports, which can offer a unique perspective on industrial development and heritage. She is interested in examining the reciprocal relations between the city and the port and the differences between metropolitan ports (Istanbul) and provincial ones (Haifa).

*About the researcher: Dr. Rachel Gottesman is a historian specializing in Mediterranean studies, environmental history and spatial theory. Her PhD, awarded by Tel Aviv University, offered a spatial analysis of ancient maritime networks. She held a postdoctoral position at Haifa University and was head of the Research Lab at the Liebling Huse Tel Aviv. Gottesman was a Co-Curator for the 2021 Israeli Pavilion at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale, and edited the exhibition's research catalog, which won the DAM Architectural Book Award for 2021. Gottesman publishes fiction and non-fiction in the fields of history, spatiality, architecture and literature and teaches at the Department of Architecture at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem.

For her research in the CONSIDER project, Duygu Kahraman is exploring how industrial heritage shapes the image of a city in the context of gender. In her research, she aims to uncover the evaluations of women's urban experience in heritage conservation practices, with a focus on industrial heritage practices in Kadıköy, Istanbul and the Ruhr region.

*About the researcher: Duygu Kahraman is a sociologist with a focus on urbanization and gender issues. She has a background in sociology and social work. Currently, She has been working as a sociologist in Kadıköy Municipality Social Support Services Directorate Social Service Center for 11 years. She has been involved in many national and international projects in the fields of urban studies, youth studies, and gender studies. She conducted social fabric research with the project team of "Rasimpaşa Conservation Development Plan", "Hasanpaşa Urban Site Development Plan" and "İbrahimağa Urban Site Development Plan". She developed the "Kadıköy Local Equality Action Plan".

As part of the CONSIDER project, Irem Ince Keller is exploring the legal geography of industrial heritage management and its connections to people, place, and legislation for maintaining heritage values. She is particularly interested in exploring the broader impact of laws related to industrial heritage management on society and places.

*About the researcher: Irem Ince Keller is an urban planner, designer, and legal geographer. Working as a researcher and project specialist at the Kadir Has University, Faculty of Art and Design. She is a PhD candidate in Geography at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) in Switzerland, where she is a part of a research team, «IF - Informing Futures» at the Institute of Geography and Sustainability (https://wp.unil.ch/informingfutures/). She has graduated from Yıldız Technical University (Turkey), Department of City and Regional Planning and the Urban Design Master’s program at the Izmir Institute of Technology (IZTECH, Turkey). During and after her MSc. studies, she was a short-term visiting scholar at TU Wien (Austria). She worked as a research assistant at UNIL Institute of Geography and Sustainability and at IZTECH City and Regional Planning Department. Her research interests involve legal geography, urban development, cultural and creative industries, industrial heritage, and urban design. In addition to her role as a researcher, she implements her research ideas by participating in urban design/planning competitions, where she received five awards in professional competitions.

Martin Hulse and Simon Parkin's collaborative research for the CONSIDER project explores the current state of disused railway infrastructure of historic significance within Istanbul and investigates opportunities for adaptation and reuse based on the researchers' experiences with industrial heritage and conservation projects in Northeast England. The collaboration between Newcastle City Council and Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust on this project allows for the consideration of how local authorities can work with external organizations to achieve positive outcomes for industrial heritage sites. Their research's key objectives are to build an evidence base outlining the challenges and opportunities faced by those responsible for managing disused railway buildings and infrastructure of historic significance, and to identify possible actions that can be taken by stakeholders.

Simon Parkin and Martin Hulse's collaborative research for the CONSIDER project investigates the current state of disused railway infrastructure of historic significance within Istanbul and explores opportunities for adaptation and reuse based on the researchers' experiences with industrial heritage and conservation projects in Northeast England. The collaboration between Newcastle City Council and Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust on this project allows for the consideration of how local authorities can work with external organizations to achieve positive outcomes for industrial heritage sites. The research's key objectives are to build an evidence base outlining the challenges and opportunities faced by those responsible for managing disused railway buildings and infrastructure of historic significance, and to identify possible actions that can be taken by stakeholders.

*About the researcher: Simon Parkin is a member of Newcastle City Council's Urban Design and Conservation Team, filling the role of Historic Environment Officer. His responsibilities include advising on the conservation and heritage aspects of development proposals in light of statutory regulations and planning policies. Prior to his current role, Simon's interests in environmental history and the conservation of built heritage led to conducting doctoral research, funded by Historic Scotland (now Historic Environment Scotland) and the University of Stirling, that considered the cultural significance and physical deterioration of Scotland's earth-built heritage.