Ellen Vandenbogaerde is a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Architecture at KU Leuven and a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Applied Social Sciences at VIVES University College. She has a background in social sciences with an MA in Criminology (University of Ghent, 2003), MSc in Comparative Research Methods (University of Sussex, 2011) and PhD in Development Studies (University of Sussex, 2016).
Ellen’s research currently focuses on security and liveability issues. At the Faculty of Architecture she is investigating socio-spatial interactions in dispersed territories; in which way do people use space in Flemish towns and villages, which interactions and relationships occur in which spatial settings, and how does this contribute to social cohesion? At VIVES University college she teaches in the interdisciplinary minor on ‘co-creating the city’. In this minor, students with a social science background are challenged to become aware of how ‘space’, and spatial interventions, can help shape sustainable, healthy and inclusive communities.