Researcher, designer, facilitator.
I work between universities, communities and public institutions — translating research into formats people can actually use.
Profile
Nikolett Puskás holds a PhD from the UCL Institute for Global Prosperity, where her doctoral research developed the Nisba framework for collaborative urban infrastructures. Her practice spans participatory action research, nature-based solutions, knowledge exchange and the co-design of tools that help communities and institutions work together.
Originally trained in interior design and light-industrial / product engineering, she moved through sustainable design and global-cities research before building a practice focused on the public life of cities. She has worked with universities, councils, community kitchens and humanitarian partners across the UK, Lebanon, Hungary and Greece.
Her current focus is the role of artistic and embodied methods in research impact — including urban games, exhibitions, zines, body-based workshops and policy-relevant writing.
Education
- 2017–2023
- PhD Global Prosperity — University College London
- 2015–2016
- MSc Global Sustainable Cities — University of Strathclyde
- 2012–2013
- MA Design for Development — Kingston University
- 2007–2011
- BSc Light Industrial Engineering / Product Design — Óbuda University
- 2005–2007
- BA Interior Design — Junior Art Center
Selected further training
- 2025The Art of Harvesting · Radical Love (Satish Kumar)
- 2024The Art of Hosting — participatory leadership for complexity
- 2022Fritjof Capra: The Systems View of Life · Creative Facilitation in Times of Emergency (Dartington)
- 2021RSA Europe Winter School · KNOW Doctoral Training Course on co-producing urban research in the Global South
- 2020Citizen Science Advanced & Winter School (ETH Zürich / UZH) · Migration and Cities (EUI)
- 2019Ecosystem Services for Sustainable Development (Geneva) · Intensive Lebanese Arabic (ALPS, Beirut)
- 2018Utrecht Winter School on Earth Systems Governance · UCL DPU SummerLab in Bar Elias · Serious Gaming (Erasmus)
- 2016Carbon Auditor Certification — Carbon Trust (Highly Commended) · Danube Summer School
Selected affiliations & networks
- UCL Institute for Global Prosperity — PhD researcher (alumna)
- Utrecht University, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development — Postdoctoral researcher
- Humanitarian Landscape Collective
- Landscape Research Group
- Open Landscape Academy
- JUPITA — Justice, Power and Transformative Action in Sustainability
- Trust in Play! — European School of Game Design
- The Bartlett Community of Engagers, UCL
- KNOW — Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality
Languages
English — native/fluent · Hungarian — native · Lebanese Arabic — intermediate · Spanish — intermediate
Speaking & teaching
Available for guest lectures, panels and workshop facilitation in research impact, participatory design, urban ecology and public engagement.