Sebastian Schlecht
Sebastian is an architect & urbanist. He is the founder and creator of lala.ruhr. He works for the city of Essen, where he is responsible for the project management of the European Green Capital. He has international expertise in the issues of green urban development and its interaction with mobility, climate protection and climate adaptation. He is also active in building culture education and participation with the association Jugend Architektur Stadt e.V.

Melanie Kemner
Melanie is co-founder of lala.ruhr and expert for marketing and the implementation of regional formats. After the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010, she has been working as a freelance communications consultant and project manager for ExtraSchicht, the Pixelprojekt_Ruhrgebiet, the Kulturkonferenz Ruhr and Zehn nach Zehn -10 Jahre Kulturhauptstadt. For the European Green Capital – Essen 2017 she was in charge of marketing. Melanie is also co-founder of the c/o raum für kooperation and the consulting company TEAM i.

lala.ruhr is actively supported by:

Annette Bathen
Annette studied philosophy and political science at the TU Dortmund University. Her academic focus is on cooperative politics at the local level, the role of civil society in political processes and the development of urban living spaces. Annette has been working for Urbanisten e.V. since 2017 and is part of the managing core team.

Isabella de Medici
Isabella is a landscape architect and partner in the planning office DTP Landschaftsarchitekten GmbH. She has a teaching position at the FH Dortmund and is a judge in various competitions. Isabella is also a specialist spokesperson for open space planning and a member of the board of the BDLA NRW.

Matthias Krentzek & Roman Pilgrim (mxr storytelling)
Matthias and Roman are creative entrepreneurs at the Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf location; their customer and partner network is rooted in the Metropole Ruhr. In recent years they have successfully founded several companies and initiatives, including the Places _ VR Festival. They know how to realize creative ideas, to combine familiar approaches in new ways and to look for solutions off the beaten track.

Dr. Juliane von Hagen
Juliane studied architecture in Aachen and urban planning at Columbia University in New York City and completed her doctorate in Aachen. Since 1999 she has been working as a freelancer in urban development and urban planning in practice, research and teaching and as a specialized journalist with a focus on landscape architecture. In 2011 she founded the office stadtforschen.de.

Sonya Broy
Sonja studied specialized journalism as well as urban culture, society and space. She works in the conception and realisation of dialogue and participation formats in open space planning with the DTP office, as a moderator and tour guide, as well as in project management and as a seminar leader in the art and culture sector for public welfare-oriented neighbourhood development with the KITEV association.

Sally Below
Sally consults and accompanies local authorities and institutions in challenging development and cultural projects, develops communication and discourse formats and, together with various partners, also realises her own ideas for the city. She is particularly interested in conveying attitudes and perspectives and changing spaces. For the operative implementation of concepts, Sally Below founded the sbca office in Berlin in 1999.

Jan Bunse
Jan studied spatial planning and human geography in Dortmund and Nijmegen (NL) with a focus on allocation concepts for spaces in common use. He is a member of the management board of Urbanisten e.V. and is active in project work: Participation projects with young people, neighbourhood development through creative industries, urban gardening/farming, digital urban development and project manager for ‘Collaborative Urban Production’ in the BMBF research association UrbaneProduktion.ruhr.

lala.ruhr also cooperates with:
Die Urbanisten e.V.
Sally Below—sbca
Büro Stadtforschen.de
BDLA – Bund Deutscher Landschaftsarchitekten 
Planungsbüro DTP Landschaftsarchitekten GmbH
c/o-raum für kooperation
RVR – Regionalverband Ruhr
Kitev – Kultur im Turm e.V.
TU Dortmund, Department of Urban Development and Land Use Planning
Citymakers Europe-China
TU Berlin – Chair of Urban Design and Urban Development
JAS – Jugend Architektur Stadt  e.V.