Dr Mattia Thibault is an Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) in Translation in the Creative Industries at Tampere University. He is a member of the Language Unit and collaborates with the Gamification Group, the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies and the Flagship project UNITE – Forest-Human-Machine Interplay. His work revolves around the synergies and translations between media and communication, playfulness and the built environment (real and digital). His research projects “LudoSpace” and “ReClaim” (EU MSCA-IF 793835) focused on urban gamification and bottom-up and punk ways to use playfulness for good. In 2017 he earned a PhD in Semiotics and Media at Turin University, where he subsequently worked as research fellow in 2018. He has been visiting researcher at Tartu University (Estonia), The Strong Museum of Play (Rochester, NY, US), Helsinki University (Finland), Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands) and Waag | Technology and Society (Netherlands). He often hides tiny rubber dinosaurs in public spaces.
COST provides networking opportunities for researchers and innovators in order to strengthen Europe’s capacity to address scientific, technological and societal challenges. There are three strategic priorities: promoting and spreading excellence, fostering interdisciplinary research for breakthrough science and empowering and retaining young researchers and innovators.
Writing Urban Places proposes an innovative investigation and implementation of a process for developing human understanding of communities, their society, and their situatedness, by narrative methods. It particularly focuses on the potential of narrative methods for urban development in European medium-sized cities.