My area of research and practice is the interdisciplinary field of sustainable community development (SCD) with focus on sustainability in urban areas. Specifically, I look at SCD through the conceptual lens of the emerging theory of “urban productivity”. The goal is to increase and maximise the performance of all community assets and shift local development from a negative logic (reducing impact) to a positive one (generating and regenerating community resources).
Currently I am a PhD Candidate in the School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada, and an instructor with SFU’s Sustainable Development Program. My objective is to advance the research which seeks to bridge the gap between planning and implementing sustainability action plans and to that effect I have developed an integrated framework to help communities achieve their sustainability goals and evaluate their progress.
I also specialise in developing and managing environmental and sustainability projects, for instance sustainability awareness campaigns, environmental education programs, wildlife protection projects, cause-related fundraising events, and research studies on issues such as climate change and sustainable communities. I have been collaborating with Sympraxis Team since 2007 in various projects in these sectors.
Through my studies and work I became familiar with the working processes of the European Union and the EU funding instruments for sustainability projects of national, regional and local scale. As an environmental legal consultant and fundraiser for the environmental sector, I actively participated in the preparation of funding proposals for submission to the EU and other organisations, foundations and institutions. I gained experience in designing and implementing CSR and cause-related marketing environmental projects, through which I developed valuable project & event management and communication skills. I have also volunteered in various activities and events with Greek environmental and humanitarian NGOs as well as Simon Fraser University, Canada.
I obtained my MA in Environmental Law and two diplomas in Environmental Pollution and in European Studies/Law from the University of Strasbourg, France, and my BA in International Relations and European Studies from Panteion University of Political Science in Athens, Greece. My book on the EU law on environmental impact (2005) may be consulted in several prestigious libraries around Europe (Panteion University in Athens, Université de Strasbourg, European Court of Justice, Peace Palace Library in The Hague) and may also be bought at amazon.fr.
Scholarly publications:
- Spiliotopoulou, M., & Roseland, M. (2020). Theories and concepts influencing sustainable community development: introducing the concept of community productivity. In Phillips, R. (Ed), The Research Handbook on Community Development, Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Spiliotopoulou, M., & Roseland, M. (forthcoming). Making the SDGs Relevant for Cities: Using the Community Capital Tool in British Columbia. In King, L. O., & Iyer, S. (Eds), Monitoring Sustainable Development Goals in North American Cities: Best Practices in Community Planning and Performance Measurement, Springer.
- Spiliotopoulou, M., & Roseland, M. (forthcoming). Achieving community happiness and well-being through community productivity. In Cloutier, S. (Ed), Linking Sustainability and Happiness: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives, Springer Nature.
- Roseland, M., & Spiliotopoulou, M. (2018). Sustainability in North America: the Canadian experience. In Brinkmann, R., & Garren, S. (Eds), The Palgrave Handbook of Sustainability: Case studies and practical solutions (pages 635-652). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Roseland, M., & Spiliotopoulou, M. (2017). Sustainable Community Planning and Development. In Abraham, M. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Sustainable Technologies. Amsterdam, Oxford, Cambridge MA: Elsevier.
- Roseland, M., & Spiliotopoulou, M. (2016). Converging urban agendas: Toward healthy and sustainable communities. Social Sciences, 5(3), 28.
- Spiliotopoulou, M. (2005). Le droit communautaire de l’évaluation des incidences sur l’environnement: Le cas français. Athènes-Bruxelles: Sakkoulas-Bruylant.
In this page, you will find some projects and milestones in my career so far.
Please contact me for collaborations and to request my CV.