Head of Surveying and Real Estate and Principal Lecturer in the School of the Built Environment
More about Maria Christina Georgiadou
Dr Georgiadou has over fifteen years of professional experience in sustainability in the built environment. Before joining London Metropolitan University, Dr Georgiadou held the following academic positions:
2018-2024: Reader and Co-Director of the Research Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment (ProBE), School of Applied Management, Westminster Business School.
2014-2018: Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, University of Westminster.
2013- 2014: Research Associate, Centre for Sustainable Development, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge.
Dr Georgiadou has a PhD in Engineering for Sustainable Development (2013) from the University of Cambridge, which focused on developing a novel conceptual framework for future-proofing the energy design of housing developments. She has an MA in Higher Education (2019) from the University of Westminster, an MPhil in Technology Policy (2009) from the University of Cambridge and an MEng in Mechanical Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (2006).
Dr Georgiadou is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2017).
Dr Georgiadou has significant teaching experience in environmental design, construction technology and innovation, construction management, stakeholder engagement, sustainability, applied research design and research methods.
She has supervised 5 PhD candidates to completion, and hundreds of research students at MSc levels in various HE institutions.
Interested PhD candidates should contact Dr Georgiadou directly by email.
Dr Georgiadou's research focuses on building and infrastructure design and delivery as a socio-technical process towards achieving net zero, climate resilience, social value, and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in built environment project. She has led multiple large grants using a blend of technical, socio-technical, and systems thinking methods to integrate end-users' and community needs, inequalities and vulnerabilities into energy and environmental design decision-making in various cities in the Global North and South.
Dr Georgiadou is passionate about social dialogue activities, translating academic output into practical tools and recommendations for practitioners and policymakers, including international organisations (UN-Habitat, UNDP, UNIDO, European Commission), community-support organisations (Citizens UK, Slum/ Shacks Dwellers International), local governments (GLA, Westminster City Council, Buckinghamshire Council, Islington Council, eThekwini municipality, Msunduzi municipality), and the private sector (Arup, Mace, HLMArchitects, Accenture).
1. Georgiadou, M.C. and Loggia, C. (2024) Community-led vs subsidised housing: Lessons from informal settlements in Durban, Housing Studies, 1–28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2024.2397425
2. Georgiadou, M.C., Greenwood, D., Schiano-Phan, R., Russo, F. (2024). Assessing retrofit policies for fuel-poor homes in London, Buildings and Cities, 5(1), 139-149 DOI: htttps://doi.org/10.5334/bc.416
3. Schiano-Phan, R., Georgiadou, M.C., Russo, F., Laurel, R., Anselmo, A. and Naccarato, M. (2023). Tackling Fuel Poverty in London, Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment, Citizens UK, London, DOI: https://doi.org/10.34737/w69yw
4. Schiano-Phan, R., Guedes, C., Georgiadou, M., Clarke, L. and Duran-Palma, F. (2023). Women in Construction, Wood and Forestry: a Resource Toolkit for Gender Equality at Work. Brussels, Belgium European Federation of Building and Woodworkers. https://doi.org/10.34737/w7608
5. Georgiadou, M.C. and Loggia C. (2021) Beyond self-help: learning from communities in informal settlements in Durban, South Africa In: African cities and collaborative futures Urban platforms and metropolitan logistics; Editors: Michael Keith and Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos eISBN:
9781526155351, Publisher: Manchester University Press DOI:10.7765/9781526155351.00010
6. Georgiadou, M.C., Loggia, C., Bisaga, I., Parikh, P. (2021) Towards sustainable informal settlements: a toolkit for community-led upgrading in Durban, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering Sustainability, 174(2), pp.83-93, https://doi.org/10.1680/jensu.20.00040. This Paper won the 2022 Richard Trevithik Fund Prize at the 2022 ICE Awards as the best paper on sustainability.
7. Parikh, P., Bisaga I, Loggia C, Georgiadou MC, Ojo-Aromokudu J (2020), Barriers and opportunities for participatory environmental upgrading: Case study of Havelock informal settlement, Durban, City and Environment Interactions, 5, p.100041.
8. Georgiadou, M.C. (2019) An Overview of Benefits and Challenges of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in UK residential projects, Special Issue on Innovation in Housing, Construction Innovation: Information, Process, Management, 19 (3), pp. 298-320, https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/CI-04-2017-0030
9. Georgiadou, M.C. (2017) Future-Proofed Design of Low-Energy Housing Developments: Case studies from the UK and Sweden, In: Bishop, J. (Ed.) Building sustainable cities of the future: from small urban centres to megacities, Springer, London.
10. Georgiadou, M.C. (2014) Future-Proofed Energy Design Approaches for Achieving Low-Energy Homes: Enhancing the Code for Sustainable Homes, Buildings 2014, 4(3), pp. 488-519.
11. Georgiadou, M.C., Hacking, T., Guthrie, P. (2013) Future-Proofed Energy Design for Dwellings: Case studies from England and Application to the Code for Sustainable Homes, Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, 34(1); pp. 9-22. Received the 2014 Carter Bronze Medal for the most highly rated paper relating to application and development by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineering (CIBSE)
12. Georgiadou, M.C., Hacking, T., Guthrie, P. (2012) A Conceptual Framework for Future-Proofing the Energy Performance of Buildings, Energy Policy, 47; pp. 145-155.
13. Georgiadou, M.C. and Hacking, T. (2012) Strategies and Techniques to Future-Proof the Energy Performance of Housing Developments, International Journal of Energy Sector Management, 6(2);
pp. 160-174.
14. Georgiadou, M.C. and Hacking, T. (2011) Future-Proofed Design for Sustainable Communities, in Innovation through Knowledge Transfer, by R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (eds.), Springer-Verlag,
pp. 177-186. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sustainability in Energy and Buildings (SEB 10).
1) Royal Society Newton Advanced Fellowship with the Housing Programme, School of Built Environment and Development Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa – Principal Investigator.
Title: ‘Building Urban Resilience for Self-Reliance in African Cities’. Duration: March 2016 to March 2024; Budget: £111,000.
2) Research Coordinator in the European Project SCAFFOLD, European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW), Grant no: ESF/2022/5433261 – Co-Investigator.
Title: ‘Improving Training, Working Conditions, and Transformation in the European Scaffolding Sector’
Duration: January 2023 to December 2024; Budget: EUR 30,000.
3) 2023-24 Quentin Hogg Trust grant, University of Westminster – Principal Investigator.
Title: Social Value and Inclusive Stakeholder Engagement in Net Zero/ Climate-Resilient Built Environment Projects.
Duration: October 2023 to July 2023, Budget; £10,000.
Non-academic partners: Aurora Engagements Ltd (www.auroraengagements.co.uk).
4) 2022-23 Participatory and Policy Support Fund and 2023-24 Quentin Hogg Trust grant, University of Westminster – Principal Investigator.
Title: ‘100k Fuel Poor Homes in London’.
Duration: January 2023 to July 2023, Budget: £23,000.
Non-academic partners: Citizens UK (www.citizensuk.org)
5) Consultancy research on Women in Construction, Wood and Forestry Sectors – Co-Investigator. Funder: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Duration: June to December 2023, Budget: EUR 15,000.
Non-academic collaborator: European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW)
6) UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) grant entitled “Community-led Upgrading for Self-Reliance in South Africa: Integrated Construction and Environmental Management Systems in Informal Settlements’ under the Newton Fund Urban Transformations Programme – Principal Investigator.
Co-investigators and non-academic collaborators: UCL (Department of Civil Environmental and Geomatic Engineering), University of KwaZulu-Natal (School of Built Environment and Development Studies, Department of Engineering); eThekwini municipality (Durban), South African Department of Human Settlements; uTshani Fund and the Federation of the Urban and Rural Poor (FEDUP) (community organisations under the Shack/ Slum Dwellers International (SDI) Alliance), and EcoLtd (London-based international development consultancy).
Duration: February 2016 to February 2020; Budget: £500,000; Website: www.isulabantu.com
7) 2022-23 Participatory and Policy Support Fund, University of Westminster – Principal Investigator.
Title: ‘Leadership and capacity building towards resilient settlements in South Africa: A case study of Khan Road in KwaZulu-Natal’.
Duration: January 2022 to December 2022, Budget: £15,000.
8) University of Westminster Global Challenges Research Fund – Co-investigator.
Title: 'African Off-Grid Housing'
Duration: February 2020 to July 2022; Budget: £40,000.
1. External (Academic) Examiner at MSc Innovation in Sustainable Built Environments, University College Estate Management (2023 - ongoing).
2. UKRI Talent Panel College (TPC) reviews and interviews panel member (2023- ongoing). The TPC is involved in panel assessment of the flagship Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF) scheme, the Innovation Scholars scheme, as well as other collective talent initiatives and UKRI (ESRC) specific calls relevant to my expertise (sustainability, place-making, buildings, retrofit, climate change, construction skills).
3. Guest lecturer, examiner and evidentiary expert panel member at the Sustainability Leadership for the Built Environment (Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership) and Construction, Engineering Masters (Laing O'Rourke Centre for Construction Engineering and Technology) at the University of Cambridge.
1. Invited by Wera Hobhouse MP to attend a closed Parliamentary Roundtable on “Cooling for Net Zero”, House of Commons, 22 April 2024. Key attendees were the Minster of the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, MPs, Innovate UK Business Connect, UK Climate Change Committee, Together Housing Association, and Senergy.
2. Invited to a policy roundtable, “Lessons from Lancaster West: The social impact of retrofit and regeneration”, at the London School of Economics on 15 November 2023.
3. 2022 Institution of Civil Engineering Publishing Awards - Richard Trevithick Memorial Fund Prize as the lead author on the best paper on sustainability entitled: “Towards sustainable informal settlements: A toolkit for community-led upgrading in Durban” published in the Journal of Engineering Sustainability 174 (2), April 2021, pp.83-93. Available from: https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/full/10.1680/jensu.20.00040.
4. Newton Fund and Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) ‘Lessons Earned’ campaign (2022): Selected as one of 17 leading international researchers and innovators across all disciplines tackling key issues affecting developing countries. The campaign celebrated the Newton Fund’s and GCRF’s eight and six-year anniversaries in 2022.
5. Multi-stakeholder Policy Workshops with eThekwini and Msunduzi municipalities in South Africa, Durban-based NGOs (CORC, Rooted Wings), University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of Oxford, Rural Senses Ltd (28th November to 1st December 2022).
6. Engineering X senior group of Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) stakeholders and global experts. Engineering X is an international collaboration between the Academy and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation. In December 2020, Dr Georgiadou was invited to join the senior group seeking to understand how to embed Inclusivity of outcomes into Engineering research and practice, particularly during COVID-19 and the impact of the pandemic on densely-populated urban areas worldwide, disproportionally affecting low-income households.
7. Final ISULabaNtu Policy and Practice Event in London (University of Westminster, Regent Campus, January 2020) and Final ISULabaNtu Dissemination Events in Durban (November 2019): including a multi-stakeholder workshop at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and a community event in Havelock; an informal settlement in Durban North which the ISULabaNtu team have been carrying out fieldwork activities since 2016. For more details see: www.isulabantu.com
8. Launch of two KEF outputs: 1) the “Grassroots Approaches for Informal Settlement Upgrading. A Practical Guide for Communities” booklet translated into isiZulu https://www.isulabantu.com/a-practical-guide-for-communities and 2) a video documentary “Living in Havelock Informal Settlement”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBTRcxjuT1o&t=31s
9. United Nations World Urban Forum (WUF9), (Kuala Lumpur, 2018): The ESRC-funded ISULabaNtu project team was selected to organise a side event entitled "Grassroots Approaches in Informal Settlement Upgrading in South Africa: the ISUlabaNtu Project, in Durban - Informal Settlements Upgrading Led by the Community".
10. Side event at the United Nations Habitat III conference (Quito, 2016): The ISULabaNtu team was invited to lead a side event at the United Nations Habitat III conference which involved an overview of the research project and a panel discussion with five high-profile experts from the South African Department of Human Settlements; Human Settlements Unit of the eThekwini municipality (Durban); Director of the Urban Basic Services of UN-Habitat and a senior community leader from SDI Alliance.
11. ESRC Urban Transformations (UT) portfolio: Dr Georgiadous ESRC ISULabaNtu project joined the ESRC UT in 2016. The Centre coordinates this portfolio on Migration, Policy and Society, University of Oxford and aims to showcase high-impact and international research on cities and best practices.
Dr Maria Christina Georgiadou
Head of Surveying and Real Estate and Principal Lecturer at the School of Built Environment