MELA is a social innovation enterprise for public spaces. MELA is founded by Noha Nasser, an urban design educator, researcher and consultant with over 20 years experience studying and practically engaging with cultural diversity in cities.
Before establishing MELA, Noha focused her attention on bridging between academia and practice, developing courses and workshops for professionals and communities to empower greater understanding of the different perceptions of place by different social groups, and the inclusive solutions to the design of places that it generates.
MELA is a collaborative endeavour in which tailored teams from a range of professional backgrounds work closely to engage with local people to design solutions to their public spaces and neighbourhoods in celebration of cultural diversity and co-existence.
We believe strongly in the breadth of creative and expressive tools to engage meaningfully including participatory action research tools, community mediation/conflict resolution methods, life coaching, physical drama, performance specialists, participatory artists, urban design community engagers, and others to provide the appropriate medium for communities to be heard as well as for them to engage with professionals.