Merje Laiapea

Merje curates socially engaged cultural programmes and explores the creative economy as a space for crisis-responsive transformation. She has published on music as resistance, and the role of culture in building capacity, social cohesion and innovation in Ukraine. Her practice centres culture and progressive education as critical infrastructures for regenerative value creation in societies. She is active in community-led co-creative spaces and has worked closely with the Creative Impact Research Centre Europe, University of London, Khalili Foundation and UNESCO. Merje has an MA in Global Creative and Cultural Industries from SOAS.