Hector Altamarino holds a B-Arch from the Universidad Central de Chile and an MA in energy, environment and sustainable design from the Architectural Association School of Architecture. He has worked as an architect on social housing for the Chilean government and private organizations. His interest lies in the health impact of buildings, including mold growth, indoor and outdoor air quality. He has lectured on these subjects at Universidad Central de Chile and University College London. Currently he is working on the control of indoor mold in UK dwellings and on the understanding of outdoor pathogens and buildings.

Peter Guthrie is Professor of Engineering for Sustainable Development at the University of Cambridge. With a background in civil engineering practice, Peter has been involved in several major schemes such as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, the West Coast Mainline, the Eden Project, and currently the Olympic Games in London in 2012. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of DEFRA.

Peter has lived in Nigeria and Lesotho working on civil engineering projects. He has undertaken several specialist appraisal and evaluation missions to Sudan, Botswana, Ethiopia, Russia, Mauritius, South Africa and the Philippines. Peter is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Vice-President of RedR, of which he was a founder.

Professor Rodney Harber has worked as an architect and urban planner for forty years in South Africa, focusing on the areas of sustainable development, alternative technologies, conservation, and housing development. He has consistently had an interest in the problems faced by development in remote rural locations. And much of his work has focused on the particular challenges faced in these places, including the impact of HIV/AIDS, sustainability, nutrition, and training. He is an advocate for the built environment, in particular for Africa, and represents Africa on the UNESCO Council and UIA (International Union of Architects). He was a founder member of the Built Environment Support Group U.N. (1985) and is currently a director. His work has been the recipient of many awards and he lectures extensively on the subject of architecture and development. His expertise has led to him being a juror for Architecture for Humanity, a Special Advisor to U.N. Habitat, and a member of Global Studio.

FABRIZIO GALLANTI and FRANCISCA INSULZA are both practising architects currently based in Milan. They spent several years in Santiago, Chile, where they taught architectural design, architectural theory and advanced urbanism at Universidad Catolica and were visiting professors at Universidad Diego Portales. Together they won the first prize of the Europan 8 competition in Kristiansand, Norway. Fabrizio was a founding member of gruppo A12, a collective of architects dedicated to architectural design and art. In 1997 he won the Akademie Schloss Solitude Fellowship, Stuttgart (Germany) of which he was nominated Jury Chairman in 2001. He worked as a curator at the Milan Triennale (Italy) and in 2001 won the Canon Foundation Research Fellowship, Tokyo (Japan). He is a frequent collaborator with magazines such as Domus, Abitareand 32. Presently he collaborates with Interaction Design Lab, a multidisciplinary company based in Milan and Turin. Francisca Insulza has done considerable research into territorial transformations and the representation of urban dynamics. She was a founding member of the group multiplicity, and has been published in Hunch Architektur Aktuell and Domus.

Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto co-founded EcoLogicStudio in 2004, an innovative design practice which focuses on digital computational design and its application to design methods. The practice's work has been exhibited at the London, Venice and Seville biennales in 2006 and 2008. They have run the Masters unit at the Architectural Association, 'Intermediate Unit 10' since 2007. It is an experimental unit focusing on urban laboratories, and encourages people to explore architecture as a means of managing materials in a creative way. Their experimental attitude to work has led them to lecture and work internationally, collaborating within a multidisciplinary network of partners. Marco and Claudia directed the AA Visiting Workshops in Turin and Istanbul, and curated the AA Architectural Machines Symposium.

Paul Pholeros trained as an architect at the University of Sydney, and has run a private architectural practice working on urban, rural and remote are projects throughout Australia since 1984. He is also a partner of Healthabitat, (with a medical doctor and an anthropologist/public health officer). For over 12 years Healthabitat has worked to improve the health of Aboriginal people, particularly children, by making healthier living environments in many remote, and more recently rural and suburban, areas of Australia. One of the projects involving the work was decided in the book 'Housing for Health' which subsequently received the Royal Australian Institute of Architects President's Award in 1994.

Tiziana Rossetto has lectured at UCL since 2004, and specializes in earthquake engineering. Prior to lecturing, she worked at civil engineering consultancy High-Point Rendel and was a researcher under the Seismic Assessment for Earthquake Risk Reduction at Imperial College. Since starting at UCL, Tiziana founded the EPSRC funded Earthquake and People Interaction Centre (EPICENTRE) which works to further knowledge on building vulnerability to earthquakes, tsunami and human-structure interaction. The Centre is a multi-disciplinary research group that embraces a holistic approach to earthquake engineering, addressing both engineering, social and cultural issues. Tiziana has published widely, and is a recognised scholar in earthquake engineering. She has undertaken a number of field missions to assess the damage to buildings and infrastructure in earthquake zones, and is interested in the psychological drivers behind people's behaviour in earthquakes and how this impacts their vulnerability within the urban environment.

Juan Carlos Sanabria is a practicing architect in Costa Rica, and is principal at Murillo + Sanabria Architecture. He is the co-founder of SAAi (Sustainable Architecture Advisors International), a firm working worldwide on consultancy related to energy, environment, and sustainable design. Juan Carlos has recently taken part in the London Festival of Architecture, curating an exhibition showcasing Costa Rica's architecture, its strategies and design in a tropical context. His firm offers consultancy in infrastructure, landscaping, architecture, and sustainable design, always ensuring work is fitted to its context. As director of the School of Architecture he lectures extensively.