Mona has a background in craft and design. After doing an undergraduate degree in Craft and Material Culture at the University of Art, Tehran, Iran she completed MDes and PhD in Design at the University of Dundee, Scotland. Her doctorate thesis is an exploration of the role of unmediated relationship with the environment in the evolution of human consciousness. Her aspiration is to reintroduce the embodied and relational qualities of craft practice into regenerative design processes, particularly in participatory approaches to Transition.
Mona joined Schumacher College in 2014 and been involved in the delivery and development of the Ecological Design Thinking programme since its inception. Alongside her role on the EDT programme, she has been working with interdisciplinary teams on multiple projects in relation to the problem of soil erosion in East Africa. Her main responsibility is to engage local communities in co-designing pathways to change and ensure local problems are responded by local wisdoms.
She has authored and co-authored the following papers:
- Nasseri.M, Wilson.S, (2017) A reflection on craft as a practice for self-development, Reflective Practice, Volume 18, Issue 2
- Blake.W, RabinovichA, Wynants.M, Kelly.C, Nasseri.M,Ngondya.I,Patrick.A, Mtei.K, Munishi.L, Boeckx.P .(2018) Soil erosion in East Africa: An interdisciplinary approach to realising pastoral land management change, Environmental Research Letter, Volume13, Number1
- Rabinnovi.A. Kelly.C, Wilson.G, Nasseri.M, Ngondya.I, Patrick.A, Blake.W, Mtei.K, Munishi.L, Ndakidemi.P ( 2019) We will Change whether we want it or not: Soil erosion in Maasai land as a social dilemma and a challenge to community resilience, Journal of Environmental Psychology, Volume 66
- Wynants.M, Kelly.C, Mtei.K, Munishi.L, Patrick.A, Nasseri.M, Gilver.D, Roberts.N, Beckx.P, Wilson.G, Blake.W, Ndakidemi.P, Rabinnovi.A. (2019) Drivers of increased soil erosion in East Africa’s agro-pastoral systems: changing interactions between the social, economic and natural domains, Regional Environmental Change, Volum19, Issue 97
- Rabinnovi.A. Heat.S , Zhischenko.V, Mkilema.F, Patrick.A, Nasseri.M, Wynants.M, Blake.W, Mtei.K, Munishi.L, Ndakidemi.P (2020) Protecting the commons: Predictors of willingness to mitigate communal land degradation among Maasai pastoralists, Journal of Environmental Phycology, Volum 72
- Kelly.C, Wynants.M, Munishi.L, Nasseri.M, Mkilema.F, Patrick.A, Mtei.K, Gilver.D, Rabinnovi.A, Wilson. G , Blake.W, Ndakidemi.P ( 2020) ‘Mind the Gap’: Reconnecting Local Actions and Multi-Level Policies to Bridge the Governance Gap. An Example of Soil Erosion Action from East Africa.,Land . Volum 9, 1ssue 10
- Blake.W, Kelly.C, Wynants.M, Patrick.A, Lewin.S, Lawson.j, Nasolwa.E, Page.A, Nasseri.M, Marks.C, Gilver.D, Mtei.K, Munishi.L, Ndakidemi.P (2020) Integrating Land-Watre-People connectivity concepts across disciplines for co-design of soil erosion solutions, Land Degradation and Development