Nicos Souleles

Biography

Dr Nicos Souleles is an academic and researcher who has held educational and administrative positions at universities in Australia, England, the United Arab Emirates, and Cyprus, including program coordinator/leader for undergraduate and postgraduate programs, department head, and head of school. He was external examiner for the University of East London and Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, and is a member of the Cyprus Council for the Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications.

Dr Souleles has expertise in learning design, curriculum development, technology-enhanced learning, quality assurance, accreditation processes, and integrating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into higher education curricula. He served three consecutive terms as an elected Cyprus University of Technology Quality Control Committee member. In this role, he conducted staff development workshops on curriculum design, transformative learning, and innovative assessment methods, and he systematically contributed to the life-long learning needs of his colleagues.

He has over 30 years of teaching experience in design at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and has supervised doctoral candidates. Over eight years, he developed and taught an interdisciplinary and interdepartmental module on social design and innovation. This module provided a platform for final-year undergraduate learners to address local social challenges through transformative learning while engaging with the SDGs. His research interests cover educational research, technology-enhanced learning in design, design education, learning design, and design for social change and innovation.

Dr Souleles coordinates the research lab 'Art + Design: learning lab - Design for social change,' collaborating with partners and colleagues throughout Europe. The lab deals with technology-enhanced learning, design education, social change, social innovation, and entrepreneurship, and it is affiliated with the DESIS network. Additionally, the lab undertook funded European projects aimed at digital upskilling and multiliteracies, curriculum development for the Third Sector, cultural and arts entrepreneurship for marginalized women, and sustainable assessments.

Together with Dr Ana Ferreira, he is the co-editor of DISCERN, the International Journal of Design for Social Change, Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship - an independent cross-disciplinary and open access publication: https://www.designforsocialchange.org/journal/index.php/DISCERN-J/