Iris Perouliou – Sergaki studied architecture (DUTH) and holds a postgraduate degree in Urban-Regional Planning (NTUA) with collaborations in Greece, Barcelona and with the Greek Ministry of Culture (Byzantine antiquities restoration).

However, she soon decided to follow her curiosity and go beyond the narrow limits of traditional planning by participating in research projects for cultural recordings of the Greek element in Turkey and Bulgaria (DUTH). She also took part in a participatory planning projects with Roma in the settlement of Drosero (DUTH). Due to these adventures, Iris has become a big supporter of collective action processes of decision making and she applies them not only to her life but also to her work, as demonstrated by her coordination of participatory design workshops as a special advisor in the Municipality of Agios Nikolaos, Crete, and her work as a leader in the European Placemaking Network for Greece. 

In 2019 Iris benefited from the influential START programme and seized the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience in sociocultural management and link participatory processes with the cultural identity of a place. Her goal is to initiate social change starting from the local level by applying integrated cultural actions and develop and pilot a sustainable methodology to activate places. 

From 2021 a new field opened up in front of her which combines architecture, cultural management and project management, first in the archaeological site of the island of Spinalonga (UNESCO) and then in 2023 in the former Royal Palaces of Tatoi ιn Greece.