Derya Yüksek is a doctoral researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Her theoretical and research focus is on the study of media and participation, participatory communication, alternative and community media, and conflict transformation. Yüksek’s PhD project, carried out in the ethno-politically divided island of Cyprus, examined the conflict transformation potentials of community media production processes, designed as a participatory contact zone bringing together Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot teenagers to collectively produce community media content in a series of community media production workshops. With a specialization in project management and EU policies, she was involved as a manager and consultant in various international cooperation projects in the field of culture, education and media across the Euro-Mediterranean, prior to joining the VUB.