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Flavia Matei is an architect working at the University of Art and Design in Linz, Austria. She supervises the design studio within the BASEhabitat master’s program, which focuses on environmentally and socially responsible architecture and city planning. Flavia earned her master’s degree in Architecture at the Technical University of Vienna, where she developed affordable housing models for informal communities in Romania. In her free time, Flavia is a committed activist for migrant workers’ rights. She is fighting alongside Romanian live-in caregivers in Austria for better labor rights and higher wages. She works side by side with the community in building up a strong movement in the Austrian live-in care sector. As a result of this mass mobilization, Flavia and other active members within the care community founded the nonprofit organization DREPT, which does political lobbying, media work, and fundraising. Flavia grew up in Romania, but has been living in Vienna for the last eleven years. She was previously involved in other grassroots movements connected to the Romanian socio-political landscape, such as the environmental Save Rosia Montana campaign, anti-fracking protests, and feminist demonstrations. She enjoys hiking in the Austrian Alps together with her partner and their dog, Patu.
“Care work is the frontline of the feminist, anti-racist and labor rights struggles of our times. Let’s raise our voices in solidarity and support: care work is work and it deserves respect!”
Learn more about Flavia’s Landecker Democracy Fellowship project here.
Updated June 2021
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Landecker Democracy Fellow Flavia Matei is an architect working at the University of Art and Design in Linz, Austria. In her free time, Flavia is a committed activist for migrant workers’ rights.
