Originally from the island of Cyprus, Melina Nicolaides was born in Washington, D.C. and spent her childhood years there and in New Delhi, followed by secondary education in Geneva, and completion of her studies at the St. George’s British School of Rome (Head Girl). She holds a BA in History from Princeton University, obtained with the thesis “A Problem of Authenticity and Representation in a 19th Century Vision of the Orient”, as considered through Verdi’s opera Aida, first presented in Cairo in 1871. Following an extended training-period at the E.U. in the sectors of Communication, Information and Cultural Heritage (D.G. X), she went on to earn a multidisciplinary MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, which she attended as an A.G. Leventis Foundation Scholar, and where she received the Institution’s Graduate Award. As a visual artist, and then as an environmentally-engaged curator and writer, her work was presented in solo and over fifty group events and exhibitions internationally, receiving art awards, cultural fellowships, and governmental project grants both in the USA and in Europe. 

Over the years, channeling new interests and continued study, her practice expanded in scope towards topics that related to connecting efforts and creating new perspectives around the urgent need for environmental and social change. Subsequently, as Founding Director of ACTIVATE Nonprofit Organization, her focus turned to developing cross-disciplinary projects that communicate climate-related challenges of the Eastern Mediterranean & MENA region, by connecting the fields of science and art with society. As research-based initiatives that bring together people from across this region and diverse spheres of knowledge, the aim is to help build creative, human-centered, and solution-oriented collaborations related to water, food, and energy security. 

In addressing these connected topics, the primary objectives include unifying the diverse efforts being carried out – from within the scientific community and academia to individuals working on the ground – while also highlighting the multiple environmental, social, and cultural ‘connected points’ or commonalities shared between the countries and peoples of the MENA region. The underlying principle, while also encouraging public awareness, is to illustrate how working as a broader community – and acknowledging and integrating these factors – will ultimately benefit the crafting of appropriate strategies and applicable environmental policies for this region. 

Following her work as a member of one of the 13 thematic research Task Forces of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Climate Initiative (EMME-CCI) launched by the Government of Cyprus in 2019, Ms. Nicolaides served at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Advisor for the President’s Regional Climate Initiative for its second and intergovernmental phase. The mandate was to shape new communicative and cross-disciplinary pathways and partnerships on which to be able to build the basis of a viable Climate Action Diplomacy strategy that could involve both leadership and the communities of the region.  

Ms. Nicolaides is internationally Permaculture Design certified (PDC), is an active member of the Advisory Board of the Future Earth MENA Regional Center (FEMRC) hosted by The Cyprus Institute, and served on the Steering Committee for the E.U. Interreg MED Programme ARISTOIL, now in its on-the-ground capacity-building stage. She was recently invited to serve on the Board of Directors of the Tassos Papadopoulos Research Center, an academic institution devoted to the study of the Republic of Cyprus, and to the archiving of historical, political and diplomatic primary source material.

As with all her work through the years, the commitment is to always be seeking original ways for people to collaborate on the challenges most distinctively characteristic of the MENA region; to connect ideas, share solutions, best practices and innovations, with others. Moreover, to contribute to the transformation of creative collaboration into definitive collective action for this decade of increasing complexities within these shared challenges.