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Donald
J. Donald R. de Raadt has taught in universities in Australia, the USA and Sweden. In 1993 he was appointed as professor by the Swedish government and held the Chair in Informatics and System Science at Luleå Tekniska Universitet for twelve years. He has served as President of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (USA), President of the Swedish Operational Research Society and Vice-President of the International Federation for Systems Research in Vienna. He has played a leading international role in systems science and philosophy and developed an ethical approach directed towards community development and a humane life. He is the author of several books; his research has been published in most of the international systems journals and presented in conference papers; and he has been guest key-note speaker in Australia, USA, Europe and Latin America.

Veronica D. de Raadt qualified as a social worker in Australia and after earning a masters degree in the US, worked in domestic violence and mental health. To add to her skills in the human services, she earned her doctoral degree in Sweden and studied human factors in community development in remote communities. The results are summarized in her book Ethics and Sustainable Community Design. In Sweden she also taught psychology, sociology and research methods at Luleå Tekniska Universitet and worked with EU-funded community development projects. She founded, together with her husband, the Institute for Management and Social Systems in Sweden, now operating in Australia as the Melbourne Centre for Community Development. Her research has been published in the main systems journals and been presented at international conferences in Europe and the US.

Sue-Lee Seng (Bachelor of Architecture, Grad Diploma in Community Development Programme) worked as an architect from 2004-2011. She has been volunteering since 2007 in Melbourne teaching underprivileged children in the inner-city public housing estates good moral principles in a fun and positive environment. In 2009, she went to China to help the local farmers harvest potatoes with a team of volunteers. She has also volunteered with an architecture not-for-profit organisation in 2007 to help build latrines in Solomon Islands after the community was stricken by a tsunami in 2007. She founded RIAH in 2011, a community-based hairstyle business which funds and raises awareness of needs in her social spheres of influence. She currently works as a children’s pastor and a community developer in Melbourne.

Breno Oliveira Perdigão is a civil engineer at present engaged in postgraduate studies in multimodal systems research at the Melbourne Centre for Community Development. He works in the operational planning sector,  which includes cement and aggregates, civil construction, mining, steel and metallurgy. He has market experience in technological innovations for renewable energy. He has conducted research in the philosophy of technology applied to engineering and agriculture project management.
Ester
Ester Wolff Loitzenbauer is an oceanographer with a PhD in water resources and environmental sanitation. She is a professor at the State University of Rio Grande do Sul (UERGS) in Brazil and is involved in education and research in water management and river basin committees. She is also engaged in in postgraduate studies in multimodal systems research at the Melbourne Centre for Community Development.