Alastair Donald is the associate director of the Academy of Ideas, and coordinates planning and programming across projects including Battle of Ideas and Battle of Ideas Europe, and is co-founder of the IoI’s residential school Living Freedom which allows 18-25-year-olds to explore the meaning and ideals of freedom in the twenty-first century. Alastair is the co-editor of the books The Lure of the City: from slums to suburbs (2011) and The Future of Community: reports of a death greatly exaggerated (2008). He has written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Independent, City Metric, Architectural Review and Blueprint.