Dr Giuseppina Siciliano

Dr Giuseppina Siciliano is a Lecturer in Sustainable Development in the Centre for Development, Environment and Policy, School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS, University of London. Prior to joining SOAS, she worked as Research Fellow in various academic and research institutions, the IUAV University in Venice (2010-2012), ECOSUR - Colegio de la Frontera Sur in Mexico (2005-2006), the National Research Council of Italy (2003-2005). She was guest lecturer in Political Economy of the Environment at University of Siena (2011-2012) and in Planning and Evaluation Techniques at IUAV University in Venice, Department of Design and Planning in Complex
Environments (2012-2013).

Giuseppina works on the land-water-energy-food nexus, with a particular focus on land use changes, energy and development. Her research interests include political ecology, ecological economics, participatory decision making, sustainability and societal transformations, environmental justice, natural resource management.

She has extensive research experience in different international contexts in Asia, Africa and Latin America. She worked on several international research projects, including a project funded by UK Economics and Social Research Council that examined the implications of Chinese-backed hydropower dams in Asia and Africa (2013-2016); a project funded by UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the policy and practice for sustainable nutrient management and water resources protection in UK and Chinese agro-ecosystems (2013-2016); and an international project funded by Wellcome Trust on green transformations in the energy and land use sectors in the global South (2016-2019).

Giuseppina has authored numerous research articles (Google Scholar) and co-edited the book Chinese hydropower development in Africa and Asia: Challenges and opportunities for sustainable global dam-building (2017, Routledge).

In addition, she is Senior Expert in Sustainability and Circular Economy for Sogesid Spa/The Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Protection of Italy.

Current and recent externally funded projects:

• The National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) Research Pursuit on “Socio-environmental impacts of large hydropower dams across the Global South”, a collaborative team-based synthesis research projects, University of Maryland, US (2020 – present)
• The National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) Research Pursuit “Food-Energy-Water Interdependencies of the Global Agrarian Transition”, University of Maryland, US (2018 – present);
• Green Transformations in the global South (GreeTS): opening the blackbox of a pro-active state and the management of sustainability trade-offs in Costa Rica and Vietnam (financial support of the initiative "Europe and Global Challenges") (2016-2019);
• China Goes Global: A comparative study of Chinese hydropower dams in Africa and Asia (ESRC-funded project) (2013-2016)
• Policy and practice for sustainable nutrient management and water resources protection in UK and Chinese agro-ecosystems (DEFRA-funded project) (2013-2016)
• The role of the European Union in land deals: understanding the water-energy-food security nexus” (Enel Foundation-funded project) (2012-2014)