Areas of professional focus at CDE
- Climate Governance & Democracy
- Analysis of the democratic deficit in climate policy.
- Focus on climate democracy, i.e. inclusion, legitimacy, and participatory decision-making in climate governance.
- Design and evaluation of institutional innovations to make climate action more democratic and locally grounded.
- Policy Instruments & Institutional Innovation
- Comparative study of climate change mitigation policy instruments (CCMPI) in agriculture.
- Expertise in the sociology of policy instruments and procedural tools (e.g., participatory workshops, advisory committees, co-design mechanisms).
- Application of instrumentation of public action to assess how policies are designed, implemented, and adapted in practice.
- Agriculture & Mountain Livelihoods
- Specialization in livestock farming systems in mountain regions (Colorado Rockies, Swiss Alps, Kenyan Highlands).
- Study of agriculture as both a GHG emitter and a provider of ecosystem services, biodiversity protection, and cultural heritage.
- Emphasis on the resilience and adaptation of mountain farming to climate change.
- Participatory and Transdisciplinary Methods
- Design and facilitation of participatory workshops with farmers, policymakers, and associations.
- Co-development of solutions with stakeholders (policy dialogues, collaborative governance models).
- Experience bridging science and policy through transdisciplinary collaboration.
Projects
- Sept 2025-Sept 2026: Return Post-Doc (SNF) "From Colorado to the Swiss Alps: Translating Research into Action for Mountain Policymakers and Livestock Farmers"
Further professional interests
- Transformative Food Systems
- Linking climate democracy with debates on sustainable and just food systems.
- Exploring territorial governance of food systems in mountain regions (e.g., Valais) as laboratories for innovation.
- Connecting agricultural transitions to broader debates on food security, sovereignty, and equity.
- Comparative Climate Policy & Multi-Level Governance
- Expanding the comparative lens beyond Colorado and Switzerland to Global South contexts (Kenya, Latin America).
- Examining how federalism, decentralization, and local autonomy shape climate policy implementation.
- Interest in policy transfer and translation of governance instruments across contexts.
- Climate Finance and Just Transitions
- Understanding how climate finance mechanisms (EU, CGIAR, FAO, development banks) influence agricultural policy.
- Exploring how funding schemes can either enable or constrain inclusive transitions.
- Linking democratic innovation with the politics of climate finance and justice.
- Science–Policy Interfaces & Knowledge Co-Production
- Developing methods for bridging research and policy-making, especially through participatory foresight tools.
- Strengthening transdisciplinary collaborations between researchers, policymakers, and local practitioners.
- Interest in theories of change as a framework for linking academic work with practical governance outcomes.
- Resilience & Adaptation in Mountain Regions
- Cross-regional focus on mountain areas as climate-sensitive socio-ecological systems.
- Comparative studies of resilience strategies in the Rockies, Alps, and African highlands.
- Connecting biodiversity conservation, cultural heritage, and agricultural transitions.
- Emerging Research Interests
- Climate democracy & digital tools → Using digital participatory platforms and deliberative technologies in rural/mountain governance.
- Conflict and cooperation in natural resource governance → E.g., water, soil, rangeland management.
- Evaluating impact of participatory tools → Developing metrics for legitimacy, inclusion, and policy effectiveness.
Field experience
United States, France, Switzerland, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Ghana
Languages
English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan
