Languages: English, Portuguese, German, Spanish, French Departments: Geography
Research Information
Research Description
My research area is best described by integrated, participatory community development. It focuses at inclusive, local governance and public policies for sustainability. My research applies livelihood assessment and participatory appraisal techniques in rural and urban communities in Brazil.
I have been involved in assessing the socio-economic and environmental conditions of traditional coastal communities in the Northeast of Brazil (as part of the CIDA funded Brazilian Mariculture Linkage Program) and I have collaborated in the assessment of resources conflicts in fishing communities along the São Francisco river (World Fisheries Trust).
Over the past years I have been involved in several research activities on the informal recycling sector in São Paulo with a focus on policy, gender and health issues. I am recently coordinating a new interdisciplinary CIDA funded research project on 'Participatory sustainable waste management in the Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo'.
I am recently integrating the technique of video-documentation into the action research conducted on recycling cooperatives in Brazil.
Interdisciplinary Research
My research is interdisciplinary by nature and throughout almost 15 years I have collaborated with scholars from various disciplinary and cultural backgrounds.
The project on 'Participatory sustainable waste management in the Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo' involves several scholars from different faculties at the University Fundacao Santo Andre, as well as from Non-Governmental Organizations in Brazil.
Health Related Research
I recently concluded a pilot project on the health of solid waste recyclers in Santo Andre. The current project focuses on environmental health and at the health of the recyclers.
I am currently supervising the following Masters Thesis on local development issues:
1. Exploring the space of informal recyclers: Social, economic and environmental perspectives of binners in Vancouver (C. Tremblay).
2. Community-based Recycling on the Gulf Islands, British Columbia: A Case Study in public participation and policy-making (E. Taylor).
I am coordinating the research initiative on "Local food production, consumption, and the generation of waste in the Capital Regional District of Victoria, BC" as part of the Qualitative Research Methods graduate course.
UVic Speakers Bureau
takes part in the UVic Speakers Bureau.
More information about the Speakers Bureau can be found here.
International Involvement
International Research
I am currently involved in research on integrated, participatory community development in Brazil.
Countries lived/worked in
Brazil, Germany, Ecuador, Australia, Italy, India and Ethiopia