Presentation from Elisa Privitera - New YA Coordination Team Member!

2 min read

Hello dear friends and colleagues,

My name is Elisa Privitera, but all call me Lizzy. I am an engineer and architect particularly interested in urban issues. I come from Sicily where I am engaged with some community-led processes (such as Trame di Quartiere dealing with inclusive urban regeneration) and where I attend the second year of the PhD course in “Evaluation and mitigation of urban and land risks” at the University of Catania. In the same university, since 2016, I am a member of LabPEAT’s (Ecological Design Lab), coordinated by my Ph.D. tutor, Prof. Filippo Gravagno.

My background is quite varied. After two Erasmus (Germany, Spain) and some study experiences abroad (Malta, Czech Republic, Japan), in 2017 I got an MSc in Building Engineering and Architecture (110/110 cum laude and recommendation for publication) at the University of Catania with a final thesis on the co-construction of an urban community lab for the inclusive urban regeneration of a distressed district. Then, I attended a specialization course at IUAV (Venice) on participatory local action.

Since 2018, as a PhD student, I am working at the intersection of political ecology, environmental humanities, and planning, with the goal of exploring the hybrid common ground where subaltern communities and engaged researchers contribute to the planning of contaminated areas. Especially, I am especially focusing on the case of a Sicilian petrochemical town. As a  C. M. Lerici Foundation fellow, I have spent 6 months at the Environmental Humanities Lab at KTH (Royal Institute of Technology) in Stockholm, Sweden, led by my co-tutor, Prof. Marco Armiero.

In a nutshell, I have been always cooperating both in local and international contexts!

Since June 2020 I had the honor to be elected in the Coordination Team of the Young Academic Network. So far, I am in charge of the production of booklets and the communication through social media (Facebook and Twitter account). Also, I will be YA representative in the jury member of AESOP Excellence in Teaching Award. I would like to collaborate both in the YA Blog and in the editorial management of PlaNext.

My prior experiences with the YA network regard a series of YA initiatives I was involved in. For instance, the 13th YA Conference in Darmstadt (Germany), the AESOP PhD workshop  in Ferrara (Italy), and the 2019 AESOP Congress in Venice. In all these events I had the occasion to share my research ideas and professional dilemmas in a very friendly environment. I was so much enthusiastic about YA network that I decided to get more involved in it!

In addition to fostering and carrying on the already great ongoing YA activities, my contribution to the YA network concerns some innovative proposals. For instance, I think that further reflections and actions on how to increase and facilitate the access and production of open-knowledge for young academics are needed. As well as, it is necessary a deeper understanding of the state of the art of the Ph.D. schools' planning in Europe (and not only) in order to better mitigate (or valorize) the existing differences and disparities or to reduce the gaps of possibility among countries. I am sure that YA could play a meaningful role in this equalitarian direction by implementing local YA nodes that give feedback and are frequently in contact with each other, besides the yearly punctual events. A better connection and embedding of YA with "YA Ph.D. local" networks may spawn a virtuous circle of shares of experiences, issues, and new ideas.

And do you have any further idea? Would you like to collaborate with YA network?

Don't hesitate to contact the YA Coordination Team!

In case you would like to be in contact with me:

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My profile on ResearchGate, Academia.edu, and Twitter.