Francesca Castagnetti
Periodically migrating between the vast Arctic regions and the western Alps, when not out exploring mountains or working in a lighthouse, Francesca aspires to contribute to research which is meaningful to the people involved, empowering and accessible. Her interests encompass the fields of Political Ecology and Ethnobiology. After an MA in religious Studies (with a focus on Hindu and Buddhist traditions) from the University of Edinburgh, she obtained an MPhil in Indigenous Studies from the Arctic University of Tromsø, Norway, and completed a training fellowship in Ethnobotany at the Centre for Biocultural Diversity, University of Kent. Her Mphil thesis dealt with food sovereignty and the role of civil society organisations in supporting communities’ resistance to land grabbing in Haute Matsiatra, Madagascar. Co-founder of HEARTH-the Healing Earth Alliance for biocultural diversity, she’s concerned with the self-determination of rural and indigenous communities, and she regards storytelling as a powerful medium for preserving and disseminating knowledge of all kinds.
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