Ilaria Vanni

I am a writer, researcher and educator and currently an Associate Professor in International Studies and Global Societies. I live and work on Gadigal land. I am motivated to develop critical tools to engage with pressing social and environmental issues.

I have a disciplinary background in art and design history and theory. Currently, my work combines place-based, design and feminist methods and theories from social sciences, humanities and design studies to research urban environments. This overarching interest is enacted in my research in two main themes:

- Civic ecologies: community, group or individual environmental initiatives that bring together a transformation of and care for place and the environment.
- Plant studies: socio-cultural perspectives on the relations between plants and humans.

With Dr Alexandra Crosby, I co-founded the transdisciplinary research studio Mapping Edges. We explore recombinant and civic ecologies, that is, the ecologies emerging in cities and the practices that combine civic and environmental stewardship, a crucial theme in the current situation of climate and environmental breakdown. We are particularly interested in exploring how our understanding of cultural, environmental, and social histories and futures of place change if we let ourselves be guided by local ecologies. We do so in collaboration with community and arts organizations to foster engagement and change at a local level.