About Raffaele's Work
My research and teaching focus on the coupled human and natural dimensions of climate change adaptation in the context of global change challenges affecting food production and water resources. As an environmental social scientist I use inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to analyze and support decision-making processes on ecosystem services conservation and climate change adaptation and mitigation drawing from experience in Latin America and Europe. I combine social science theories (psychology, decision sciences, planning, social networks) and tools (scenarios, modelling, econometrics, content analysis, qualitative comparative analysis, etc.) with natural resource assessments to support solution-oriented research and education. I hold a BSc in Agronomy Engineer, MSc in Environmental Economics and Sociology and a PhD in Science from the Institute for Environmental Decisions of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ). After founding and leading the Chair of Environmental Decisions for Global Change (CLADA) at the postgraduate school of the Latinamerican Agricultural Education and Research centre CATIE, I collaborated as researcher and lecturer at the Environmental Policy Group of Wageningen University and adjunct professor at the Institute for Environment, Resources and Sustainability of the University of British Columbia, Canada. I am currently professor of adaptive water management at the postgraduate schools of Social sciences (WASS) and for Climate and Environment (WIMEK) at Wageningen University, the Netherlands.