Olivia Bina

Lisbon

I see myself as an interdisciplinary ‘policy-engaged’ researcher, with a longstanding interest in understanding our changing relationship with nature, and how that relates to the many challenges facing the 21st century. I explore the drivers of (un)sustainability of our socio-economic and socio-technical models and their effect on life – human and more-than human, working through the lens of ecological economics, sustainable futures, systems change and transition/transformation theories. My research focuses on worldviews and pathways that can balance our dependence on ‘ever smarter’ growth and technology with a recovery of the unlimited potential of prosperous human-nature connectedness. The general idea is to assist in efforts towards progress, beyond traditional notions of economic growth, towards a better future (focus on urban) for all life on our Planet. My current research explores these themes through research projects on nature-based solutions for cities in Europe and Latin America (CONEXUS and NATURESCAPES), and I am focusing on urban nature imaginaries, and the possibility of a botanical turn, involving botanical gardens. Over the last decade I worked on sustainable urbanisation in China (URBACHINA), urban imaginaries in Africa (URBANOSCENES), foresight mechanisms, imaginaries and new economic models (FLAGSHIP and MUVE), and the future of knowledge and of universities (INTREPID). I also continue my ‘permanent inquiry’ into the tension between growth and sustainability – and I love trees, catching an early moon-rise, gardening and creating something beautiful from a lump of clay. I am Senior Researcher (Investigador Principal) at the Instituto de de Ciências Sociais Universidade de Lisboa (ICS – Institute of Social Sciences University of Lisbon), and Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS). I have a degree in Political Sciences (1991, Italy), Masters in Environment and Development (1993) and PhD in Hunan Geography (2004) from the University of Cambridge (England), and more recently a Masters in Landscape Architecture (2023) from University of Cagliari.