Nicola Favretto

Biography

Nicola is an environmental social scientist and Research Fellow based at the Sustainability Research Institute. He has a PhD in Environmental Sustainability and 10-years’ experience in mixed-method, multi-level environmental research across dryland sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. His core competencies include participatory livelihood impact assessments focused on agro-ecosystems, policy and stakeholder analysis and advice, and research project design, coordination and implementation. Throughout his work focused on addressing complex international development challenges and bridging major science-policy gaps, Nicola has undertaken research and managerial roles across a range of international organisations (i.e. United Nations University, United Nations Development Programme, European Commission). In his work as Environmental Economist and Project Coordinator at the United Nations University, Nicola led the development, coordination and implementation of a range of capacity-building activities, including Massive Open Online Courses on environmental sustainability (listed below) with thousands of registered participants. Nicola also organised and moderated various high-level science-policy events and published a number of policy-focused reports and briefs. Nicola’s key research / capacity building projects include: 2016-ongoing. Exploring co-benefits and trade-offs in climate mitigation, adaptation and development in South Africa and Madagascar. Funded by the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy (CCCEP). 2016-ongoing: Interuniversity Learning in Higher Education on Advanced land Management - Egyptian Country, funded by Erasmus+ 2016-17. European Network for the Advancement of Business & Landscape Education, funded by Erasmus +. MOOC "Connecting economy & ecology through integrated landscape management. How to design sustainable business models?". 2015. Economics of Land Degradation Initiative MOOC "Options and pathways for action: Stakeholder Engagement". 2014-15. Sustainable Liquid Biofuels from Biomass Biorefining (SUNLIBB), funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). 2014-15. Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) initiative, Botswana case study (http://see.leeds.ac.uk/research/sri/eld/). 2009-14. Powering Mali with sustainable biofuels? Livelihood opportunities and policy challenges of Jatropha curcas, PhD research Qualifications Research Ph.D.　in "Environmental Sustainability", Faculty of Environment, University of Leeds, UK. First-Class Honours MSc　in "International Economic Integration", Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy. First-Class Honours BSc　in "Economics and Social Sciences", Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy. Memberships Associate Researcher, ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, University of Leeds & London School of Economics and Political Science Steering Committee member, Global Land Outlook of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Advisory Board member, European Network for the Advancement of Business & Landscape Education Steering Committee member, Interuniversity Learning in Higher Education on Advanced land Management - Egyptian Country

Research Interest

- Agriculture and rural development - Sustainable land management and ecosystem service economic valuation - Climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainable development - Sustainable energy