Colombo Annamaria

Colombo Annamaria is a Full Professor at the School of Social Work within the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland (HES-SO), based at Haute école de travail social Fribourg. Her research focuses on youth socialization in urban and digital public spaces, sexual transactions among adolescents (14-25 years), foster care systems across Swiss cantons, and parenting in drug addiction contexts. She employs qualitative and participatory action research methodologies, emphasizing collaboration between scientific, professional, and experiential knowledge systems.

Her research interests critically examine how gender and class belonging shape youth experiences, particularly through heteronormative frameworks influencing sexual behavior and social recognition. She investigates marginalized populations' negotiation of public space (e.g., beggars in Geneva), challenges alarmist discourses on youth sexuality, and explores the continuum between physical urban spaces and digital environments in identity construction. A recurring theme is the micropolitical nature of visibility management and the tension between stigmatization and social integration.

Recent publications (2023-2025) reveal a strategic pivot toward policy-oriented outputs, especially in foster care systems. Six book chapters in 2025 provide the first comprehensive comparison of all 26 Swiss cantons' placement structures, identifying success factors and generating actionable recommendations. Her 2024 work on sexual transactions demonstrates that lived experiences contradict normative perceptions—participants who engaged in such transactions viewed them positively, particularly young women, while negative attitudes increased with age. The concept of 'digital street credibility' (2024) emerges as a key analytical tool for understanding youth's dual audience management in physical and online spaces.

No scientific awards, prizes, or fellowships are documented in the provided materials.

Colombo has secured substantial competitive grants, including CHF 484,000 from the Swiss National Science Foundation (2021-2025) for youth urban space appropriation research across four Swiss cities, and CHF 400,000 from Fondation Palatin (2021-2023) for the foster care systems comparison. Earlier projects include CHF 350,000 from Fondation Oak (2016-2018) on adolescent sexual transactions and CHF 20,000 from Fondation Le Relais (2013-2016) on parenting in addiction. Her funding consistently emphasizes transdisciplinary collaboration and practical valorization of results.

She maintains active partnerships with FHNW, ZHAW, UNIFR, University of Geneva, and University of Quebec at Montreal. Professional collaborations include Santé Sexuelle Suisse, Caritas Genève, and Fondation Le Relais. Within HES-SO, she co-leads the PRN LIVES doctoral program module on 'Vulnerability(s) in the life course and social intervention' and teaches in the doctoral seminar in social work, focusing on translating research into social work practice and policy development.