معرفی
Dr. Hita Unnikrishnan is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Global Sustainable Development (IGSD), University of Warwick, and holds affiliations with the Urban Institute (University of Sheffield), Azim Premji University (India), Blue Range Labs, and the Ostrom Workshop (Indiana University). She earned her PhD in 2017 from Manipal University, focusing on urban lake commons in Bengaluru. Her research integrates environmental governance, social justice, and resilience, with a focus on urban ecological systems, policy analysis, and community-centric approaches in the Global South. She has led initiatives like the Early Career Network of the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC-ECN) and contributes to platforms like the In Common Podcast. Her work addresses contested urban commons, energy transitions, and inclusive policy design, informed by historical GIS, participatory methods, and interdisciplinary frameworks.
Key research themes include:
- Trajectories: Urban water/energy systems' evolution and their socio-ecological impacts.
- Sustainability Policy: Governance of urban environmental commons using Ostromian, resilience, and political ecology lenses.
- Community Co-Production: Challenges in defining 'community' and ensuring inclusive practices in resource management.
She has collaborated with UN Habitat, the World Bank, and projects like the GCRF-funded CESET (Ethiopia/Malawi/Mozambique). Her advocacy includes advancing equitable urban policies and bridging academic-practice gaps through interdisciplinary networks.
