Scott Jiusto

Scott Jiusto serves as an Adjunct Professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Global School, where he has directed the Cape Town Project Centre (2007-15, 2019-present) and actively guides students through the Global Projects Program in locations including London, Venice, Puerto Rico, Denmark, Washington, and Worcester. His interdisciplinary work bridges academic instruction with community-driven sustainable development initiatives across multiple continents.

His educational foundation includes a BS from Empire State College, State University of New York (1992), an MA from the University at Albany, State University of New York (1998), and a PhD from Clark University Graduate School of Geography (2004). This geographic training underpins his community-engaged scholarship focused on place-based solutions.

Dr. Jiusto's research centers on Shared Action Learning (SAL)—a framework emphasizing collaborative sharing of resources and knowledge, transformative action for community growth, and critical learning from practice. His work critically examines informal settlement upgrading in Africa, water/sanitation systems, early childhood development, energy policy, and sustainable livelihoods, with particular attention to how project-based education catalyzes personal, institutional, and community transformation. He investigates the reciprocal impacts of community engagement on both students and partner communities through longitudinal studies.

Analysis of his publication record (2006-2017) reveals consistent thematic evolution from foundational geographic knowledge construction toward applied community resilience strategies. His scholarship increasingly integrates arts-based approaches (like shadow puppetry for sanitation education) with technical energy policy analysis, reflecting a unique transdisciplinary methodology. Recent works demonstrate growing emphasis on climate adaptation in vulnerable coastal communities, particularly through Caribbean partnerships.

His distinguished scientific contributions have been recognized through:

• Massachusetts Professor of the Year Award from CASE/Carnegie Foundation (2015)
• Leo Jansen Prize for Best Paper at International Conference on Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (2015)
• Romeo L. Moruzzi Young Faculty Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education (WPI, 2009)
• International Mondialogo Engineering Award from UNESCO/Daimler (2009)
• Keynote invitations at major global sustainability conferences (2009, 2016)

Through WPI's project-based curriculum, Dr. Jiusto has mentored hundreds of undergraduate students in international community development projects. He currently leads the NOAA-funded Caribbean Climate Adaptation Network ($500,000 award, 2023), developing collaborative frameworks for coastal resilience that integrate local knowledge with scientific modeling. His grant portfolio emphasizes community co-creation of adaptation strategies.

He directs the Cape Town Project Centre and co-founded the Caribbean Collaborative Action Network (CCAN), which will publish with Palgrave in 2025. These initiatives operationalize his Shared Action Learning framework through ongoing partnerships with municipalities, NGOs, and community-based organizations across the Global South.