Isabelle Anguelovski is a social scientist trained in urban and environmental planning (PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011) and in international development (Université de Paris I-Sorbonne, 2001). Her research is situated at the intersection of environmental policy and planning, social inequality, and development studies.
Her recent research has examined environmental mobilization and revitalization in low-income and minority neighborhoods across political systems and contexts of urbanization (Barcelona, Boston, and Havana). This project -- an attempt to re-conceptualize the traditional environmental justice scholarship -- focuses on long term livability efforts by residents, NGOs, and community organizations and seeks to understand the role of community identity and place attachment in local environmental initiatives and strategic organizing. This research has helped develop the concept of "safe havens" in traditionally marginalized neighborhoods, and it unravels how environmental endeavors such as urban farms, community gardens, farmers' markets, parks or playgrounds represent protective spaces that allow local activists to address traumatic experiences, fear of erasure, and contribute to place-(re)making for residents.
In parallel, Isabelle has collaborated on research on urban climate adaptation, examining variations in planning approaches across cities, especially Durban (South Africa) and Quito (Ecuador). Led by Prof. JoAnn Carmin (MIT), this research examined factors that lead city governments to engage in climate adaptation planning and the ways in which they sustained their initiatives. In the past, Isabelle also studied environmental mobilization and conflict resolution techniques among communities affected by extractive industries such as oil, gas, and mining, with a specific focus on Andean countries and indigenous people.
Her publications include peer-reviewed articles on environmental justice and mobilization, alternative conflict resolution, environment and social movement strategies and tactics, and planning and justice in climate adaptation. Recently, she was also the Co-Editor-In-Chief of Volume 8 of MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning peer-reviewed journal Projections on Justice, Equity, and Sustainability. Before her PhD, she worked for international development organizations and still occasionally consults for NGOs and international organizations on indigenous peoples' rights, urban and environmental planning, climate mitigation programs, and gender policy.