Giulia Mininni

I am a Research Associate working on the UKRI/ERC-funded GENERATE project, led by Prof. Saska Petrova. The five-year project focuses on examining energy precarities in the Western Balkans by adopting feminist perspectives.

My research explores issues of inequality and power dynamics with a particular focus on gender differences, highlighting the necessity of integrating such critical investigations into energy policy and governance. I have been working on several research projects in the UK, India and Africa focusing on women's empowerment, citizen co-benefit from energy demand reduction, relational approaches to retrofitting, and gendered analysis of socio-technical implications of energy transitions. I have been invited as a keynote speaker discussing gender and women's empowerment issues in Asia and gendered socio-technical aspects of energy transitions in India.

For my PhD fieldwork, I secured funds from various institutions and I was awarded the UKIERI Fellowship at the TATA Institute in Hyderabad. In addition to my PhD I have an MSc in environment and sustainable development from the University College London and I worked for different agencies within the fields of sustainability and international development in the UK and in India.

Research Fellow                                                  25/09/2023-25/09/2024

Department of Social Sciences - University Federico II, Naples, Italy

Horizon Europe funded project Low-cost, Circular, Plug and Play, Off-grid Energy for Remote Locations including Hydrogen’ (LoCEL-H2)-consortium of 12 institutions including businesses- exploring energy socio technical innovation application of microgrid and small scale hydrogen solutions for cooking to satisfy off-grid communities’ energy needs in Ivory Coast and Zambia. Gendered analysis of a case study in Ivory Coast.

Research Fellow in Social Relations of Energy                 08/11/2021 – 31/08/2023

Science Policy Research Unity (SPRU)-Business School- University of Sussex, UK

Place-Based Models for Net Zero project-This project investigated how place-based business models for net zero facilitate reductions on energy demand by closely examining three prominent areas involving: i) hydrogen strategies for net-zero; ii) nature-based solutions for net-zero; and iii) capacity building for decarbonisation skills. I co-led two peer-reviewed papers, one on EDI and place-based models in hydrogen economies adopting a gender lens; the other on a gendered analysis of ‘green’ skills for energy transitions.

Whole Person Whole Place project in collaboration with the University of Leeds and the University of Strathclyde. Investigating the role of social relations in facilitating retrofitting within the private rental sector. Co-development of a theoretical approach and research methodology that bridges new economic sociology with energy demand literature.

Local Green New Deals: A sustainable and equitable path for post Covid recovery project- This project examinined how community-focussed and digitally-enabled local green recovery packages, including energy demand reduction measures, could be assessed in terms of their wider economic, social and environmental benefits. The project was in partnership with the New economic Foundation (Nef) a UK-based policy-oriented think tank and in collaboration with local stakeholders, including local borough councils and the greater area economic board.

Assistant Lecturer                                            30/09/2022 – 15/01/2023

Science Policy Research Unity (SPRU)-Business School- University of Sussex, UK

• Organisation and running of two seminars (three groups-six hours) for the Module: Sustainable Development: Politics and Policies -MSc on Sustainable Development. Co-convenors, Prof. Andy Stirling and Dr Saurabh Arora.
• Marking of students’ essays.

Guest Lecturer                                                                              09/11/22

University of Sussex, Module: Perspectives on Energy and Climate Policy- MSc Energy and Climate Policy

Guest Lecture: “Introduction to gender and energy frameworks”

Supervision of a Master dissertation               02/05/2022– 07/09/2022

Science Policy Research Unity (SPRU)-Business School- University of Sussex, UK

• Supervision of a Master dissertation for the MSc on Sustainable Development 2022-Co-convenors Prof. Andy Stirling and Dr Saurabh Arora- Student: Alexia Jeangrand

Title: “Understanding the Gender and Economic Development Impacts of Green Development Projects: A Case Study of the KP-MINAE Solar-Powered Organoponic Farms in Costa Rica”.

Supervision of a Master dissertation                      16/10/2021-01/2022

Science Policy Research Unity (SPRU)-Business School- University of Sussex, UK

• Supervision of a Master dissertation for the MSc Energy Policy Open and Distant learning (ODL) 2022.- Convenor Dr Ralitza Hiteva- Student: Ibrahim Alghitany

Title: “Green finance policy for empowering energy transition in Egypt”.

Assistant Lecturer                                             28/09/2016 – 15/12/2016

School of Social, Political and Global Studies - Keele University, UK

• Co-development of seminars content and running of seminars for the Module: “The Politics of Sustainability” for first year undergraduate students of the course on Environmental Politics (ten hours). Convenor, Dr Stavros Afionis.