Silvia Grandi has a dual career in academia and in policy-making, combining expertise in geography, engineering, economics with extensive experience in government roles.
In academia, she has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of Bologna, teaching from 2007 to 2009 and again since 2017. Currently, her courses include Geography of the Environment and Sustainable Development and Geopolitics and International Financial Instruments for International Cooperation within the Department of Statistical Sciences. She also teaches Geography, Ecology and Sustainable Development and Tourism Policies at Uninettuno International Telematic University. In 2020, she obtained the Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale (ASN) as a Full Professor in Geography.
From 2008 to 2018, she was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, and she has also taught at institutions such as the University of Salento and the University of Tor Vergata, focusing on topics including geography, tourism, policy, and applied economics. Additionally, she has held research fellowships at the Rimini Center for Economic Analysis (Italy), the University of the West Indies (Barbados), Essec Business School (France), and the Regional Studies Association (RSA). She is an active member of RSA’s research networks on Cohesion Policies (CPnet) and FinGeo.
In her policy-making career, Silvia Grandi has served as a Permanent Director at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development since 2010, contributing to national and European committees on cohesion policy, innovation, energy, and raw materials. More recently, she was appointed Director General for Circular Economy and Sustainable Development at the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security.
Her research focuses on the nexus between geography and policy, with special emphasis on sustainable development, the geography of finance, energy and raw materials, blue economy, EU cohesion and neighborhood policies, multi-level governance, and tourism.
Main Education
MEng in Environmental and Territorial Engineering at University of Bologna (Italy), Erasmus- Socrates Programme at the Dept. of Engineering at University of Newcastle (UK); Post-Grad. Dipl. in Management at Vrije Universiteit Brussels VUB (Belgium), TAGS Programme at SPRU-University of Sussex (UK); PhD in Environmental Quality and Regional Economic Development at University of Bologna (Italy); Short-master in SME and Internationalisation at CTC; Short-master in Human resource management in the public sector at National School for the Public Administration; Short-master in Sustainable Finance (University of Cambridge).
