WGS273H1: Gender and Environmental (In)justice course instructor Dr. Elisa Privitera is one of the recipients of the Courageous Scientists Award for Environmental and Climate Justice. The international prize acknowledges researchers whose work advances climate justice, environmental equity, and socially engaged science.
We spoke to Elisa about the award, her research and the amazing work that she did in her course during the Fall term.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself, your research, and your work?
I’m Elisa Privitera—though everyone calls me Lizzy. I’m a transdisciplinary researcher, practitioner and educator working at the intersection of community-based urban planning, environmental justice, environmental humanities, and political ecology. My work focuses on how co-producing community-based environmental knowledge can support more just policies and planning—especially in contexts where socio-economic inequities are deeply intertwined with environmental degradation and injustices.
I’m originally from Sicily, one of the most underserved regions in Europe (some even describe it as “the South of the Global North”). I spent many years practicing engaged research and activism there. Although I’ve studied and traveled internationally, both my master’s thesis and my PhD dissertation at the University of Catania focused on marginalized Sicilian territories.
My master’s thesis was dedicated to community-based urban regeneration in a neighborhood of Catania that has historically been the epicenter of sex work, new immigrant arrivals, and transgender communities. This project marked the first time I incorporated a gender lens into the study of spatial justice.
Later, during my PhD dissertation, I built on feminist theories, the critical environmental justice framework, and radical planning to explore the role of embodied knowledge and “small data” in researching and planning industrial-risk landscapes. These are contexts where women often bear a disproportionate burden of environmental harms—for instance, through higher rates of reproductive health issues such as miscarriages—while simultaneously being on the frontline of environmental mobilization and advocacy.
My PhD received several grants, including a Fulbright Scholarship that supported visiting research at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where I worked closely with the Global Environmental Justice Project and with a community-led urban agroecology initiative.
I am currently a postdoctoral researcher with the Canada Excellence Research Chair Network for Equity in Sustainability Transitions (CERC NEST) at the University of Toronto Scarborough. At the same university, from 2023 to the summer of 2025, I co-led the Just Transitions in Action project—a community-based research initiative developed with local partners to understand and envision equitable pathways for transition across Toronto suburbs.
In addition to being a researcher, I am an enthusiastic educator, and teaching is central to my academic identity. I view research, teaching, and service as inseparable components of my scholarly mission. I have taught a variety of courses across environmental planning, environmental justice, food and environmental studies, gender, and community-engaged research. My experience includes undergraduate and graduate instruction in Italy, the UK, and Canada. I am inspired by action-oriented and joyful pedagogies, and I like to experiment with different methods, including walking lessons, interactive activities, and community-engaged learning.
What is your relationship to the Women and Gender Studies Institute?
My relationship to the Women and Gender Studies Institute is very good 🙂 I have been lucky enough to be appointed as the course instructor for Gender and Environmental (In)Justice(WGS273H1) for the Fall 2025 term. This course introduces students to the critical analysis of the intersections of colonialism, capitalism, gender, race, labor, sexuality, ability, property, and citizenship—and how these forces shape and intensify environmental inequalities across our societies and cities. The course explores different forms of environmental violence through theoretical frameworks and concrete case studies from around the world. We gave a particular attention to colonial contexts such as Canada and the United States.
My knowledge on environmental (in)justice is quite extensive and I was already familiar with key-scholars and theories at the core of feminist and critical ecofeminist approaches, however, this was the first time for me teaching these two together….and it has been a challenging but very satisfying and stimulating journey! It would have not been possible without the support of colleagues and staff members at WGSI. During my time as an instructor, WGSI people warmly welcomed and it is really a fantastic work environment!
Can you talk to us about your Gender and Environmental (In)Justice Lecture Series?
The lecture series is part of the course WGS273H1F: Gender and Environmental (In)Justice. With generous support from the New College Initiatives Fund Program and the Women & Gender Studies Institute, the lecture series offered a unique opportunity to engage with critical scholars and activists from around the world. The series expanded on the course themes, offering critical and innovative insights on the intersections between gender and environmental justice, case studies from different parts of the world, first-hand experiences with activism and engaged research, and reflections on theory and practice.
More specifically, we hosted seven guest lecturers, each of them lasted about an hour, followed by time for Q&A:
- Dr. Ilenia Iengo used autoethnographic storytelling to explore intersections between feminist studies and disabled political ecology.
- Dr. Amrita Kumar-Ratta expanded discussions of social reproduction and environmental justice by examining reproductive injustice in migrant communities in Canada.
- Dr. Subina Shrestha discussed how urban planning and design often fail to address gender-specific needs—and how they could do better.
- Dr. Carolina Carvalho shared her experience in Brazil engaging women in community-based and participatory mapping to identify urban needs and envision alternative futures.
- Dr. Grace Nosek explained how fossil fuel interests attempt to undermine democratic discourse on climate change, endanger climate activists and environmental defenders, and offered strategies for unmasking greenwashing and be the change you want to see in the world!
- Skw’akw’as (Sunshine) Dunstan-Moore (she/her) shared her journey from activism in her Indigenous communities in British Columbia to participating in the COP and advocating for an intersectional approach to global climate governance.
- Miha Isik discussed “radical love” as a way of approaching climate activism—and on climate activism as a way of building community. She also demonstrated how art circulates climate justice ideas and even shared a song she wrote herself. It was incredibly catchy—everyone loved it!
The lectures were open to the public, sometimes in a hybrid modality, and many people beyond my students attended, creating a meaningful learning and reflection opportunity for the entire UofT community (and beyond).
You were recently named one of the recipients of the Courageous Scientists Award. What does this honour mean to you?
This award is profoundly meaningful to me. Receiving this award is both an honour and a responsibility. It encourages me to continue advocating for climate and environmental justice. It represents not only personal recognition but also an affirmation of the importance of approaching science—and environmental research in particular—in a transdisciplinary, ethically committed, justice-oriented way. It reminds me why I chose this path: to help shape a world where knowledge, justice, and action reinforce one another.
I believe that beyond improving science communication—through education, new platforms, and social media—scholars must root climate-related knowledge in people’s everyday lives and concerns. Scientists must not only inform—they must invite all people into the work of building a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world. As the saying goes, “To change everything, we need everyone.” This requires a willingness to learn from others—not only from communities, but from the entire ecosystem to which we belong. In other words, it is not enough to study or talk about climate and environmental justice; scientists must act for equity and justice.
I also want to highlight that while this prestigious international recognition is personal, in the reality, everything I have done has been part of a web of interconnections, interdependence and collective effort between several people. I’ve been fortunate to learn from extraordinary mentors, dedicated activists, and people genuinely committed to creating a more just world—and, more recently, from my students, who continue to be a source of inspiration, learning, and hope. The award is the result of a collective journey!
What are you working on now, and what do you have planned next?
Well, I have a few things on my plate.
First, as I mentioned earlier, I recently began a new postdoctoral position with the CERC NEST project. One of my main tasks is to analyze and systematize sociotechnical innovations—developed by public institutions, NGOs, civic groups, and private actors—that address both climate-related challenges and equity issues. I will be doing this comparatively across Toronto, Los Angeles, and Mexico City.
I also have a couple of personal research projects. The first is transforming my extensive community-based research on industrial-risk landscapes into a book. Writing a book is an enormous effort, but I’m optimistic and hope to finish it within the next year or two. Parts of my research has already been published in both Italian and English articles—and some of it has even been adapted into an Italian graphic novel! However, this would be the first time I can put together my work in one publication.
I am also working on two theoretical developments. On one hand, I’m exploring intersections between critical environmental justice studies and community-based environmental planning and writing a paper on it. On the other, I’m developing the concept of regenerative academia to indicate how engaged researchers can help repair and heal wounded socio-ecological relationships. I hope to continue working in this direction and thanks for these questions 🙂