Paula Vandergert

London

Dr Paula Vandergert is a Senior Research Fellow in the Sustainability Research Institute, University of East London. Paula is currently part of the Horizon 2020-funded programme Connecting Nature and previously worked on the FP7-funded TURAS programme. She works with local authorities, strategic development organisations and local community groups on adaptive governance methods, supporting sustainable and resilient communities and places. Adaptive governance is a framework for analysing complex social-ecological systems and relations between different scales of governance from community level to formal strategic government. Prior to joining UEL, Paula was senior sustainable design advisor at CABE, the UK government advisor on architecture, urban design and public space, where she managed the development of their Sustainable Cities programme. Paula has a postgraduate certificate in urban design skills from the University of Westminster. Prior to her work on urban sustainability issues, Paula spent over 10 years as director of Forests Monitor, where she worked with civil society organisations worldwide on forestry issues. Her PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science examined sustainable forest management from a property rights perspective, and the work of Elinor Ostrom and institutional theory scholars were particularly influential for her.