Paola Fontanella Pisa is Associate Academic Officer in the Global Mountain Safeguard Research (GLOMOS) Division, a joint endeavour of 海角社区-EHS and Eurac Research in South Tyrol.
Paola Fontanella Pisa holds a Doctorate in Environmental Studies from Tohoku University (Sendai, Japan), where she conducted anthropological research on how cultural heritage and local knowledge contribute to community resilience in mountainous regions. Her study was carried out in close collaboration with a UNESCO biosphere reserve and its community in Fukushima Prefecture. She has an interdisciplinary background with a Bachelor’s in Language, Culture and Society of Asia and Mediterranean Africa from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and a Master’s in World Heritage Studies from BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Germany. Her commitment to disaster risk reduction is grounded in hands-on experience supporting communities affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Her current expertise lies in examining how cultural heritage, local knowledge systems and disaster memories influence landscape making, risk perception and decision-making in multi-hazard environments, particularly within mountain and rural social ecological systems. She applies qualitative and transdisciplinary methods, ranging from in-depth ethnographic research to participatory approaches, to advance culturally informed and community anchored pathways for resilience and adaptation.