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Giovanna Declich

Giovanna Declich (Rome, April 20, 1964 – January 30, 2023) was a sociologist, trainer and expert in planning and evaluation. A brilliant and passionate researcher, especially on issues of equality and social justice, she participated for more than 30 years in numerous studies and research (in Europe, Africa, and Latin America) on gender inequalities in economic decisions, politics and scientific research; on the evaluation of the quality of public services, particularly health services; on the evaluation of development projects; on migration phenomena; and on the dynamics of social exclusion and poverty.

Her commitment to research began in the mid-1980s, when – first, in the context of the “Institute of Advanced Studies of Rocca di Papa” and then, of the School of Sociology and Human Sciences – she followed a course of training and specialization in epistemological research and general sociological theory, with reference to the dynamics of social change and the emergence of female subjectivity. In those very years, together with a group of women researchers and activists, she promotes within the institutions in which she works a family friendly policy that will lead to the establishment of two childcare services, with the primary objective of ensuring women’s full participation in the world of work and in social and political life.

Later, in the late 1990s, she was involved in the design and promotion of sociological and interdisciplinary research activities, as well as training initiatives in various fields. During that period, she collaborated with some United Nations agencies (World Bank, UNDP) and some International Development Banks to carry out projects on poverty and social exclusion in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Between 2000 and 2022, she collaborated and directed numerous projects and research on behalf of the European Union (under the framework programs for research and technological innovation Horizon Europe, Horizon 2020 and, before that, FP7), Italian government agencies and several institutions such as Lethbridge University (Canada), Syracuse University (USA), the University of Roma Tre, the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and ENEA. She was among the founders of Knowledge & Innovation.

Her publications over the last 10 years include:

• Declich, G., Berliri, M., Alfonsi, A., (2022). Responsible research and innovation (RRI) and research ethics. In O’Mathúna, D., & Iphofen, R., Ethics, Integrity, and Policymaking: The Value of the Case Study. Springer Nature.

• Bleijenbergh, I., Cacace, M., Falcinelli, D., del Giorgio, E., Declich, G. (2020). How Dutch and Italian women’s networks mobilize affect to promote transformative change towards gender equality, July 2020 European Journal of Women’s Studies 28(1).

• Declich, G. (2019). Europe 2020 and beyond: the challenge of gender-sensitive research. In: Avveduto, S. (ed.), Research: feminine, plural. Rome: Edizioni CNR.

• Cacace, M., d’Andrea, L. and Declich, G. (2018). Accompanying research on implementation dynamics. STAGES project (Structural Change to Achieve Gender Equality in Science).

• Declich, G., d’Andrea, L. and TRIGGER project partners (2017). Triggering institutional change toward gender equality in science. TRIGGER project.

• Ovseiko, P. V., Greenhalgh, T., Adam, P., Grant, J., Hinrichs-Krapels, S., Graham, K. E., … Declich, G., … & Buchan, A. M., (2016). A global call to action to include gender in research impact assessment. Health research policy and systems, 14(1), 1-12.

• Declich, G., (2011). Guidelines on gender diversity in S&T organizations. WHIST project.