- Transformation
- Complex adaptive systems
- Agent-based modelling
- Crisis research
- Collaborative governance
Genevieve Allen’s research investigates the role of crisis in inhibiting or facilitating transformative change from a complex adaptive systems perspective.
Allen’s PhD project focuses on the role of crisis in either inhibiting or catalyzing transformative change. She will use a complex adaptive systems perspective to examine historical case studies. Allen is intrigued by the emergence of collaborative modes of governance following or occurring concurrently with crisis, and the subsequent impact on established governance structures. She is particularly interested role of narratives in sustaining collaborative modes of governance over time.
Allen will employ a mixed-methods research approach, combining empirical research with agent-based modelling, aiming to investigate the factors shaping transformative change.
Allen comes from a multidisciplinary background and has a strong interest in the ecology and politics of environmental conflict. Having completed a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, she worked as a research assistant on a MOPGA-fellowship project exploring the genomics of the invasive plant species Japanese knotweed.
Allen completed a Master’s degree at the University of Eastern Finland in Environmental Policy & Law, majoring in Natural Resource Governance. Over the course of her studies, she became interested in collaborative approaches and their potential to address high-stakes environmental conflicts and assist sustainability transformations. Her thesis examined collaboration and stakeholder engagement in Finnish flood risk management groups. Following the completion of her Master’s degree, Allen moved to Helsinki to work with Akordi Oy, a company offering professional services as a neutral party in mediation of complex environmental conflicts.
Supervisors
Maja Schlüter
Kirill Orach
Per Olsson