Silvia Danielak

Silvia Danielak is an Assistant Professor at the Carter School, where she researches and teaches environmental and urban peacebuilding, and the links between climate change, conflict, and security. 

Dr. Danielak’s work focuses on socio-spatial planning, especially infrastructure planning, in conflict settings and as part of peace efforts, as well as its coalition with climate and environmental efforts. She currently finalizes a book, which is the first comprehensive account of infrastructure building in United Nations peace operations, under contract with MIT Press. A second project investigates communities’ conflict management, co-production and environmental peacebuilding around climate adaptation and decarbonization infrastructure.

Her research has been recognized by various grants, among others from the US Institute for Peace, the International Studies Association, the MIT Center for International Studies and the Harvard Program on Negotiation. Her work has been published in academic and non-academic outlets, including Peacebuilding, International Peacekeeping, Third World Thematics, the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, or Disasters.

Dr. Danielak received her PhD in Urban Planning from MIT. She also holds degrees in Design Studies (MDes, Harvard University), Security Studies (MA, Sciences Po Paris), and European Studies (BA, Maastricht University). Prior to joining the Carter School, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University’s Earth Commons Institute for Environment & Sustainability and has worked in international development for several years.

Select Publications

“Peacekeeping’s Conflict Urbanism: A Decade of Urban Change in Mali.” Peacebuilding, vol. 11, no. 4, Oct. 2023.

“Risk, Vulnerability, and Pragmatic Inevitability: The Conflict–Disaster Nexus and Urban Governance in Johannesburg, South Africa.” Disasters, vol. 46, no. 1, Jan. 2022.

Degrees

• PhD, Urban and Regional Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Master in Design Studies, Harvard University
• MA, International Affairs, Sciences Po Paris
• BA, European Studies, Maastricht University