Silvia Grandi has a dual career in academia and in policy-making, combining expertise in geography, engineering, and economics with extensive experience in government roles.
After graduating with honours in Environmental and Territorial Engineering, Silvia Grandi obtained a Master’s degree in Management from the Faculty of Economic, Social and Political Sciences & Solvay School of Management at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium), and a PhD in “Environmental Quality and Regional Economic Development” from the Department of Economic Sciences. Over the years, she pursued advanced and specialised studies at Yale University (USA), the University of Newcastle (United Kingdom), the University of Sussex (United Kingdom), and the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom).
In 2014, she obtained the Italian National Scientific Qualification (ASN) as Associate Professor in Geographical Sciences (M-GGR/01) and Political and Economic Geography (M-GGR/02), in 2020 she was awarded the ASN as Full Professor, and from 2020 she is Research Associate at the National Research Council (CNR) - IGAG.
Since 2004, she has been a senior civil servant as permanent director in the Italian Public Administration. She has held a wide range of positions that enabled her to gain extensive experience in regional, national, European and international policies and institutional processes. Her activities include financial programme management, regulatory affairs, the organisation of institutional meetings, conferences and official delegations, as well as participation in bilateral, European and multilateral negotiations.
In recent years, her work has focused on the twin transitions (green and digital transitions). Among others, she has served at the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security as Director General on circular economy, sustainable finance and sustainable development, and currently, at the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, as Director for International and EU Affairs and Policy Coordination in the areas of digital economy, artificial intelligence, connectivity, and emerging technologies.
Her research activity spans political-economic geography and applied economics, and has been carried out in collaboration with the University of Bologna, the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, the University of Florence, as well as several national and international research institutes and centres, including RCEA, the University of the West Indies – Cave Hill (Barbados), SPRU – University of Sussex (United Kingdom), and ESSEC Business School (France).
Her main recent research interests include development and sustainable development geography, financial geography, sustainable finance, critical raw materials, environmental, energy and natural resource policies, critical minerals, tourism and heritage, blue economy, European cohesion policies and policies for scientific, technological and innovation development, as well as data visualisation and GIS.
She has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, the University of Bologna, Roma Tor Vergata University, the University of Salento, and the University of Naples Federico II, teaching at undergraduate, postgraduate, and specialised training programmes at both national and international levels. She has also extensively experimented with online teaching formats, and since 2024 she has been a faculty member at Università Internazionale Telematica Uninettuno, teaching Territorial Economics and Geography and Ecology and Sustainable Development within the Faculty of Economics and Law. She has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the University for Foreigners of Siena.
She is author and editor of institutional publications (policy notes, reports, studies and analyses) and has authored more than 150 scientific publications at national and international level, including edited volumes, book chapters, monographs, articles in peer-reviewed journals, working papers, notes and reviews, as well as dissemination-oriented contributions.
She has been and currently is a member of several institutional committees and expert groups, including:
- EU High Level Forum on Standardisation (ongoing)
- EU High Level Forum Workstream on Quantum Technologies (ongoing)
- Bioeconomy Coordination Group at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (ongoing)
- Sustainable Finance Working Table at the Ministry of Economy and Finance
- Interinstitutional Working Group on the National Waste Management Plan at the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security
- Interinstitutional Working Group on the National Sustainable Development Strategy at the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security
- Technical Working Group on Critical Raw Materials at the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry for Ecological Transition
- Commission for the Study of Geography at the Ministry of Education
- Scientific and Technical Committee “Rigenerazione” for education on sustainable development in schools at the Ministry of Education
- Scientific and Technical Committee of Ecomondo
- Permanent Committee on Agricultural and Food Biodiversity, established pursuant to Article 8 of Law No. 194 of 1 December 2015
- Technical Committee for Maritime Spatial Planning
- National Council for Territorial and Environmental Information (CNITA)
- Coordination Committee of the National Network of Italian Mining Museums and Parks (REMI)
- Raw Materials Supply Group (RMSG) of the European Commission- Commission for Hydrocarbons and Mineral Resources (CIRM)
