Elisa Savelli
Biographic Data
| ID | 1601980 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Elisa Savelli |
| GIVEN NAMES | Elisa |
| FAMILY NAME | Savelli |
| SIGNATURE | SAVELLI E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Uppsala University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8948-0316 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 27 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 9 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
When moderate storms become Disasters: Operationalising the co-production of flood hazard in Iraq
Iraq’s most damaging floods do not always follow extraordinary rainfall. They emerge when hydroclimatic forcing interacts with rapidly changing socio-environmental conditions that shape how water is absorbed, routed, and controlled. Drawing on national-scale geospatial analysis of flood hazard and exposure, a 66-year precipitation dataset (1950–2016), a database of 22 major flood events (2006–2024), and over 30 semi-structured interviews, this pa…
All dried up: The materiality of drought in Ladismith, South Africa
This paper conceptualises droughts as socioecological phenomena coproduced by the recursive engagement of human and non-human transformations. Through an interdisciplinary approach that integrates political ecology, material geographies and hydroclimatology, this work simultaneously apprehends the role of politics and power in reshaping drought, along with the agency of biophysical processes - soil, vegetation, hydrology and microclimate - that c…
Rethinking the impact of water-saving technologies and market incentives: Lessons from Mercy Corps’ water innovation technologies program
In the face of unrelenting water crises, water-saving technologies (WSTs) are increasingly relied upon as a paradigm for managing scarce water resources in the agricultural sector. This approach is gaining momentum in international forums and among development practitioners focused on improving the sustainability and efficiency of their water security interventions. Following this trend, the integration of market incentives to foster the uptake o…
Urban water crises driven by elites’ unsustainable consumption
Over the past two decades, more than 80 metropolitan cities across the world have faced severe water shortages due to droughts and unsustainable water use. Future projections are even more alarming, since urban water crises are expected to escalate and most heavily affect those who are socially, economically and politically disadvantaged. Here we show how social inequalities across different groups or individuals play a major role in the producti…
Us and them: Privileged emotions of Cape Town’s urban water crisis
Political ecology has already engaged with emotions in order to reveal the intimate, unconscious and unexplored power dynamics which characterise patterns of water use and control. Similar explorations have mostly focused on the emotional struggles of structurally disadvantaged people rather than on the emotions of those with privilege: the elite. This oversight becomes problematic when it conceals disproportionate shares of power and the implica…
Speculative Political Ecologies: (Re)imagining Urban Futures of Climate Extremes
What role can a speculative political ecology play in (re)imaging urban futures of climate extremes? In recent years, narratives of dystopian futures of climate extremes have proliferated in geosciences, and across the media and creative arts. These anxiety-fueled narratives often generate a sense of resignation and unavoidability, which contributes to foreclosing the possibility of radically different political projects. In this article, we argu…
Drought and society: Scientific progress, blind spots, and future prospects
Human activities have increasingly intensified the severity, frequency, and negative impacts of droughts in several regions across the world. This trend has led to broader scientific conceptualizations of drought risk that account for human actions and their interplays with natural systems. This review focuses on physical and engineering sciences to examine the way and extent to which these disciplines account for social processes in relation to …
The Dutch aid and trade policy: Policy discourses versus development practices in the Kenyan water and sanitation sector
Recent aid and trade policies reveal a ‘paradigm shift’ in which traditional donors have moved away from a focus on poverty alleviation and returned to an approach firmly aimed at economic growth. In prioritising economic growth in their development agenda, donors encourage the private sector as an active partner in development. Dutch development aid is exemplary in following this international trend. By examining development projects financed by…
Water for the urban poor: Balancing financial and social objectives through service differentiation in the Kenyan water sector
Urban water crises driven by elites’ unsustainable consumption
Over the past two decades, more than 80 metropolitan cities across the world have faced severe water shortages due to droughts and unsustainable water use. Future projections are even more alarming, since urban water crises are expected to escalate and most heavily affect those who are socially, economically and politically disadvantaged. Here we show how social inequalities across different groups or individuals play a major role in the producti…
Water for the urban poor: Balancing financial and social objectives through service differentiation in the Kenyan water sector
All dried up: The materiality of drought in Ladismith, South Africa
This paper conceptualises droughts as socioecological phenomena coproduced by the recursive engagement of human and non-human transformations. Through an interdisciplinary approach that integrates political ecology, material geographies and hydroclimatology, this work simultaneously apprehends the role of politics and power in reshaping drought, along with the agency of biophysical processes - soil, vegetation, hydrology and microclimate - that c…
Speculative Political Ecologies: (Re)imagining Urban Futures of Climate Extremes
What role can a speculative political ecology play in (re)imaging urban futures of climate extremes? In recent years, narratives of dystopian futures of climate extremes have proliferated in geosciences, and across the media and creative arts. These anxiety-fueled narratives often generate a sense of resignation and unavoidability, which contributes to foreclosing the possibility of radically different political projects. In this article, we argu…
The Dutch aid and trade policy: Policy discourses versus development practices in the Kenyan water and sanitation sector
Recent aid and trade policies reveal a ‘paradigm shift’ in which traditional donors have moved away from a focus on poverty alleviation and returned to an approach firmly aimed at economic growth. In prioritising economic growth in their development agenda, donors encourage the private sector as an active partner in development. Dutch development aid is exemplary in following this international trend. By examining development projects financed by…
Us and them: Privileged emotions of Cape Town’s urban water crisis
Political ecology has already engaged with emotions in order to reveal the intimate, unconscious and unexplored power dynamics which characterise patterns of water use and control. Similar explorations have mostly focused on the emotional struggles of structurally disadvantaged people rather than on the emotions of those with privilege: the elite. This oversight becomes problematic when it conceals disproportionate shares of power and the implica…
Water for the urban poor: Balancing financial and social objectives through service differentiation in the Kenyan water sector
The Dutch aid and trade policy: Policy discourses versus development practices in the Kenyan water and sanitation sector
Recent aid and trade policies reveal a ‘paradigm shift’ in which traditional donors have moved away from a focus on poverty alleviation and returned to an approach firmly aimed at economic growth. In prioritising economic growth in their development agenda, donors encourage the private sector as an active partner in development. Dutch development aid is exemplary in following this international trend. By examining development projects financed by…
Drought and society: Scientific progress, blind spots, and future prospects
Human activities have increasingly intensified the severity, frequency, and negative impacts of droughts in several regions across the world. This trend has led to broader scientific conceptualizations of drought risk that account for human actions and their interplays with natural systems. This review focuses on physical and engineering sciences to examine the way and extent to which these disciplines account for social processes in relation to …
Urban water crises driven by elites’ unsustainable consumption
Over the past two decades, more than 80 metropolitan cities across the world have faced severe water shortages due to droughts and unsustainable water use. Future projections are even more alarming, since urban water crises are expected to escalate and most heavily affect those who are socially, economically and politically disadvantaged. Here we show how social inequalities across different groups or individuals play a major role in the producti…
Us and them: Privileged emotions of Cape Town’s urban water crisis
Political ecology has already engaged with emotions in order to reveal the intimate, unconscious and unexplored power dynamics which characterise patterns of water use and control. Similar explorations have mostly focused on the emotional struggles of structurally disadvantaged people rather than on the emotions of those with privilege: the elite. This oversight becomes problematic when it conceals disproportionate shares of power and the implica…
Speculative Political Ecologies: (Re)imagining Urban Futures of Climate Extremes
What role can a speculative political ecology play in (re)imaging urban futures of climate extremes? In recent years, narratives of dystopian futures of climate extremes have proliferated in geosciences, and across the media and creative arts. These anxiety-fueled narratives often generate a sense of resignation and unavoidability, which contributes to foreclosing the possibility of radically different political projects. In this article, we argu…
Rethinking the impact of water-saving technologies and market incentives: Lessons from Mercy Corps’ water innovation technologies program
In the face of unrelenting water crises, water-saving technologies (WSTs) are increasingly relied upon as a paradigm for managing scarce water resources in the agricultural sector. This approach is gaining momentum in international forums and among development practitioners focused on improving the sustainability and efficiency of their water security interventions. Following this trend, the integration of market incentives to foster the uptake o…
All dried up: The materiality of drought in Ladismith, South Africa
This paper conceptualises droughts as socioecological phenomena coproduced by the recursive engagement of human and non-human transformations. Through an interdisciplinary approach that integrates political ecology, material geographies and hydroclimatology, this work simultaneously apprehends the role of politics and power in reshaping drought, along with the agency of biophysical processes - soil, vegetation, hydrology and microclimate - that c…
When moderate storms become Disasters: Operationalising the co-production of flood hazard in Iraq
Iraq’s most damaging floods do not always follow extraordinary rainfall. They emerge when hydroclimatic forcing interacts with rapidly changing socio-environmental conditions that shape how water is absorbed, routed, and controlled. Drawing on national-scale geospatial analysis of flood hazard and exposure, a 66-year precipitation dataset (1950–2016), a database of 22 major flood events (2006–2024), and over 30 semi-structured interviews, this pa…
Geography (4 works) · Political science (4 works) · Water Governance and Infrastructure (4 works) · Business (3 works) · Economics (3 works) · Sociology (3 works) · Water resources management and optimization (3 works) · Disadvantaged (2 works) · Economic growth (2 works) · Geographies of human-animal interactions (2 works)