Elisa Privitera, From Catania to Toronto: “People and Stories Are the Foundations of the Cities of the Future”

At first glance, the San Berillo neighborhood in Catania, the city of Gela in southern Sicily, and the outskirts of Toronto appear to have little in common. Yet for Elisa Privitera, 34, these places are deeply connected. Her work is grounded in a simple but powerful idea: the personal is not only political—it is also scientific.

Privitera’s research argues that the impacts of environmental contamination extend well beyond measurable disease correlations, which are often difficult to prove or legally attribute. Environmental harm also produces psychological stress, anxiety, and long-term trauma—effects that are real, quantifiable, and deserving of policy attention. Most importantly, she maintains that environmental policies must be built with communities, not imposed on them.

This approach earned her the Courageous Scientists Award 2025, presented in Vienna, for her work on climate and environmental justice.

Your academic background is in engineering and urban planning. Where did it all begin?

“I’m proud to say I’m a product of the University of Catania. During my studies in Building Engineering and Architecture, I spent significant time abroad—two Erasmus programs, a semester in Japan, an internship in Germany. After graduating, I completed a master’s degree in Venice, won a scholarship to the U.S., and later spent six months in Sweden.”

“While pursuing my PhD in Environmental Planning back in Catania, I became involved in Trame di Quartiere, a community-based project in San Berillo. I spent months working closely with residents, activists, and local organizations. Beyond data analysis and literature reviews, I conducted extensive fieldwork using what we call the ‘snowball approach’: one conversation leads to another, and another.”

Her goal was to map community needs and explore how urban regeneration could emerge from within. “San Berillo is far more diverse than its public narrative suggests,” she explains. “Migrant communities and sex workers, for example, require targeted integration strategies—just like any other group.”

San Berillo is often portrayed as a symbol of urban failure.

“The dominant narrative is simply ‘clear them out,’ without asking what services the neighborhood actually needs. My work shifted away from traditional urban planning toward housing rights. Listening to people’s life stories made it clear to me that regeneration cannot happen without the direct involvement of residents—and that stories themselves can become planning tools.”

It was during her research in Sweden that Privitera deepened her work on what she calls toxic autobiographies: the lived experiences of communities disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards.

Environmental contamination is usually associated with heavy industry. Does it apply to urban neighborhoods too?

“Absolutely. In places like San Berillo, people live in severely degraded housing without basic services—sanitation, waste management, safe infrastructure. These are forms of environmental contamination tied to urban neglect.”

This realization led her to one of Italy’s most emblematic cases of environmental injustice: Gela.

“Gela represents the convergence of poverty, unemployment, and widespread pollution. The petrochemical complex brought short-term economic growth, followed by long-term social and environmental devastation. The city became a symbol of uncontrolled development and illegal construction. Large-scale polluting industries almost always locate where populations have less power to resist.”

Companies like ENI, she notes, generated enormous profits while leaving behind toxic legacies that communities are still struggling to fully understand. Is this the cost of unsustainable development?

“Yes. Environmental remediation is often slow, fragmented, and insufficient when compared to the scale of damage. What we see instead are diffuse toxic legacies—psychological, social, and physical—that remain unaddressed. Scientific evidence shows that polluting activities disproportionately affect communities with fewer resources and less political leverage.”

In Gela, Privitera followed a lawsuit filed by residents against ENI. “They described chronic anxiety and mental health issues caused by living next to the plant. The case was dismissed, and the plaintiffs had to pay legal costs. That was a turning point for me. The transformation of people’s relationship with their environment is rarely recognized in court—yet it is real, measurable, and deeply harmful.”

Is this what made your research ‘courageous’?

“In large part, yes. I’d say 70 to 80 percent of the work that led to the award was conducted in Sicily.”

You’ve now been in Canada for over two years. What are you working on today?

“I coordinate a research project in a suburban area of Toronto, focusing on the needs of migrant communities—here referred to as newcomers. Unlike Italy, the main issue isn’t housing access per se, but affordability and economic survival.”

The project begins with listening. “We’re identifying everyday needs first, then designing responses. Only after that can we rethink climate plans. Today, climate policies are largely top-down, designed by national or supranational governments. Our aim is to reverse that logic—developing climate action from the ground up.”

Her guiding principle is clear: “Climate action must not deepen inequality. Sustainability cannot be a privilege for the wealthy. Climate change is fundamentally a social justice issue—but it’s still not widely perceived as such.”

And when the project is complete?

“I’d like to bring part of this work back to Italy. To return something—methodologies, insights, tools. We’ll see.”