"Revealing and understanding dynamics of exclusion in global sustainability governance is key to transforming institutions and practices towards planetary justice."

Carole-Anne Sénit is Assistant Professor of Inclusive Sustainability Governance. She is a political scientist by training, with a career spanning both research on and practice in the civil society sector. She joined the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, in July 2019 to work within the ERC-funded GLOBALGOALS project, for which she studies the steering effects of the SDGs on the inclusiveness of global sustainability governance. Specifically, she explores the integration of the Global South in various areas of governance, including global change science, global civil society, and global institutions. More recently, she has embedded this research within a decolonial conceptual frame. Indeed, the literature analysing both the causes and processes of marginalization in global sustainability governance with a decolonial conceptual lens is still scarce. Similarly, although aspirations to decolonize knowledge and politics have increased significantly in Western academia, studies that specifically focus on sustainability governance are still lacking. With this innovative line of research she aims to build bridges between sustainability and decolonial studies.

In September 2020, Carole-Anne joined the CHARM-EU alliance, a collaboration between five universities across the European Union. As part of its activities, the alliance developed a new Master programme on Global Challenges for Sustainability, first launched and taught in September 2021. Within the alliance, Carole-Anne develops, coordinates and teaches courses (e.g., Sustainability; Capstone project) within this new Master programme. 

Carole-Anne is also a research fellow of the Earth System Governance Research Alliance and co-convenor of the project's taskforce on the Sustainable Development Goals. She is Managing Editor of the Earth System Governance Journal, a flagship publication of the Earth System Governance alliance. The Earth System Governance Journal is a leading international open-access journal in the field of governance, sustainability and earth system transformations. Published by Elsevier, Earth System Governance received in 2022 an Impact Factor of 5.6, becoming a major publication outlet in the fields of environmental studies, international relations, political science, and public administration.

Carole-Anne obtained her PhD from Utrecht University, in joint supervision with the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI). Her PhD research explored the role of civil society participation in the negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to her doctoral studies, she worked as a research fellow at Sciences Po’s Centre for Political Research (CEVIPOF) and IDDRI. She holds a 5-year integrated MSc in Political Science and Sustainable Development from Sciences Po Paris, and speaks French, English, and Spanish.