Alfonso Alfonsi

Alfonso Alfonsi has participated both in the Istituto di Studi Avanzati di Rocca di Papa and in the Scuola di Sociologia e di Scienze Umane, where he lectured on sociology of religion, history of Italian sociology, leadership theory. In the frame work of the multidisciplinary orientation of the Scuola has also worked on the relationship between social and nature sciences (palaeontology, ethology, biosemiotics). Previous to the establishment of the Scuola, he participated in the organisation of seminars on the epistemology of social sciences and the use of non-standard logics. For about 10 years he was the head of Stesam (Istituto di scienze e tecnologie per lo sviluppo Aldo Moro), a training Institute for post graduate students based in Bari.
Has more than 35 years of experience at international level in social research, training, evaluation, scientific networking. His expertise includes urban development, poverty and social exclusion, religion and modernization, science ethics and science policies, social and cultural change and socialisation of scientific and technological research.
He works as an expert for organisations of the UN system (such as UNDESA, HABITAT, WORLD BANK, UNDP), for the European Union and for Italian public and private bodies (such as Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Research Council, Lazio Regional Government, Puglia Regional Government, Adriano Olivetti Foundation). In this framework he has directed and/or participated in several research projects in Europe, Africa and Asia.
For what concerns his most recent activities, he worked in Ethiopia and Tanzania as an expert for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has worked and works as scientific coordinator or task team leader for several European projects. He serves as Science Ethics expert for the European Commission, by participating in expert groups and evaluation panels.
He participated as an expert in UN high level encounters and other International partnerships, contributing in the drafting of position papers and in the formulation of policy documents and manifestos. He has coordinated international multi-stakeholder networks for development, such as the Network on Services for the Urban Poor of the WSSCC or the UN-Habitat International Forum of Researchers on Human Settlements. He also participated, as a member of Italian Government Delegations, in negotiations related to the Habitat II preparatory process and its follow up, as in the last Habitat II PREPCOM in New York, where he served as spokesperson for the EU group in one of the ad-hoc subcommittees.
He has worked for CERFE, which he represented at the United Nations Social and Economic Council by virtue of the general consultative status that such association possesses.
He volunteers as President of the Accademia di studi storici Aldo Moro, in which framework promotes the historical research on the late Statesman.
His interests include birdwatching, entomology, drawing cartoons and composing haiku.