Valentina is an enthusiastic researcher and practitioner with a passion for social justice and community development. Her work has been focusing on the use of communication in development for almost fifteen years, particularly in the Global South. She has worked for different London-based international NGOs as well as governmental and inter-governmental agencies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since joining academia, her research has looked at the use of Communication for Development in Peacebuilding and has brought her to carry out studies in both conflict and post-conflict areas of the world, with a focus at the community level. She is also interested in developing new frameworks for applied research in the context of crisis response interventions as well as long term displacement. She has conducted evaluations for UNICEF, UNHCR, Mercy Corps, and Search for Common Ground on the use of participatory communication, participatory art, edutainment and community engagement for conflict transformation and peacebuilding. She has facilitated participatory media projects with young people and marginalised groups. Valentina is currently the recipient of an Australia Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award (ARC DECRA) on 'Development Communication, Media and Peace in Protracted Displacement'. She is always keen to explore new opportunities for collaboration with international development and humanitarian actors around the world. Her work is published on established international academic journals and professional online platforms. Valentina is also interested in community-based photography, film-making, storytelling and arts, both from a personal and research perspective, and is forever committed to her ashtanga yoga practice.Check out her website here: http://c4dpeace.com/