Sara Geenen

Professor | Institute of Development Policy, University of Antwerp

I am an associate professor in Globalization at the Institute of Development Policy (IOB), University of Antwerp, Belgium. I am co-director of the Centre d’Expertise en Gestion Minière (CEGEMI) at the Université Catholique de Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Mining in the Congo DRC

My current research interests lie in the global and local development dimensions of extractivist projects, addressing questions about more socially responsible and inclusive forms of globalization. I study, among others, global regulatory systems and development outcomes in the South, informalization processes, ‘linkages‘ and local spillovers from mining activities, labour markets in the extractive industries, technological transformations and upgrading. I am coordinating a FWO-funded project ‘Driving Change. Putting small-scale producers in the driver’s seat of battery mineral supply chain regulation’ (2022-2025). I have previously coordinated the FWO project ‘InforMining. An in depth study of informalization processes in global gold production’ (2018-2021) and a subproject of the FWO-EOS project ‘Winners and losers from globalization and market integration. Insights from micro data’ (2018-2021).