Researcher at The Programme for Global Politics and Security (GPS)
Hanna Leonardsson holds a Ph.D. in Peace and Development Research from the University of Gothenburg. Her research concerns processes of societal change, including processes of peacebuilding, development and sustainability at the local level in relation to national and international levels and actors.
Hanna's current research examines local processes towards sustainable development in contexts characterized by conflicts or other types of crisis. In particular, she focuses on local actors such as municipalities, civil society organizations and their relationship to the local context. Through the local perspective, her research also deals with how local actors interact with national and international levels for local development and what it means for sustainable and peaceful societal change.
Empirically, Hanna studies local participation and local community service in Lebanon and Kenya, and peaceful societal change towards sustainable development and climate adaptation from the local to the international level. Additionally, Hanna has experience in policy-relevant research through an EBA report on local peacebuilding and a research grant from the International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD). She has also taught courses in global development studies, Middle Eastern studies and sustainable cities.
Latest publications
Öjendal, J., Stern, M., Bachmann, J. & Leonardsson, H. (2021) Introduction: Peacebuilding amidst violence. Journal of Statebuilding and Intervention https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2021.1913006
Leonardsson, H. (2020) Vertical relationships and local peacebuilding in Lebanon: The case of responsive waste management. Journal of Peacebuilding and Development. https://doi.org/10.1177/1542316620926106
Leonardsson, H. (2019) Navigating “the local”. Municipal engagement in Lebanese local peacebuilding. PhD thesis, University of Gothenburg.
Öjendal, J., Leonardsson, H., Lundqvist, M. (2017) Local Peacebuilding: Challenges and Opportunities, Stockholm. EBA Report 5, https://eba.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Local-turn-of-peacebuilding-webbversion.pdf
Leonardsson, H., & Rudd, G. (2015). The 'Local Turn' in Peacebuilding: A Literature Review of Effective and Emancipatory Local Peacebuilding. Third World Quarterly, 5(36), 825-856. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2015.1029905